Graf's Black Powder
 

Today I wanted to try a new black powder I got in. It is made by Wano in Germany for Graf's & Sons. It is cheaper then Goex. And I hate to admit this, it shot great. Fowling I think was less then Goex. Power seemed real good as well.

To see how bad it was fowling the rifle, I was shooting my Knight Wolverine LK-II and some 250 grain Shockwaves. The Knight has a Sightron 3-9x40mm scope. My shooting sticks are homemade. I never swabbed the barrel between shots 8-13. By the 13th I could tell the barrel needed to be swabbed as the accuracy was starting to fade a little.

The first shot was on a clean barrel. It hit high and to the right as normal. I was surprised how much higher these Shockwaves with 100 grains were shooting compared to the 80 grains and the 240 gr XTP's the rifle is sighted in with. Shots 5-7 I had to aim just under the bulls eye to set them in there. Then when I changed to the upper corner bull for 8-10 I held under the center of the bull, and never swabbed. 11-13 I aimed dead center on the bull and shot and loaded as fast as I could.

This Graf's seems to clean easy. It had excellent powder. Lots of smoke and bang.. and the Wolverine seemed to like it. If you get your hands on some, give it a try. You might like it. Next time out I am testing it in a flintlock. I just have not decided which one. :D

RE: Graf's Black Powder
 

I like to know how it works in the flinter when you test it ,I am down to my last 3 lbs of goex 3F and soon will need to place a order with them.

RE: Graf's Black Powder
 

I bought Goex from Graf at the same time and they were cheaper for Goex then Powder Inc.

RE: Graf's Black Powder
 

I have always wanted to try that. I have to drive 1hr to get powder and it is $20 for a pound of Goex. I will probably order some from Grafs this summer. Let us know how is works in the flinter. I think I might be getting a trade rifle or something. Are you going to try it as a prime to?

RE: Graf's Black Powder
 

I bought some Graf's 3f as well but have not opened it yet. I only have so many powder horns. I will be shooting the Graf's 2f today out of the Trade Rifle .54 calber using Goex 4f as prime. I still have two pounds of that to burn up. So I will keep you posted how it does.

RE: Graf's Black Powder
 

Maybe you could crush up a little FFG to use as prime to if notleave it asFFG.

RE: Graf's Black Powder
 

Cayugad -

Nice shooting! Could you post a picture of your shooting sticks? Also, do you get the Graf's locally and avoid the Hazmat fee?

RE: Graf's Black Powder
 

I had one leg set higher then the other here because I was shooting next to a snow bank the other day and using the sticks and the snow to steady the sticks. I made this pair out of a 2x4 and the eye bolt wing nut from the hardware store. Also don't forget to put the cord on the bottom of the legs. It will keep the sticks from spreading out and walking away on you. I also wrap an old T-shirt around the center of the sticks so it does not scratch my rifle. I use a blaze orange T-shirt because I take that into the woods at blinds.

As for the Graf's I by my black powder by the case, so the hazmat added a dollar extra a can. Not a big deal actually. I might get six pounds of Graf's 2f, six of Graf's 3f, six of Goex 2f, and seven of Goex 3f.At Graf's you do not have to purchase a case. Actually this time I only got twenty pounds. So the hazmat was a buck a can more.

RE: Graf's Black Powder
 

The Graf's in the Lyman Trade Rifle worked perfect. I was shooting 100 gr of it and never had a hang fire or misfire. Also I never had to swab the barrel. In fact fowling was next to nothing. Even the patches were perfect.

Also Sharpshooter wanted me to try some Graf's 3f as a primer. So I opened a pound of it, and loaded my small pan primer. It worked perfect. Never a misfire. I had a good sharp flint. This was at 50 yards off a single bag. The first three shots kind of surprised me because they were hitting so high. I wonder if this powder has a little more zip then Goex as yesterday the shots were hitting a little higher then normal.

RE: Graf's Black Powder
 

These show the patches when I cleaned the rifle. They are in the order I used them. The first two were simple water and soap patches in a water bath. The third was some Birchwood Casey #77. Actually the barrel did not dirty it all that much, but I used it to scrub the lock off, and that was filthy. The last two were patches to dry the barrel.

Also I recovered a couple of the patches I shot off. As you can see they are in great shape.