Interesting results for the KIK, powder. I havn't even given it a try in quite a few years. In going thru my older shooting logs I am amazed at how long ago it was I tried KIK, looks like it was the summer of 2001.
I was doing some load work-up for a New Meacham Match Rifle I had just gotten. This rifle a highwall in 45-70 was to be my new Silhouette Rifle replacing a fine shooting CPA 44 1/2. In that load work-up I took as many different powders as I could find. KIK, Elephant, Goex and of course Swiss. My best chrony runs were with the KIK and the Swiss, they both were very good with a slight edge going to the KIK. I also shot some of the best groups ever with the KIK, that is best up to a point. Since I am a Silhouette Shooter I need a accurate run of at a minimum of the 10 shots for record plus my sighter shots. I usually shot 5 and some times 6 sighters, I "Demand" from my rifle accuracy that will keep me on target at 500 meters for those 16 shots.
What I found was the KIK powder while having very good velocity and shooting pretty small groups would always, let me repeat that "Always" throw a flyer or maybe two in a 10 shot string. This puzzled me a lot, I tried every trick I could think of, shot the KIK right alongside the Swiss with Swiss no flyers with the KIK always some flyers. I finally took a lb of the KIK and shifted it. I shoot 2fg powder in my 45-70 but what I found after shifting and what "I" think accounted for the flyers was the amount of --Fines-- in a lb container of KIK powder. Sometimes these fines accounted for maybe a 5th to a quarter of the lb. The fines were very close in size to 4fg powder and some as fine as Priming powder. And as expected when I loaded the shifted powder removing the Fines the powder shot much better with a tremendious reduction of the flyers, and in most cases eliminating them altogether.
I ended up after this load work-up using only Swiss powder, I don't pick a powder because of cost, but because of performance. Shifting every lb of KIK was simple not going to happen for me when Swiss was and is, the best Black Powder on the market today just as it was 10 years ago.
If KIK has done away with there production problem and done away with the fines or maybe the amount of the fines would be a better way of putting it, I would try it again in a heartbeat.
Roland
