help, damp black powder ?

T

the_don

Inactive
hey guys i been reading post for about a week now and i am amazed at all the information and stories you have here.

anyway i got out my .50 cal cva inline muzzleloader to zero in my new scope and when i got to the range i found my powder pellets must have drawn damp over the winter months and wouldnt fire. just looking and handling the pellets you cant tell their damp but i only had 1 set of pellets fire out of the 10 i tried. and it is verry damp in the room i stored the pellets in. my question is, is there a way to dry these powder pellets or just take the loss and throw them out.
 
Yeah, as brushhippie says, BP gets wet a couple of times before we get it.
Probably, at some point during the mixing of the components, just for safety.
But, really, don't use the stove.
When I was a kid, one of the other kids in the neighborhood used to make all our fireworks for us.
One day he tried to reinvent the wheel, and was sure that heating up the home made BP would make it more potent.
You know those old movies, where things go blooey, and everyone in the vicinity stumbles out of the smoke all covered in soot and singed around the edges?
That's what he looked like.
 
ok thanks guys .. i was thinking about just sitting it out in the sun for a while but wasnt sure if it would work, hope its dry soon this stuff isnt cheap no more, thanks again for all your responses
 
Um, bp pellets? Does bp come in pellets? Perhaps they're Pyrodex or 777 pellets?

Pyrodex and 777 degrade significantly when stored in open air, especially if it's humid. BP can be restored if dried out, but I doubt Pyrodex or 777 can. Even if it dries out I believe it'll still be damaged.
 
yeah theyre pyrodex pellets.. i have a box for them ordered, i had them in the sun for about 6 hrs yesterday and a few thismorning they seem to be ok all loads fired today:)
 
There's a Revolutionary War account written by a soldier, letter to home, I think, describing how an entire wagonload of cartridges got soaked.

All of the cartridges were disassembled, the powder and paper put on blankets in the sun to dry, and then reassembled.

Sounds tedious as hell.
 
clearly if they fired they are not ruined ...and the way I understand it there is little difference between BP and BP subs, but Im sure Im wrong about that.... go ahead and pile on.
 
The only difference that's been obvious, between BP and the substitutes, is the smell.
Or in the case of 777, thankfully, the distinct lack of it.
Don't care what you old timey traditionalists say, sulfur just downright stinks! :p
 
and the way I understand it there is little difference between BP and BP subs
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Depends on what you mean by "difference". The subs chemical/physical/combustion properties are way different, some more "way different" than others. They are very similar in that they all produce black powder like pressures and velocities with similar volumetric loads.

The pellets are ruined. Use for garden fertilizer.
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+1 Even if they fire, they can not be trusted to get the job done.
 
they can not be trusted to get the job done.

Heck if they shove a ball out the end and it goes boom its gettin the job done....now if you're on your back and some guys standing over you with an axe....no I wouldnt trust them! ;)
 
Heck if they shove a ball out the end and it goes boom its gettin the job done....now if you're on your back and some guys standing over you with an axe....no I wouldnt trust them!
Click to expand...

Or if that no good rotton tree stump jumps up at you again...! I don't think I would want to leave one of them without putting a couple holes in it. God forbid my gun goes boom and the ball rolls out onto my foot in a situation like that. :D

Seriously though, those iffy pyrodex pellets would be better entertainment if pitched into a bonfire.
 
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The differance is that subs ain't Black Powder and anyone that knows can tell you there is a differance ... get a Pound of KIK or Goex, and a lb. of Triple Se7en and try to get groups with 777 that you got with the Black Powder from the same Revolver ...
Maybe it's just me, but I don't think so :)
 
...not changing the fact that dampness is not going to render it useless. But thanks professor.... anybody that knows really should tell me, please explain. The way I understand it, it is made from the same ingredients with graphite and pottasium perchlorate blah blah whatever else they add, but once again ....pretty similar.
 
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Ingredients aren't very similar. Not like comparing pancakes to waffles (same basic ingredients). More like comparing chicken and tofu. You eat them both the same way, but its harder to catch a tofu... :)
 
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