None of the “special methods” should be relied upon if you haven’t tried and practiced them adequately beforehand. The best use for gunpowder in fire kindling that I have tried is a heat source from friction to ignite the powder. A shoelace, bow and stick has always worked and done so under some rather nasty windy, wet conditions on several occasions. I have tried rifle firing methods to no avail. I do know that flake powders generally work better for flame-making. The extruded powders sometimes sputter a bit too much to ignite things as easily. Ideal tinder to catch the flame becomes more critical when the powder is less ideal.
Magnesium bar methods are very reliable but they do have a significant learning curve in order to be reliable. I really like them when conditions are wet however. Also, not all magnesium bars are ideal. Coghlans had very good magnesium years ago, but more recently, they seem to be ‘coarser’ in grain structure and do not peel shavings as well.
Sometimes, the air you 'let in'matters less than the air you 'let out'.
