Alaska powder, BP or sub?

[Sjfriend]

Getting started and have a question for AK or other far north shooters. Considering the cold and wet conditions experienced during hunting seasons up here I am wondering if real BP or one of the subs is better? I am trying to get set up as traditional as possible but I want the shot to go bang when the cap does. And not rusting the barrel out during a few days in the field when the gun may stay loaded would be great as well.

[rollingb]

Getting started and have a question for AK or other far north shooters. Considering the cold and wet conditions experienced during hunting seasons up here I am wondering if real BP or one of the subs is better? I am trying to get set up as traditional as possible but I want the shot to go bang when the cap does. And not rusting the barrel out during a few days in the field when the gun may stay loaded would be great as well.

I've seen real black powder outperform the "substitutes" in all sorts of Alaskan weather.  :rt th

[Bigsmoke]

What rolling b said.
Consider that the substitutes are tremendously hygroscopic, they will suck water out of dry air.
The only real positive thing I can say about Pyrodex, et al, is that they are considered a propellant, not an explosive, and as such, are easier to find.  Most everything in Alaska has to be barged in, and it just depends on whether the barge company wants to haul explosives.
If you can get the real deal, go with it.  Forget the phony substitutes.
John

[Ohio Joe]

Black powder always! Don't even mess with the fake stuff, go with the real stuff it's far more dependable and forgiving, just as Rondo has pointed out.

[Winter Hawk]

I've shot the real black in the interior and Southeast for years before moving "here" and the only problem I had was with ffffg priming in the pan turning into a wet, gooey mess in Ketchikan.  That also happened in one of those fancy brass primers which are supposed to drop a couple of grains of powder into the pan.  But otherwise I had no problems at all.  If you bring the cold gun inside, put a cork in the muzzle so condensation doesn't get in the bore.  With a flintlock plug the touch hole with a feather quill (see Ron's poem in the Flintlock forum); for a caplock, remove the cap and put a small piece of electrical tape over the nipple, then lower the hammer on it to seal it.

Jim Baichtel on P.O.W. Island told me he carries his rifle in a case while hunting in the rain, capped and ready, then pulls it out at the last minute before making a shot.

Hope that helps.
~WH~

[Sjfriend]

Thanks all for the responses. I guess I'll be finding out how easy it is to find BP around here. Oh, the joys of living up here. Obtaining some things is a pain.

[rollingb]

Thanks all for the responses. I guess I'll be finding out how easy it is to find BP around here. Oh, the joys of living up here. Obtaining some things is a pain.

When I lived "up there",.... it was an 8 hour-round-trip to Fairbanks (where we did most of our shopping).  
Guns Down Under,.... in Fairbanks, is where I bought my black powder.  

[Hank in WV]

Did you make it home before the ice cream melted?

[rollingb]

Did you make it home before the ice cream melted?  :rt th  

[Winter Hawk]

RB, Was Down Under Guns in the Gavora mall when you were there, or out by the railroad depot where it was when I was last in Fairbanks in 2000?

Been looking at some land out by Tok, although with family medical conditions being what they are, we'll most likely dream about it and not do any moving...

~WH~