If your rifle is a T/C percussion cap then Pyrodex RS will work just fine. It is as good and in many cases produces better results then black powder. Your rifle will determine that of course, but my Hawkins and Renegades generally give excellent results with Pyrodex.

Triple Se7en FFg will also work fine in the Hawkins. Make sure you have a hot shot stainless steel nipple and a good hot cap like the CCI Magnum #11 or the Dynamite Noble RWS 1075 and it will fire just fine. Check your patches when shooting Triple Se7en. If they are blowing them up and burning them bad, stick a bore button or wonder wad between the powder and the patches ball and it will solve the problem. Many times the wonder wads help even if the patches are not blowing.

Another powder out on the market that I get some excellent results with when shooting roundball is Pinnacle 3f. I have been shooting that in the Renegade in both the .54 and .58 calibers and the accuracy and powder is exceptional. Clean up is also a breeze because a couple patches of water or solvent and the barrel is almost clean.

I will be shooting some of the Black Mag 3 today and see how I like that. Also I have some American Pioneer Powder finally in which I will be shooting later this week. When APP was Clean Shot (not Clear Shot) I shot a lot of it and actually liked the stuff a great deal.

If your rifle is a flintlock you are going to need some black powder and will have to look around for some. No matter what anyone tells you, nothing shoots as good as black powder. Even in the percussion caps, if you can find Goex 2f or even 3f you will be better off shooting that. In some manuals they talk about duplexloads with 5-10 grains of black powder and then the remainder of the load with Pyrodex or Triple Se7en. Well that works but all the goofing around is a pain.

Welcome back to the sport after so many years. Its like riding a bicycle, you did it once and it will all come back to you without problem. As long as you use common sense. Also with some of the new powders you might want to read back on some posts about them. Triple Se7en for instance is 15% stronger then Pyrodex RS or Goex 2f.

Good luck.