So the powder I’m using is no good? I’m curious I’m figuring this out myself and I am not the smartest creature to walk on this planet.You don't really mean #11 musket caps. You want #11s or musket caps. They are not the same. I will guess you want #11. Crater Fireworks has some RWS which I have used a lot. They work very well.
Product
Black Powder Wholesale, Black Powder shipper, musket caps, Crater Fireworks, Blasting & Black Powder, Mineral, Illinois, Jon Blackert. The powder Guywww.addictedtoblackpowder.com
Stick with the Swiss. Whatever granulation you got, it's better than anything Pyrodex. Very carefully pour the Pdex on your garden or down a gopher hole. Do not ever put it down a muzzle. 10 lbs of Swiss will last a couple of months if you don't shoot a lot
#11 percussion caps?!?
- Thread starter The Hedgehog
- Start date
BrentD
Well-known member
Pydrodex is what it is. Cheap junk available everywhere, but suitable for the uninformed masses that are not serious about their shooting. Sorry, that's how I see it. It will also rot a barrel faster than battery acid. Perhaps you already discovered that.
Truthfully, real blackpowder is great stuff that really does work better than fake stuff. It's harder to get, but it can be shipped to your door, so not impossible by any stretch. Of the several varieties of powder out there, Swiss is the best. Swiss 1.5fg or 2fg will do just about any job you have perfectly well. Any caliber.
About all it won't do is prime a flintlock well. It will work, just not well. 4fg for that.
BTW, just saw that Buffaloarms.com has Musket caps, if that's what you really want. But no #11 percussion caps (they do sell pretty tins to keep them in however).
Makes sense.
grizzly63
Well-known member
I think swiss is available at Powder Valley. #11 caps are in stock at Kjeergards in MN
For as much as I shoot or care to hunt another Montana season I will continue to put battery acid down my barrel in hopes that one day maybe I will see the buck of my dreams. If the barrel rots away as predicted I will buy another as I didn’t pay much for the one I got. It shoots good to 100 good enough for me.
Hem
Well-known member
I've been using this for decades with zero problems.
Some people have opinions.
Some people have opinions.
BrentD
Well-known member
Hey, if it makes you happy, the have at it. It won't bother me in the slightest. But there is a reason that folks that shoot a lot don't use it. Several reasons actually.
Well I’ve been asking. What are the reasons not to use it?
BrentD
Well-known member
Accuracy, corrosiveness, expense (may not be anymore), legality (for competition), and history are all good reasons to start with.
So if I’m happy with the accuracy, historically will it go off when the hammer drops?
BrentD
Well-known member
If you are happy, I'm happy. But...
If I had to bet which rifle would misfire, one loaded with Pdex and one loaded with Black, I'd bet on Pdex to fail, especially if it was cold, wet, or even just damp and the odds go up the longer the load has been in the gun.
If I want to bet on which one will win a match or hit an animal where I'm aiming, I'll bet on black.
If I want bet on which gun will have rust in the bore tomorrow when I wake up in camp, I'll bet on Pdex.
If I want a powder that meters well, compresses predictably, and doesn't go bad, I'll pick black every time.
But if what you have works for you, then have at it. I'll stick with black, because long ago, I used to shot Pdex.
woods89
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- Oct 27, 2021
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Well, I learned something new! I've fought a running battle with bore pits via Pyrodex for a few years now in my Knight MK-85. I always thought Pyrodex was better than black powder in that respect. Looks like I may need to get some real black powder for next year.
Thanks, @BrentD !
Thanks, @BrentD !
Sounds like once you go black (powder) you never go back. I’ll prolly just stick to my chitty pdex smells like rotten eggs, reminds of the well water I drank growing up.
Dan O
Well-known member
There was an old guy here in Seeley that wanted to sell his TC Hawken 50 cal for $200.00. I asked him what condition the barrel was in and he said it's good I've shot a few Deer with it. Ok I thought I'd take a look at it and if it was what he said I would buy it. Well, I met with him and at first look the stock had a lot of handling marks and dings but still serviceable. Then I checked the barrel, and it was a pitted mess. He noticed my expression and said I've only shot pyrodex in it, you know you don't have to worry about cleaning it right away like you do BP. I thanked him for his time and walked away.
It seems some guys are under the impression pyrodex doesn't corrode and you can let them sit for awhile before cleaning "if you don't forget". I think pyrodex corrodes as bad if not worse than BP. But to each their own. Personally, I go through 20 to 25 pounds of BP a season shooting BPCR & BPTR and I'm sure Brent exceeds that amount every year. Swiss is the best BP out there today and has been # 1 for a number of years. No matter what you shoot clean the rifle asap inside and out.
Dan
It seems some guys are under the impression pyrodex doesn't corrode and you can let them sit for awhile before cleaning "if you don't forget". I think pyrodex corrodes as bad if not worse than BP. But to each their own. Personally, I go through 20 to 25 pounds of BP a season shooting BPCR & BPTR and I'm sure Brent exceeds that amount every year. Swiss is the best BP out there today and has been # 1 for a number of years. No matter what you shoot clean the rifle asap inside and out.
Dan
Hem
Well-known member
What he said^^^
It can't pit if you clean it.
It can't pit if you clean it.
Nicoli7153
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- Sep 9, 2021
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What are your thoughts on 777? Have a TC New Englander in a .50, started using 777 FF when I couldn't get black powder ANYWHERE locally
Bullshot
Well-known member
plenty of discussions on 777 on every web forum. it is easier to use (imo) than pyrodex and have never had the corrosiveness as I had with pyrodex. Hotter powder than either BP or pyrodex. Seems very accurate to me. Ignites easily have never had misfire or hangfire with it, warm or cold. Can be finicky with type of primer and has reputation for a hard “crud ring” in the breech. I solved with using muzzleloader-only primers (not magnum/shotgun primers) and developing efficient loads. EZ cleanup, very water soluble. Use FF or FFF in your 50, but reduce loads 15% from BP.
Nicoli7153
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- Sep 9, 2021
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Okay thanks, it's a cap and ball side lock rifle and I haven't had any issues with it using 777 so far. I'm fussy about cleaning just wanted to make sure I didn't need to extra vigilant with Triple Seven.
BrentD
Well-known member
Yup, but you gotta clean it 27 times more than with bp. In the beginning, I shot pdex and I'd clean the heck out of my gun. The next morning I'd do it again. Then every morning for a week, I'd at least run a dry patch and and oil patch. After that, I would put it in my safe and a month later, a dry patch would come out rusty. I sold that rifle after less than 10 yrs with pits in the bore. My flinter, that I've been shooting for 3 decades, is spotless. It has never seen Pdex.
Read what DanO posted. I knows what he is talking about.
The guys that like to shoot. The guys that shoot competitions, the guys that shoot muzzleloaders and BPCR rifles in all the hunting seasons (not just the muzzleloader season), they all shoot real bp. Every one of them. There is a reason.
BP fouling still smells good, as does the smoke. Try it some time.
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