RE: SMOKELESS POWDER COMPARED TO BLACK POWDER?
You could chronograph loads of each and compare by velocity. The question of bullets would come into play as well. For a Cape buffalo you would need penetration. Most muzzle loader projectiles are to soft for that kind of duty. With Sabots you could use properly constructed bullet but I don't know what kind of accuracy you would get. You don't need a lot of velocity to get super penetration as the 45-70 with modest velocity recently killed two Cape buffalo with one shot. With Non expanding bullets or even hard cast bullets, the best penetration takes place at velocities of 1600- 2000 fps. In tests by Corbon, the 45-70 out penetrated the 458 Win, the 458 Lott and the 460 Weatherby with the same bullet.