I was looking for somethoughts on good blackpowder replacements. For the past few seasons I have been using Pyrodex but during this off season I am going to change my set-up and was looking for recommendations oropinions on some of the other options like Triple 7, J.S. Gold, etc. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
A lot of that will be determined by your rifle and projectile combination. Not having shot Shockey Gold but have shot a couple pounds of American Pioneer 3f, I found it likes lighter sabots, hates conicals, easy to clean, no swabbing, and a pretty good powerful powder. Triple Se7en is a great powder. The only complaints of T-7 is the hard crud ring it can create in the bore of your rifle after each shot. Power and accuracy wise it has to be one of the best powders out there.
__________________
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, a total wreck, screaming Yahoo, with a big smile on your face."
If its available to you Black Mag is good to try. AS far as j.s. Gold and APP are concerned I have had great results with some cans and totally wild results with some I know the powder is hydroscopic so it may have gathered some moisture even though I kept it sealed.Some really like and have good luck with 777 others dont I had to polish the lower end of my Omega's barrel and use boiling water to clean and lube it with BB to keep from unbelieveable crud ring but at least now it is practical to use it. Lee
I was looking for somethoughts on good blackpowder replacements. For the past few seasons I have been using Pyrodex but during this off season I am going to change my set-up and was looking for recommendations oropinions on some of the other options like Triple 7, J.S. Gold, etc. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
I shot a pound of it 3 years ago when it was called American Pioneer. I wanted to use it, but could not find a local source. Ended up using 777.
It is very clean. Some say it draws water, but I didn't experience it. If I could find a reliable local source, I would use it. Oh, it is high in cost, especially the little containers. Make sure you can get it local before you make a decision to change.
Chap Gleason
__________________
Chapman Gleason
Purcellville Va
http://www.the-gleasons.com
Started using Jim Shockey's Gold in my then new TC Encore .50 caliber last fall. Worked up in my loading and found 90 grains of FFG JSG and the 250 grain SST were very accurate so i stopped there.Set the scope to put the first bullet 2 inches high at 100 yards. Killed two deer and three hogs withthat load. Two of these shots were long ones. The buck was at 160 yards and thefirst shotbroke both front legs at the shoulders. All the otherswere one shot kills, including a hoglast weekat 177 long paces.Just love that Jim Shockey Gold.
I started using it about a year ago. Initially, I had some really inconsistent results - until I realized that you don't want to do any swabbing in between shots. You need to fire a couple of fouling shots from a clean dry barrel, and then just load 'em and shoot 'em. Plan to go afield with a fouled barrel. This stuff is not very corrosive.
I am currently using 130 gr. of 2F JSG behind a 338 gr. Platinum Powerbelt out of my new Genesis. Getting gof ball size groups at 100 yards with peep sights, and over 1800 fps.
I did some shooting last summer with my T/C guns, using 250 gr. Shockwaves, as well as the 50/40 200gr. Shockwaves. Got excellent speed out of both of these bullets. In each instance, it was more zippy than three 50 gr. Pyrodex pellets. Once I figured out to not swab, accuracy was good as well.
ALthough I haven't tried any heavier conicals, I have heard that this isn't the best powder for this application. No personal experience here.
__________________
A man has got to know his limitations . . . . .
i never fire a "fouling shot." With90 grains of JSG and a 250 grain SST, my Encore puts the first bullet, the second, and the third into the same point of impact. You are right, it is not necessary toswab the bore between shots. My Encore actually loads easier with a fouled bore.
I have used Shockeys Gold for three years and am going to change this next hunting season. I like to swab bewteen shots and use bore butter, these both seem to have negative effects of the consistency and accuracy of my shooting. So what if youget to swab less, thats part of blackpowder shooting.
It is nice however if you are hunting and need to make multiple shots for some unusual reason.
I think that there are better powders out there, I am going to start using T7.
Jim Shockeys Gold
