[cycloneman]

it musta been a good 20 years ago when i had a smoke pole.

I honestly did not like it and sold it. I am considering buying one just to have. I may never use the thing who knows.

Ok so my question is about powders. I see all the different powders out there and i forgot what they all are about.

First off I do not want to use pyrodex or 7x. Nope I want the original corrosive good stuff. Now what do fffe and all those symbols mean for different powders? Do they have a different burn rate? are some made for pistols and others for rifles? Refresh my memory please?

 

[aa1911]

2F is course, use for rifle main charges

3F is a little finer but also good for main charges in either rifle or pistols

4F is priming powder only, much finer

I use Goex, it's the 'original' recipe and love it!

 

[RandyP]

What he said - the number of 'F's goes from coarse to finest. The finest would typically be used in the flash pan of a flintlock, and 3F used for the main pistol charge.

 

[aa1911]

I should point out that I use 3F for the 'modern' length muzzleloaders and 2F for the really long barreled (more traditional) ones but either will work in either one.

so 3F is really what you're after, and 4F if you have flint ignition.

I sometimes use a very small amount of 4F down the main pipe before the main charge of 3F to help speed up ignition time but do this with care; subtract that amount from the main charge and don't go over a few grains or so.

I've not used anything but Goex, does anyone know of any other flavor of 'real' BP? I will need some more shortly... gonna start shooting the BP more often again

 

[Bindernut]

Yup, the number of Fs determines how coarse/fine the powder is.
This page actually has a granule size listed...first time I ever saw dimensions given so I bookmarked it. http://www.skylighter.com/fireworks/help/Black_Powder_Size_Charts.asp

FFg is common for .45 and up BP rifles
FFFg is common for most pistols/revolvers and rifles under .45
FFFFg is commonly used as priming compound for flintlocks.

Fg isn't real common, but I do remember it being called "musket powder" when I was a kid. This was by some of the local fur trapper rendezvous reenactors that had some of those big honkin .58-.75" caliber muskets. They also used that grade in their signal cannons which were about 1" bore.

The finer the powder the faster the burn rate.

I'm a true BP fan too. To my nose, Pyrodex stinks and it's still a PitA to clean up after...and on that note I have never tried any of the newer substitutes.

 

[Bindernut]

I've not used anything but Goex, does anyone know of any other flavor of 'real' BP? I will need some more shortly... gonna start shooting the BP more often again

Scheutzen and Swiss are another couple European brand names you might run across here. Both are higher priced than Goex though.
I've used Scheutzen when the local shop was out of Goex.

 

[gun-nut]

Go get the Lymans BP handbook. Its worth the $21.00.

 

[cycloneman]

2f is what i need

Thanks for the reminder. Been a while.