Which Black Powder?

[Two Steps]

Darn John...great story.  Funny how things can be intertwined like this 
Al

[Longhunter]

Goex is all I'll ever use. I've got a old  can of Pyrodex that I bought years ago before the plant blew up. I tried Swiss and didn't like it.
Goex has gone to plastic now, no more tin cans. 

I've got a Black Powder shop 15 minutes away so I guess you could say I'm lucky. 

[Iktomi]

I recently tried Graf's proprietary label, which is rebranded Schuetzen powder. It's a few bucks cheaper than Goex, and it is cleaner burning. It *may* be a bit hotter than Goex. I liked it enough that I bought 10 lbs. of the stuff a few weeks ago.

[AxelP]

Bigsmoke, They basically just retired. Got tired of fighting the fight against the big names? I think they actually sold the building to another sporting goods outfit and they are supposed to re-open under a different name some day in the future. I bought my first black powder gun from Herb Bauers back in the late 70s. (I was in High School at the time). Remember the huge blackpowder department they used to have? I could go in there and just gawk for hours. Did you know Vern Johnson? I think he used to be the black powder sales guy back then and was a Civil War Colonel in the local reenacting group I got involved with. I hung out with his son at events. ah the old days.

[Bigsmoke]

Yeah Ken, that is pretty much what I gleaned from the stories in the Bee.  Guess there was no one else in the family that was interested.  Shucks, they never asked me...
Nope, cannot say that I knew Vern Johnson.  The only one who I can think of that I knew by name was John McCormick.  I believe he left there in the 1980's or possibly the 1990's and opened his own store on N. Blackstone, somewhere.  I think I bought some .45 ACP or .45 LC from him one time or another.
Strangely enough, for years I lusted after a Springfield musket but never got one.  I think that saved me from getting involved in Civil War reenactment.  I was having enough fun doing the mountain man thing.  Actually, if I would have gotten into CW stuff, I would have probably gone the route of being a sutler instead of a soldier.

[SharpStick]

OK, back to the original topic 

I got me some of that Alliant Black MZ Muzzleloader Powder and tried it this week.  I like it.

I could not detect any difference in the performance, i.e., I didn't shoot any better or worse, no failures to ignite, no noticeable delay in firing, from the Pyrodex and Goex and I had used previously. On the plus side it is much, much, cleaner than Goex and much cleaner than Pyrodex.

I usually shoot about 20 times when I get to the range.  By the end, with the Pyrodex, I start to feel the difficulty of ramming a ball down the barrel increase. Using the Goex, within 3 or 4 shots, it becomes increasingly more difficult. After 20 shots with Alliant the last went down almost as smooth as the first one.

I did notice with the Alliant I had to make sure the powder all came out of my measure, Didn't need that with Pyrodex or Goex. Alliant seems to clump up a little; not sure why.

Cleaning my rifle really showed the difference. I attach some tubing to a nipple, clamp the tubing, then fill the barrel with warm water. With Pyrodex and Goex when I release the clamp after 5 minutes there is a surge of very cloudy black water as the barrel drains into my catch container. The water is cloudy with black such that I can't see through the container. With Alliant that cloud is almost non-existant, only a slight light brown, nowhere near the amount of "soot" as from the others. I can still see through the container with ease.  The remaining cleanup went about the same as usual, maybe a little less work with the Alliant.

Now I've got 2 lbs of Goex and 2 lbs of Alliant. The testing will continue, but for now, Alliant is the leader for me and my cap gun. Between, the cost, $10/lb, and being cleaner, Goex and Pyrodex will have to get me much improved performance to win out.

[Ohio Joe]

Thanks for the report SharpStick...

I wonder if this new powder has less graphite in it (I believe it's graphite they put in BP to prevent clumping)? If so, that may account for the clumping and (on the good side) the number of shots one is able to take without swabbing?

If you get a chance and have a flintlock or know someone who does, perhaps you or they could test it for pan prime ignition. 

[Maven]

Here's a link to Alliant's description of Black MZ:  http://www.alliantpowder.com/products/powder/blackmz.aspx  Notice that while they say Black MZ can be used in all BP firearms, they do not say it has been successfully used in flintlocks.  Moreover, their best results were achieved with 90gr. (volume) with ~240gr. bullets in a .50cal. rifle.  That means conicals, fast twists, and most likely something other than FFFFg pan ignition.  If it was available locally, I'd be tempted to try it in my cap locks, but not in my flintlocks.

[Ohio Joe]

I agree with you Maven.  I'd just like to know if it would ignite powder in the pan. If it did, it probably would ignite a charge. However, I think we're looking at a BP replacement powder for caplocks.

[Maven]

Well, at least with Black MZ you only have to contend with plastic/vinyl sabot fouling rather than powder residue and sabot particles on top of that since the bullet weights specified are likely the kind used with sabots.

[SharpStick]

An update on Alliant Black MZ Muzzleloader Powder:

Over the previous 2 months I've shot almost 2 lbs of this stuff and I still like it for my cap gun. I continued shooting around 20 balls each week at the range with no increase in the loading difficulty.  After a while I began to wonder how much I could shoot before I'd notice a difference.  I shot 60+ balls on 3 outings in a 1 week period without cleaning the barrel.  Number 60 went down as easy as #1.  As for effect on accuracy just look at my score on Mike Fink  , though I still can't get those silly chickens to hold still long enough to catch a ball or two

That's all I have to say for now, gotta go figure out what to do with 2 lbs of Goex and there's a rifle needs cleanin'.

[rollingb]

An update on Alliant Black MZ Muzzleloader Powder:

Over the previous 2 months I've shot almost 2 lbs of this stuff and I still like it for my cap gun. I continued shooting around 20 balls each week at the range with no increase in the loading difficulty.  After a while I began to wonder how much I could shoot before I'd notice a difference.  I shot 60+ balls on 3 outings in a 1 week period without cleaning the barrel.  Number 60 went down as easy as #1.  As for effect on accuracy just look at my score on Mike Fink  , though I still can't get those silly chickens to hold still long enough to catch a ball or two

That's all I have to say for now, gotta go figure out what to do with 2 lbs of Goex and there's a rifle needs cleanin'.

Just tuck those 2 lbs. of Goex back in a dry/cool corner somewheres,.... anyone that finds it in'a 100-200 years'er so, will be happy to feed it to their flintlocks. 

[rollingb]

Thanks for the report SharpStick...

I wonder if this new powder has less graphite in it (I believe it's graphite they put in BP to prevent clumping)? If so, that may account for the clumping and (on the good side) the number of shots one is able to take without swabbing?

If you get a chance and have a flintlock or know someone who does, perhaps you or they could test it for pan prime ignition. 

I'd sure be interested in how well the stuff ignites in a flintlock. 

[Uncle Russ]

An update on Alliant Black MZ Muzzleloader Powder:

Over the previous 2 months I've shot almost 2 lbs of this stuff and I still like it for my cap gun. I continued shooting around 20 balls each week at the range with no increase in the loading difficulty.  After a while I began to wonder how much I could shoot before I'd notice a difference.  I shot 60+ balls on 3 outings in a 1 week period without cleaning the barrel.  Number 60 went down as easy as #1.  As for effect on accuracy just look at my score on Mike Fink  , though I still can't get those silly chickens to hold still long enough to catch a ball or two

That's all I have to say for now, gotta go figure out what to do with 2 lbs of Goex and there's a rifle needs cleanin'.

SharpStick, I find 60 shots without wiping to be absolutely remarkable.
If the ignition was fast, and you liked the accuracy, I think you've found yourself a winner.

If I didn't already have so much powder, I'd be tempted to buy some and try it.

 

Uncle Russ...

[Hanshi]

Several powders (black) have powered my guns over the years but never any of the subs.  So all I can comment on is Pyrodex which I tested in a c&b revolver and a .45 Colt cartridge revolver.  It was a disappointment so I never tried it again.  For the past decade al I've used has been Goex and Jack's Battle Powder (Goex product).  Initially, JBP was much cheaper than Goex but the price has risen steadily.  JBP is still a pretty good deal and I like it a lot.  Been thinking about trying KiK and it seems to be a bit cheaper than Goex.  Anyone been using KiK?