[QUOTE=uscra112;4400483]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.)[/QUOTE
Think the NSSA and other muzzloaders will disagree we you. How can you even say goex is only for reinactors
14th VA. CAV.
N_SSA
Goex is an excellent powder.
I haven't tried that new Black powder product mentioned in the original post.
But I do use different sub powders in different guns and for different purposes.
I like to use 3F American Pioneer Powder in my cap & ball revolvers.
I do highly compress it by using a loading press while the cylinder is off the gun.
It produces a lot of smoke and bang, so I have no complaints.
I also use it in some older in line plunger type muzzle loaders.
However I only buy the 3F APP since the 2F is much too coarse.
777 Powder works fairly well in my smaller .36 caliber BP rifles because
the small powder charges don't create a crude ring like the large 777 charges do.
In most larger caliber reproduction cap rifles I mostly use Pyrodex P.
I would consider giving the new Black a try but only in cap & ball revolvers since
the company says that it needs a lot of compression.
That does suggest that it might not be very consistent in reproduction
percussion guns when using normal loading procedure and compression.
Last edited by arcticap; 06-30-2018 at 06:11 PM.
BH 209 is suppose to be noncorrosive but comes at a hefty price and is harder to ignite.
Aim small, miss small!
I have used about everything on the market and shot my way to 31 NMLRA medals using Goex and Scheutsen powder. I have won the state championship twice in the Bluegrass State games here in KY, and numerous other local matches using the same 2 powders in some very stiff competition! So much for the comment that Goex is for re-enacting only!
blue mz pellets you mean. Exact same powder as IMR Whitehots, just a new name and color.
I agree on Goex - am sitting on 4 kilos of 90's vintage Goex 5FA for when I get really really serious - always thought it beat Wano(scheutzen???) hands down - Goex burnt cleaner and gave 150 to 200FPS more velocity for the same load - that was before the Moosic factory blow up though - new factory - new management - maybe they didnt do it as good in later years ? .... never shot subs - had a can of pyrodex one time - read the analysis sheet on it - sold it unopened to a feller I didnt like.
For my inline, Black powder MZ works great; I use only blackpowder in my flintlocks and percussion rifle.
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not
"Thomas Jefferson"
yep goex only for me as well!!
I've got Swiss, Elephant, GOEX, Pyrodex and T7. I prefer to shoot GOEX as it is cheaper than Swiss. Elephant was the dirtiest powder that I used. Pyrodex can't be lit in my rocklocks and HAS created rust spots in one of my barrels while I was shooting it. T7 is pretty good in my revolvers and caplocks, but **** expensive.
If you are going to make a hole in something. MAKE IT A BIG ONE!
I have actually used it and it is great stuff in percussion. Checked it over a chronograph and it is the same as 2F black Grafs house brand. Used it in everything from .32 round ball to .58 Minie. Also used it in 11, 12 and 13 gauge shotguns with 1 to 1-1/4 oz. loads. Hunted doves and killedthem just fine. Velocities approached 2F triple 7 with the .58 Minies. Doesn't rust things in my experience but don't recommend leaving anything uncleaned. Must use a black powder lube. Will sludge up a revolver in one cylinder worth of shooting if using smokeless lube like Felix-lube or Carnauba Red. Cleans up easy even in the sludged up revolvers. Never experienced any excessive fouling using beeswax/olive oil 40/60%. There was kind of a whitish fouling. Shot 15-20 shots out of my shotgun with no lube or wiping at all. The black MZ clumped up but a gentle shake put it back to powder form again. Didn't have any luck using it in flintlocks but everything percussion wise or .45 Colt cartridge (so far, all I've used it in cartridge-wise) ate it right up. So, my actual real live experience with it worked out great except in flintlock guns or when using the wrong lube. In dry Idaho climate, no degrading in more than 2-years now. Black is eazy to get from Grafs and if a couple buddies pitch in together, it comes out to less than $20 a pound including shipping and hazmat if you order their house brand. I heard it was the same as Wano but that's just heresay. Last trip into Sportsman's Warehouse, they were out of Black MZ and if they jack up the price to the price other local places charge, I think I would have to switch to real black and deal with the clean up but for now, it's a good deal. So, don't knock it before you try it I would suggest.
As to whether black MZ is better than any other powder used in black powder firearms a lot depends on what you expect from the powder, how accessible is any kind of powder for your black powder firearms, how much you are willing to pay to shoot said firearms.
They say that black Mz is like ffg black powder but it works in .32 caliber muzzle loaders so one has to wonder if all the decades we have been told to use fffg in the small caliber black powder firearms is correct. Over the decades a lot of companies have and do make black powder or substitutes and your firearm may like one type of manufacture and another firearm by the same company and caliber may like another. Don't let your mind be blind sided that only ..... powder is best to use in black powder firearms, try as many different ones as you can and find out for yourself which you like and firearm likes. nuff said
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oooooh you are careful! ......Still.... the two litres of gas in your lawnmower tank is at least as big a hazard as a closed can of blackpowder in the same place - open the can of powder and take the cap of the gas tank still no appreciable difference - I would back the powder as marginally safer at that point - drop a match in either and they gonna go whooosh and set fire to the joint - if the mower tank happens to be almost empty you gonna have pieces of aluminium and plastic embedded in the walls as a memento. If the blackpowder container is strong enough and has a small lid it will do the same.
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 |