Identifying Black Powder?

[rollingb]

Pic of flask:

I like!!!!!!  :rt th

[RobD]

excellent pistolo!

[hawkthrower]

Nice kit!

[Maven]

Not recommending it at all, but ROA's can withstand a cylinderful of FFFFg.  Wasteful, loud, and likely not very accurate for sure, but those revolvers are hell for strong.  Remember, they were sometimes tested with stout loads of smokeless pistol powder, but I won't give the propellant or the charge.  No less a person than C.E. Harris has discussed this on various forums, but won't divulge the specifics either.

[Hanshi]

It's pretty easy to tell, by sight, the difference between 4F, 3F and especially 2F.  Black powder doesn't go bad over time as long as it doesn't get wet.  Powder from 200 years ago is still as good now as it was back then; it doesn't degrade as smokeless sometimes can.  Smell, alone, makes it easy to tell black from smokeless; smokeless had a slightly "acetone" odor while black smells like, well, charcoal.

[Hooter]

Thanks for all the help guys. And the compliments on my ROA. That's my second one. My other one is identical. I paid $400 for the first one and $300 for the one in the pic. So I got 2 ROAs for $350 a piece. They both have adjustable sights, which is great because the first one was shooting pretty high and left. I was able to easily adjust the sights. They're both tack drivers. Seems 30gn of goex FFFG and .457 Speer balls with a wool felt wad is so far the best load that I've shot. I've yet to play with conicals and doubt I will, since they shoot great with balls. I'm very happy with the Ruger ROA.

[Bigsmoke]

That cased pistol is a thing of beauty, except for the plastic jag.  I'd spend a couple of bucks and get a brass one if it were me.
I have had many of them over the years, most were tack drivers as you say, and a few were, well, less than that.
If it were me, I would get different grips on it so I could hold it better, factory grips are just a bit small for my dainty hand.  I have also found that a load of 30 grains Fffg, a lubed wad and a .457 ball were pretty accurate loads.
So, do we call you Two Gun Hooter now or what?

[Hooter]

Haha. Believe it or not, I haven't shot them at the same time. I may at some point. Yes the grips are kinda small for such a large revolver. Now that I have black powder fever, I'm wanting a Kentucky percussion pistol and rifle. Matching would be neat. That will probably be my next black powder purchase. I'm also wanting a revolver in .36 caliber.

[RobD]

i prefer delrin ("plastic") jags for certain guns that have open tubes or breeches - like the OP's revolver, or a bpcr rifle, but NOT for a closed breech muzzleloader.  the delrin jags are machined for me to my spex for use with specific size cloth cleaning patches and cost much more than brass jags.  delrin works MUCH better because it can handle compression for a better fit of jag to patch to bbl lands/grooves, and it can be fitted with a delrin bore rider so that the muzzle crown is compromised.  

delrin jags for pistols is best imho ... but for a closed breech muzzleloader?  nope, brass is best of all ... at least for me.

[Hooter]

Ok guys, now I've been shooting these old army's almost every weekend. The majority 30Gn of 3F with Speer lead balls. The guns are quite accurate and a blast to shoot. I've burned through about all of my powder. I am fixing to place an order on powder inc. I noticed they let you mix and match. I am wondering if I could buy 4F and safely shoot it in my old armys. Does anyone have any experience shooting 4F with the ruger old army? Should I just forget about it? Too dangerous? I've shot 50 grains of 3F through them with no issue beside it being difficult to seat the balls. Thank you in advance for any replies.

[rollingb]

Ok guys, now I've been shooting these old army's almost every weekend. The majority 30Gn of 3F with Speer lead balls. The guns are quite accurate and a blast to shoot. I've burned through about all of my powder. I am fixing to place an order on powder inc. I noticed they let you mix and match. I am wondering if I could buy 4F and safely shoot it in my old armys. Does anyone have any experience shooting 4F with the ruger old army? Should I just forget about it? Too dangerous? I've shot 50 grains of 3F through them with no issue beside it being difficult to seat the balls. Thank you in advance for any replies.

The only advice I can offer is,.... contact Ruger and see what they say.  

[Hooter]

Ok guys, now I've been shooting these old army's almost every weekend. The majority 30Gn of 3F with Speer lead balls. The guns are quite accurate and a blast to shoot. I've burned through about all of my powder. I am fixing to place an order on powder inc. I noticed they let you mix and match. I am wondering if I could buy 4F and safely shoot it in my old armys. Does anyone have any experience shooting 4F with the ruger old army? Should I just forget about it? Too dangerous? I've shot 50 grains of 3F through them with no issue beside it being difficult to seat the balls. Thank you in advance for any replies.

The only advice I can offer is,.... contact Ruger and see what they say.  

Yeah I guess I could do that. I will update when I get an answer.

[amm1851]

Not sure why you would want to shoot 4f as your main charge. As Maven noted above,  it would be wasteful, messy and not very accurate.  But, on the other hand, they're your guns, not mine, so do as you wish.

[rollingb]

Yes,.... please keep us updated, I'm interested in what they have to say.  

[Hooter]

Not sure why you would want to shoot 4f as your main charge. As Maven noted above,  it would be wasteful, messy and not very accurate.  But, on the other hand, they're your guns, not mine, so do as you wish.

I am thinking different velocities. I do not see that post above. I'm on my iPhone maybe it's not displaying every post. So 4F will make it less accurate?