Originally Posted by
cayugad
There is always a lot of debate and opinion over which powder is best. We have a lot of reasons why one powder is better in our opinion then another. So I wanted to explore this.
Cleaning of the powder after shooting
Cost per pound of the powder
Performance of the powder IE; feet per second the powder can produce, consistency of shot to shot, second shot loading .. etc
Swabbing between shots
Crud ring and hardness of fouling
Accuracy
Corrosion concerns
So tell me the powder you use. And what influenced you to select that powder over all others out there on the market. Also if you can remember, what other powders have you tried and decided they were not for you, and why.
My main powder that I shoot is black powder. It could be
Goex,
Graf's & Sons or
Swiss. I will not shoot Elephant Black Powder. I shoot that in almost 90% of my shooting. You all understand, I shoot a lot of powder off in a year, in a lot of rifles, so I do use different powders from time to time.
Why Black Powder...
#1 cost effective. Bought in bulk it is one of the cheapest to shoot, with Pyrodex RS being a close second.
#2 Accuracy with black powder is outstanding most of the time. When I get a rifle that will not behave, the first powder I grab off the shelf is 2f black powder. If I can not get the rifle to shoot with that, I know I am going to have a problem.
#3 very consistent on the range shot to shot.
#4 Swabbing.. its easy to swab and in traditional rifles I can shot sometimes 20 shots without swabbing. At least 10 is common. In the inlines of course, because of the projectiles we shoot I do find for accuracy reasons I need to swab. But shooting roundball, accuracy is not so badly effected.with black powder the fouling and crud ring (if any) is very soft. A spit patch or alcohol patch will pull it quickly out of the barrel and have be back shooting ASAP.
#5 Performance...While it is not the most powerful powder on the market, performance is excellent. Ignition is excellent. And I think a lot of the hype of this one will push it 200 ft faster per second is all a selling tool. If not so, why does a conical bullet have the killing power it does at 1100 fps?
#6 Cleaning... I do not find black powder rifles hard to clean. Granted they might stink a little. But water will clean them, and do it fast. Normally with in ten patches I have the rifle clean. And I am never in a hurry to clean a rifle. I take my time. I get it right. Black powder and me just seem to get along when it comes to cleaning. I know there are other powders out there that clean easier. But I don't like to ever consider cleaning as a reason to choose one powder over another.
Other powders I have tried...
Blackhorn 209 (very good powder, expensive, and hard to find),
JSG 3f (good in revolvers),
APP 2f & 3f (good in some rifles, terrible in others),
Triple Seven 2f & 3f (a very good powder, powerful, hate the crud ring),
Pyrodex RS & P (a great powder, would be right up there with black powder. A favorite powder to shoot),
Pinnacle 2f & 3f ( I liked this powder but it is impossible to get),
Clear Shot (was ok to shoot, but nothing to get excited about. Bought a case of it on a close out, and so it was cheap),
Clean Shot (I think this is the old APP. Again, it was good in some rifles), Black Mag (a good powder. It shot well, was easy to clean. Expensive, and hard to find.. but I liked this powder).