Black Powder

[VFD46]

Ok I'm curious on what kind of Powder to buy(For Reenactment Purposes). I've heard of people Mixing Grades and, also using GOEX Fg. Whats a wise choice? What works for you?

[Yellowhammer Rebel]

Goex FFFg is the best for rifle shooting. The only mixing I do is to mix the good Goex in with crappy powder (like elephant etc.) so that it will be at least worth something. I have shot FFg out of my rifle but it fouls it up a whole lot worse making it harder to clean as it is a larger grade.

[harley_davis]

IMHO, there is little reason to mix grades of powder. FFFg works well, FFg in a pinch. We haved used GOEX although, this past year I started to use KIK powder and it performs as well as GOEX in similar charge sizes. Additionally, we have started to use a slightly smaller charge with good results and KIK has an advantage of being a couple dollars per pound cheaper than GOEX. A word of note though, apparantly KIK does not function well when used in live firing and in such instances, GOEX would then be a better choice.
Regards,

[Culpeper]

Andrew,

That's interesting about the FFg creating more of a clean-up mess than the smaller-grained FFFg; I had not heard that before.

I was happily (except for the local cost) shooting FFFg Goex when a pard opined that he had less powder "leakage" out of his paper cartridges with FFg than he did with FFFg. I switched to double F for that reason for the past year or so.

I find the FFg easier to pour into and out of the powder measure (going into the empty paper cartridges) and easier to pour into the barrel of the rifle on the field. In my experience it fires off just as well as the FFFg, which probably is a testament to the consistent quality of the Goex.

But my Enfield does seem to take an awful lot of cleaning. I mentally wrote it off to my grumbling spirit about many things, but now I wonder . . . .

John Orr
44th Va, Co H
Longstreets Corps

[jurgitemvaletem]

. A word of note though, apparantly KIK does not function well when used in live firing and in such instances, GOEX would then be a better choice.
Regards,

Not saying that another's results may not vary, but I live fire black powder firearms frequently, and at 25-100 yards have never noticed a difference between the GOEX and KiK. This may change if you add more distance, but at 100 yards, it is unnoticable.

[harley_davis]

Not saying that another's results may not vary, but I live fire black powder firearms frequently, and at 25-100 yards have never noticed a difference between the GOEX and KiK. This may change if you add more distance, but at 100 yards, it is unnoticable.

I stand corrected. My statement about live fire using KiK is based on second hand opinion and as such, is not personally substantiated.
Respectfully,

[Willow Branch]

I have no brand loyalty, but use fffg. I have used "skirmish powder" (cheaper) but found that it made cleaning a more time consuming activity.

I have an Armi sport Enfield; friends with Euroarms had problems with misfires when using the same "skirmish powder" that I tried.

Regards,

Randy

[Yellowhammer Rebel]

Andrew,

That's interesting about the FFg creating more of a clean-up mess than the smaller-grained FFFg; I had not heard that before.

I was happily (except for the local cost) shooting FFFg Goex when a pard opined that he had less powder "leakage" out of his paper cartridges with FFg than he did with FFFg. I switched to double F for that reason for the past year or so.

I find the FFg easier to pour into and out of the powder measure (going into the empty paper cartridges) and easier to pour into the barrel of the rifle on the field. In my experience it fires off just as well as the FFFg, which probably is a testament to the consistent quality of the Goex.

But my Enfield does seem to take an awful lot of cleaning. I mentally wrote it off to my grumbling spirit about many things, but now I wonder . . . .

John Orr
44th Va, Co H
Longstreets Corps

It fires just as well but in my experience it fouls up the rifle much worse. Most likely IMHO because it is not burning as thoroughly due to the bigger grain size.

[Southern Cal]

A smaller grain of gunpowder has more surface area exposed than a larger grain of powder and so burns faster with correspondingly higher pressure. Since it burns faster and more completely, you generally have less fouling when shooting blanks. If you're shooting blanks FFFG granulation works best for most folks. When I run low of 3F I've been known to mix it with 2F so I don't get as much fouling.

If you're shooting live ammunition then you have to consider the burining rate will affect pressure, a very important safety as well as accuracy consideration. Since you're probably using a volume based charger, you're going to get more grains of 3F powder in your load than 2F, increasing the potential pressure even more, on top of the additional pressure generated from the faster burning rate. I'd recommend reading Lyman's Blackpowder Handbook.

Anyway, the general consensus about live firing is using 4F powder for priming flintlocks, 3F for rifles up to .45 Caliber and possibly .50 Caliber, 2F for .54 caliber and above, and 2F or even 1F for .75 Caliber and larger. As the saying goes, other's mileage may vary. I've been shooting muzzleloaders since 1975 and so I have my own personal methods. Recommendations for live firing muzzleloading shotguns are usually 2F. Many target shooters substitute 2F powder for a reduced charge of 3F in their .54 and .58 Calibers to get a desired burn rate and pressure curve for better accuracy at shorter ranges. In this case a very specific load is developed for that particular weapon.

You can cut your cleaning time dramatically by mixing Ballistol (inexpensive per can when orderd by the case) about 50/50 or less, with water, placing the mixture it in a period bottle if in the "field", and flushing your "iron" several times before swabbing it out, then oiling it. I use about 20% Ballistol in water when at home, cork the muzzle of my Sharps carbine and slosh the mixture around the barrel twice. When the mixture comes out light gray, I run a Ballistol/water soaked "Bore Snake" through the barrel once and all fouling is gone, a process of less than three minutes. A few patches to dry the barrel followed by my favorite rust inhibitor and the carbine is good until the next event. Pure Ballistol is a good rust inhibitor. Authenticity is great but I absolutely refuse to risk potential damage to my investments of hundreds of dollars a pop to please any committee of "they" unless "they" are willing to pay for my "irons". So I clean my "iron" the "period" way when directed then go behind the tent and clean it with Ballistol/water, oil my "iron" afterwards, and really give it a detailed cleaning when I get home.

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

As already covered...

The finer the granulation, the faster and more combusted the black powder is, leaving less fouling.

3F burns faster than 2F, developing higher breech pressures. That is a greater factor with live projectiles. It takes "less" 3F by weight or by volume to get the same "oomfff" as 2F.
And one might notice a slight difference in the "feel" of the round being fired.

Over 17 years of live-fire in the N-SSA, I had drifted between 2F and 3F, but after a few years chsoe to use 3F.
Historically, ACW era "musket" black powder was closer to our modern 2F.

Also, the granulation sometimes gets a bad rap when the problem is not the powder but rather the small size of "competetion nipple" vents and/or coked or dirty flash channels on the repro guns.

And IMHO, a safety warning.... never, EVER, think about mixing black powder and smokeless powder.

Others' mileage will vary...

CHS