American Pioneer Powder

Sharp Shooter · 03-24-2006, 04:28 PM

How many of you get good results with it? What kind of projectiles do you use?

lemoyne · 03-24-2006, 05:15 PM

I have had excellant results with it,I tried 3F and it works well up to about 110 gr the 2f works well with heaver loads its been more consistant for me than BM3 or 777 or Gold I have some pinnacle but have not spent much time with it yet so far it looks good. I like the APP because I can get away with volume measure the others except Pyrodex did not give me that kind of consistency [except black of course.
As to projectiles I use RB in my hawkens with black if I have it but I tried APP and it did just fine; as for the others all I use now is sabot and bullet shock waves for hunting in the Omega and 230 gr XTP in the System one 50 cal and 300gr widner 50 cal in the 54 barrel. Lee

AQUATECH · 03-24-2006, 05:30 PM

I started with Pyrodex pellets. Then I tried 777 had
some problems with the dreaded crud-ring. Bought two
bottles of APP in stick form, just about used them
both up. I like the APP : good accuracy good power
from 100gr. load or 2-50gr. sticks, I believe the APP
is a little hotter than Pyro. or 777. I have shot
the 250gr. Shockwaves in my Omega. But my bullets
of choice are the 300gr. Hornady XTP'S & the 300gr.
Barnes Expanders both with the Harvester crushrib
sabots. Shoots clean, clean-up is a breeze.

gopherfan · 03-24-2006, 09:58 PM

I had my first experience with it this afternoon. I swung by cabelas and picked up some 3f and some 250gr XTP's. Like Aquatech, I have an omega and I've become a crushed rib sabot fan (but that's another discussion). The other powder I use is 2f triple7, which I like, but that darn crud ring. So I gave this stuff a whirl shooting 90 or 100 grains and noticed some differences which I'll mention.

1. It's louder. I also think it's got some more punch grain for grain but it's hard to judge. It kicked a little more but not unbearable.

2. I'm not convinced it's cleaner. Yes, the patches aren't black like with triple7 but the powder's not black either. One thing I did notice is that the buildup in the barrel near the breech was considerably less. On the other hand, my breach plug has never been so sooty. I even managed to blow apart a primer. All in all, I had more fouling on the breech plug and around the hammer. Something I had never experienced before. Although the patches are cleaner in color, they had gritty particles on them. Maybe they didn't like the isopropyl/windex as much as triple7. I don't know.

3. It left my barrel "sticky". I know this sound strange but having struggled with getting non-ribbed "regular" sabots to load in my gun I've become quite aquainted with cleaning between shots. Today I had a stuck sabot which required pulling the breech plug to push out the other way. It wasn't of the crushed rib variety but I can still usually push the standard hornady sst sabots with a little grunting. I was screwed.

4. I was less accurate with it. Note that I said I was less accurate. The extra pop took a little adjustment and did have some moments of excellent accuracy. However, being of the recoil-jerker variety I think this had more to do with me and less to do with the powder. Nonetheless it occurred. I think most folks who have been doing this for a while would agree that 100gr of 3f APP does not equal 100gr of 2f triple7.

5. At $20 a tub (cabelas) it's more economical than other products.

Keep in mind that this is all based on one afternoon of shooting. I don't have a ton of experience shooting this gun and all of the above is purely opinion based on one outing. My mind isn't made up and I will definetly finish the rest of it. It was interesting to see the difference between two powders and I think it's worth trying. I just JB'd by bore and maybe my loading issues will eventually resolve. I'm curious if anyone else has had grainy gritty residue after shooting this product or if maybe I wasn't buring all of my powder. Today I was shooting 250gr XTPs. I like 'em.

Just my three cents,

Tom

Mike Hill · 03-29-2006, 07:04 AM

As most folks who come in here very often know I have been using it for about 4 months now and have decided to use it exclusivly in my new T.C. Omega. I have been shooting the Shockys Gold in 2F of 120 gr. with 250 blue tipped shock waves and have been getting groups of about 1 inch at 100 yards. I am still working it as I am a fanatic about 1 hole shots. Keep us informed at what you find with it. Mike