Seems like you have to use a lot more for the same results as Black,these substitute powders never seem to catch on except for the zip gun shooters who are looking for the next better thing to come down the pike.If your shooting a traditional gun then stick with a traditional powder,Just my 2 cents worth.
I bought some but have yet to try it. I have heard good things about it and got it at a great price. Not designed for flint though of coarse. I hear it is very clean and lights well.
Aim small, miss small!
I've got half a dozen partial canisters of previous "black substitute" failures cluttering up the magazine. Haven't tried this one, and won't.
As far as I can see, the sole and only reason for substitutes is to let gun shops sell something for front-loaders that doesn't require an explosives license. Was this another iteration? Put a new name on another inadequate product, and make money shipping enough to fill the distribution pipeline? Inquiring minds, and all that.
/rant off
Last edited by uscra112; 06-29-2018 at 10:19 PM.
Cognitive Dissident
Well, just what brand of TRUE Black is best? My stock of 1970's vintage GEOX is running low.
I go to great lengths to get Swiss BP. It's not cheap, but it burns cleaner and more consistently than anything else. GOEX is for re-enactors who need lots of smoke, IMHO. Some people are touting Old Eynsford, (from the same people), for cartridge shooting. A few folks swear by Elephant. But if you look at what serious target shooters are using, it's Swiss all the way, unless they are sponsored by somebody else. PITA is that very few BP retailers stock Swiss, so it's on-line order with a 25 lb. minimum, or drive three hours each way like I do. (I used to vacation in Maine, when I could make detour to Maine Powder House for a year's supply, which for me is never more than five pounds, but they have folded their tent. Now I meet a sutler at a re-enactment event in West By God Virginia. It's not so bad; I make a weekend outing of it.)
Last edited by uscra112; 06-29-2018 at 11:30 PM.
Cognitive Dissident
Well, I for one have not fired real black for over 30 years. Almost all of my shooting has been done with Pyrodex. It works well for me, is very consistent and I can buy it off the shelf at just about any sporting goods store. No, I do not shoot flintlocks.
MZ Black is supposed to be OK but is designed to take a bit of compression for reliable results. I have some I have tried with my PP bullets but it did not work very well. I suspect because I cannot compress it enough (the PP bullets are a slip fit in the bore). I have kept it to try with patched balls.
No its not a better powder. Better than home made powder maybe. Its a decent powder, especially when its on sale for $9.99 for a pound, but with the normal $32 - $35 price tag, Pyrodex is a better powder.
I normally use Goex FFFg in my rifles and percussion revolvers,but have used Schuetzen and Swiss also. It helps that Friendship is only 3 hours from me,so it's easy to restock. I also use Pyrodex with no problems and it's easy to find. I have never understood the hatred of Pyrodex.
I've always used Pyrodex, and have no complaints.
Pyrodex "P" in all my muzzies. Don't want or even like black............. certainly don't want to store it at my house. I'm sure your insurance company would agree.
Winelover
I like OE in 1 1/2 to 3 f in all my BP guns/Ed
Same here except they no longer clutter my shelves. Worked through a couple pounds of Pyrojunk when it first came out....and "worked" is an apt description. In cartridge rifles it was ok but I never could get it to shoot as good as black powder. In percussion firearms, even a couple double guns where the flame is about as direct as can be had, hang fires were all too frequent. Obviously, without leading with a priming charge of real BP, it won't work in flintlocks and I do shoot several flinters.
Several years ago, fearing I might not be able to get real BP at some time in the future, I bought all the subs available at that time and tried them in my Sharps, Ballard, German double rifle and British double rifle, all cartridge rifles. Triple 7 gave the optimum results of accuracy and velocity. The old GOEX Clear Shot was the most accurate but about as slow as Elephant. Pioneer Powder was as bad as Pyrojunk and I don't remember the last one I tried. None of them would regulate in either double rifle regardless of how the load was juggled. Sooo....I bite the bullet and order real BP in 25 lb. cases. Then the hazmat isn't so bad. Amounts to about a buck a pound and the price per pound is still significantly cheaper than can be had a LGS's....if they even handle it.
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I'm on my 4th case of Schutzen. I must like it. Graf's sells the same powder under their house name.
The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"
Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!
I have a 2 inch cannon and it is a good way too get rid of any unwanted powders......except smokeless of course.
i got hooked and had to try it. now it is on my lawn, stick with BLACK and you won't go wrong.
Make your own, as many here do. Best thread on the net above on how to do it. My home made is faster then swiss. $3 a lb to make.
Fly
As read. {Non-corrosive.} That's a good thing!
No other substitute that I know claims the same. i.e. (non-corr)
If I weren't set in my ways. {traditionalist shooter.} I might have given this Alliant sub a try.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |