Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders whats the best bp substitute?

Actually just bought a place off the parkway near Hillsville. Who in C-burg carries it?

I used Blackhorn 209 whenever I can. It is expensive but it is very accurate and forgiving if you can't clean it right now.

If it is a sidelock or a pistol it gets goex black. All the others I've tried have been more expensive and just as much trouble.

Millers Gun Shop 540-381-7540
Franklin St[just out of town limits heading towards Pilot].

I guess you sold in Indian Valley?

yes, we sold it. Place I have now has a real nice log cabin. killed 2 deer off the back porch so far. Place has been empty for years. Deer walk through the yard and look at me like "what are you doing here?"

Good deal.
Pretty country over there!

FYI- my wife is an 'Allen'....of Courthouse fame.

All I have ever shot is Pyrodex and Black. I like the Pyrodex in my Hawkin. I shot 17-18 shots on Sunday without swabbing at all, just load and shoot. The very last shot was a bit slow on ignition but all the rest loaded easy and shot true. With black I can only shoot once, then have to swab to get the next ball down the bore. I need to figure out how to get a few rounds without swabbing with BP but I have yet to figure it out.

Wow! Just happened to be in the old shop today looking for some gun parts when management made decision to stop handling "The Holy Black". After 56 years!

777

There is no substitute.

Graf and Sons will ship you black powder. I bought some from them last year. I have tried several of the substitutes. I like BH 209 the best if your rifles breechplug will light it.
For a traditional sidelock I would use Black powder. I have had subs not light shooting at deer or hang fires. Never had black powder not fire if the cap fired. One year I was out of caps and bought a tin of Remington caps some of them wouldn't fire. Never had a cci cap not go off. Musket or percussion. I have used them both.

Better lube, thinner patch, smaller ball.

My rule of thumb is I need to be able to reload and fire hunting loads twice, for a total of three shots, or change something, at least for deer. A small loss of accuracy from a looser-fitting load shouldn't hurt your chances much. Barrels meant for balls as opposed to combo-twists may have deeper grooves, which helps.

Pyrodex is essentially black powder with 'secret ingredients' to stabilize it so as to get around BP's 'explosive' status for shipping purposes. In my experience Pyrodex is every bit as dirty as BP and *seems* to be more corrosive.

Pyrodex rs select (rifle grade) is pretty good used it for yrs, tried bh209 had all the probs anyone could have had with it. Breech plug design and not willing to shuck out 50 bucks to get one modified . Use 777 2f in my kodiak , the dreaded crud ring is easily taken care of with butch,s black powder bore shine. 777 is hygroscopic it absorbs moisture and swells out then when you load it and the compression actually crushes it to a sand like form. which is like shooting a 3f or 4f pistol or priming powder. Always buy a fresh can of 777 every yr!!!!!! I looked at the difference in size and color between an old and new can . Also you can literally take old 777 and grind in your fingers into a sand like texture versus fresh 777 which takes alot of effort to crush in your fingers. How do I know this..... I shot a can of 777 that I had for 3 seasons like a miserly dumbass and shot over a real nice buck in area 44a on fort campbell, after looking for 2hrs not believing I missed , I found the bullet hole in a tree almost 4 ft up. Then I did all the detective work to find out stuff. New can hit to point of aim at 100 like 777 2f should, old can hit 8 inches higher cause i was shooting sand like crushed powder .Always always always buy a fresh can of 777 each yr !!!!, saving a few bucks ain't worth missing a good buck and learning chyt after the fact.