A friend called and asked if I wanted to shoot today so of course I said yes. I decided that the Pyrodex P I had was four years old and needed to be shot off. I did not feel like shooting the BP revolver so I took my Tradition's Woodmans Hawkins .50 caliber with iron sights to his house. It has a 1-66 twist. I took some Buffalo Bullet brand .490 roundball, moose milk, patch strips, and my shooting sticks over to his house. I had never shot the Pyrodex P out of this rifle so I was unsure how it would do.
At his place were coffee can lids from the 2 lb some ounce cans that you open with a can opener. They were spray painted black, and screwed to 1x2's and put out in the snow about 100 yards away. We sat down in lawn chairs and got our shooting sticks all set up.
I was shooting 70 grains of Pyrodex P and just a patch and ball. I never even brought swabbing material (too cold anyway
) This rifle performed flawless with this powder. I think I will shoot Pyrodex P in this gun all the time. It always did like black powder, so maybe the Pyrodex P and black powder share some common traits when it burns. If you have never tried your rifle with the stuff and get a chance, give it a try....
