Humidity has been extremely variable here this year. First time I tested the JSG it was low(probably less than 40%) one of the hot dry days we've had this summer.The day I got lousy groups it was high (80 - 90%) one of the sauna-like days following a rain. I wasshooting loose fffg JSG, and the thing I really noticed was the lack of recoil on some shots. Some shots felt totally normal, and some felt like I was shooting a very light charge. (first low recoil shot I even checked the powder measure to be sure I had poured it all downbore ) What had (& still has) me confused was how it was so variable on recoil that day. Same rifle, same caps, same powder charge as the day it did so good.

NMRog,
Is a crossbow legal where you hunt? I have bone spurs in my left shoulder and switched to a crossbow a few years ago for deer hunting. The crossbow is a different way to launch an arrow, but it has about the same range and accuracy as a good compound bow. Luckily, here in Ohio it has been classified as legal archery equipment for many decades now and I didn't miss a day of archery season.
If it's legal, and you decide to get one, I highly recommend Excalibur!

Started using JSG when i got my Encore in September of last year.That gun stayed loaded for as long as three weeks at a time. Despite the OK humidity, it always went bang when i wanted it to.It stayed loaded from the time that i took my doe on 24 October until i killed my buck at 170 yards on 12 November. Perhaps JSG is a little more sensitive to humidity than Pyrodex but not as bad as rumor would have it.

Most of the problems that i am aware of with JSG have to do with folks not ramming the sabothard enough on the powder.i do have a friend who was never able to get his Encore to shoot well with JSG and the "easy load" sabots.

I'm still shootingClean Shot fffg, the forerunner of APP,and itmust be at least 7 years old or so. I load up with 100 grainsfor huntingduring New England's December cold, and I have never experienced any problems with itat all.
It has always been very potent and packsenough punch and felt recoil out ofmy short barrel .54 Lyman Cougar that Istickwith shooting light weightbullets. Andwith thewood stock and scopethe gun isn't light at over 8 pounds.Whenever I've shot the load out after the season's over, it hasreliably ignited and stayed on target using only an #11 cap.
I haven't been tooenthusiasticaboutit's accuracyusing itin sidelocks with PRB's, but itshoots okay.
Itry to preserve the powder by keeping the lid tight, andI generallydon't open it up during thewarm, humid months.

Thanks All You Guys!

wabi, No crossbows are not legal in NM. They tried to get it pased a few years ago to make them legal with an option on the ballot for handicapped only, but the bowhunters are strong here and got it shot down ( I was one that lobbied against it!). Hind sight is always twenty/twenty!

All the rest that responded to my plea for help, I thank you too.I have lots of"vary, vary, vary"old powder that I was trying to work up a load with.

Thanks, again for all your help!Roger

Roger,
Sounds like you have figured out what a lot of us aging bowhunters are having to admit - those crossbows aren't really so bad after all!
As for the old powder, I'd not trust the results using it.You might want to get some new triple se7en and give it a try. I just bought a pound of it and so far it has been the most consistant modern"replica" powder I've tried. (I'm not including Pyrodex in that classification of modern, Pyrodex is a very good powder) I still like regular old Goex BP for testing the accuracy potential of a gun, though. It's a bit harder to clean up after, but it has usually provided the best accuracy. With inlines I often use Pyrodex instead of BP to check accuracy potential. It's a bit easier to clean up after, and accuracy is very similar to BP in all the inlines I've compared it in.

I shot it for quite a while, I am not sure weather it is the humidity or if I just got a hold of some bad powder,new can just bought shot all over the place had been shooting excellant, tried several cans from the same source and the same lot all were bad tried some I had stored and it shot just fine. I dont like things I can not depend on am shooting Pyrodex at the moment it has been the only sub that has been really dependable. By nature the asorbic acid subs are sensitive to moisture,I also wonder about their quality control. Lee

"By nature the asorbic acid subs are sensitive to moisture,I also wonder about their quality control. Lee"

Yes, it may be more sensitive to moisture than anything else out there.Theremay also bequailty control problems or something. After i lauded mine on this thread, i just sniffedit. Itis starting to getthat brown sugar smell that Clean Shot sometimes gets. It did not have that smell a couple of months ago. The can was opened just after Labor Day last year and is about one half used up. Will soon shoot it up and report back here on the results.

In 2002, i bought two cans ofClean Shotin the original round sticks. They would not lightreliably in any of my three 209 primer guns. Had to put about five grains of Pyrodex down the tube first in order to light it off. When boosted this way, twosticks of theClean Shotwas a very powerful load: Much more powerful than two Pyrodex sticks or even 130 grains of granular Pyrodex.

In spite of all the potential problems, i still like JSG. Guessi will have store the opened cans in a .50 caliber ammo can with a lot of dessicant.

I shot this stuff quite a bit last fall and, here in the dry Colorado climate, have had very good results. Learned the hard way that you don't want to do any swabbing or cleaning in between shots. And also that it needs, at least in my guns, to be shot from a fouled bore. This powder, in conjunction with the new Platinum Powerbelts, finally produces a Colorado legal load that compares to the sabot/pellets loads that are legal everywhere else. We're stocking up on it out here.