My first question is...why? My second is why not?

Some people swear by black powder, and to be honest, if I were shooting a sidelock, that's the way I would go. Black powder is a lot easier to ignite than pyrodex (not sure about the other black powder subs), which means quicker more reliable ignition in a sidelock gun. With an inline, especially with musket or 209 primers, a large volume of flame is shot directly into the powder charge. My Knight fires just like a centerfire rifle...no clickBOOM!!! I've had guys swear up and down that black will give the best groups, consistancy, etc...but I've found that with an inline, so does Pyrodex Select and Triple 7.

I used to shoot nothing but Goex 2F black powder when I had my Hawkin and it worked fine, until the fouling got so bad that I had to do a thurough cleaning at the range, or end my day there. Or going home and turning an entire 5 gallon bucket of hot soapy water pitch black. Or the corrosion that would start within hours of firing a shot. Miss a shot in the morning and you'll have rust in the bore by evening.

Two years ago I got my Traditions inline and switched to pyrodex select. Shot really well and I enjoyed being able to shoot a lot more before excess fouling set in.

This year I tried Triple 7 and I'll never go back to either of the above. Not only is it far more powerful than black or Pyrodex. It creates half the fouling and it cleans so easily that a single spit patch between shots takes out most of the powder fouling. Cleaning the bore at home takes minutes without solvents (unless there's plastic fouling). I spend 10 times more time cleaning the primer fouling off the breach plug and bolt face than I ever need to spend on the bore.

Give Triple 7 a try, barring your gun not liking it, I'll bet you will.

Mike




Gun control means putting the second bullet through the same hole as the first- Ted Nugent
NRA Member
Muzzleloading- Once you go black, you'll never go back!!