Myths about black powder.

J

jeager106

Moderator
Wonder how many black powder myths we can put together here?
Like:
"5 grains of Bullseye smokeless makes a "kicker" charge in a muzzle loader.
Dump the Bullseye down bore, add 100 grains of black & tetch'er off."
"Always wiegh a black powder charge for accuracy."
"Static electricty will set off black powder."
"Shoot yer gun over snow to see if the whole charge is burned."
"The best powder charge is one that covers a ball in your palm."
"All black powder is the same."
"You can't blow up a muzzle loader by over charging with black."
"The Hawken rifling twist of 1:48 is best all round for accuracy."
"Fire cracker powder can be safely used in a muzzle loader."
"You can make black powder as good or better than store bought."
"Flintlocks won't fire in wet weather."
"Best accuracy is when you don't swab between shots."
"Best accuracy is when you do swab between shots."
"During the Civil War the Confederate black powder was inferior to Yankee powder."
"Black powder can be made from the unrine of a woman on her cycle."
(oh, that ain't a myth is it?):)

Please add to the list.
If we run out of myths we can start posting recipies for patch lube.:D
My favorite is:
2 oz lizard lard
4 oz mares sweat
4 oz beeswax
2 oz lanolin
3 ox b'ar fat
put in pan, heat, mix, salt to taste.
 
Yep, I'm up for that one.... lets get as many as possible out into the open before they ALL become fact...

Cheers
Gaz
 
"You can make black powder as good or better than store bought."
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Speak for yourself. ;)

"During the Civil War the Confederate black powder was inferior to Yankee powder."
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This one might be true, not sure. I doubt they were significantly different, but each side used different wood for the charcoal and that does make a difference.
 
Actually the Confederate made black powder superior to powder made by Dupont in the north.
The south had a particular type of willow from which they made the charcoal for use in making black powder.
After the war was over the north burned that factory in the south.
Dupont wanted to increase "market share" thus did not want anyone making
black on a large scale competing with Dupont.
 
"5 grains of Bullseye smokeless makes a "kicker" charge in a muzzle loader."

I've never done it with a muzzleloader, but I have done it with black powder cartridges, and those 5 grains of smokeless powder dramatically reduce the amount of fouling left in the barrel.
 
I've never done it with a muzzleloader, but I have done it with black powder cartridges, and those 5 grains of smokeless powder dramatically reduce the amount of fouling left in the barrel.
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I still have half a pound of my first homemade BP. It works but is a little weak. Planning to load some .45 Colt or .41 Mag cartridges with about 4 grains of Red Dot, then fill with the BP and top with a lead bullet. I want flamethrowers with a little less mess and fowling than the straight BP.
 
" little less mess and fowling than the straight BP."

There's your problem. You're using too many chickens in your loads.
 
There is a tendency today to consider that all pre-smokeless powder was black powder and that it was all the same.

But in fact, as with most products, powder was gradually improved over the years and centuries to the point that the black powder in the late 19th century was a highly developed and consistent propellant. In addition, there were other kinds of powder, from the fine black powder used in pistol cartridges to the large 1x3" grains of brown powder used in naval guns and coast artillery. Each powder maker had its own "secret formula" and its own fan base, eager to trade barbs on the pages of sporting publications with advocates of some other powder.

I have heard the story about the superior Confederate powder, but wonder why DuPont didn't just buy that special Confederate wood for their own use. While the Augusta Powder Works produced most of the powder used by the C.S. (about 2 3/4 million pounds total), and it was considered good quality, I can find nothing to indicate that it was considered markedly superior to any other powder of the period, whether made by DuPont or by the U.S. government.

Jim
 
Dupont already had more powder plants than needed & with the end
of the hostilities there would be far less demand for powder thus
getting rid of the Augusta plant was a smart business move.
I don't agree with that but it's what I've read.
Swiss black is markedly superior to any other black made. Loads using Swiss should be reduced 20% from loads devleoped with Goex or Elephant.
Swiss burns much cleaner (for black powder) than any other brand.
The reason Swiss is so superior is because of the wood used for the
charcoal & the quality control of the KN03 & sulphur.
Goex buys what Swiss rejects.
Glad I still have several pounds of Swiss left as it's very costly today.
I use Swiss Null-B in my rock lock pans.
It's even more fine than 4fg and it's reported it ignites faster.
I don't know about that tho.
I've read the Swiss laod data that says to use one granulation larger of Swiss
than you'd use with Goex or others.
In my .58 Jeager I shoot Swiss 1.5 fg.
 
I would be very careful using a fast pistol or shotgun powder in a duplex load. I think Reloder 7 is popular amongst the practicioners.

I load Swiss 1 1/2 but was reading some very good reports on Goex Express before Hodgdon bought out Goex and dropped that higher grade. The new stuff Old Eynsford is said to be pretty good.
 
Heard tell once the South used allot of cotton wood for their charcoal of preference. As far as making black powder. There are two ways that govern its burn speed. One is: screening to F size. The other is: corning to F size.
 
5.0 Bullseye is a good load in the .45 auto.
I question using 5.0 grains in a muzzle loader.
I've never used a blk. ctg. rifle so can't speak to that at all.
I've seen 2 muzzle loaders blown at the breech end from using
bullseye as a "kicker" load. Now maybe the shooter used way more than
5 grains, don't know, but in all the reading I've done about blk & muzzle loaders it's cautioned against using any smokeless as a kicker or
starter for black.
The burn rate of pistol powders is much faster than blk.
Figure the .50 charge is a stout enough load in the .45 auto pushing a
230 gr. bullet & think of the same charge in a muzzle loader pushing
100 grains of powder + the weight of the lead bullet & a disaster is
brewing.
Bad idea I think.
 
Most duplex charges I ever read about were 2-3 grs Max of 3-FFF B/Powder used to quicken the burn speed of some now obsolete big bore smokeless or lower F-grade of Black. As far as Bullseye usage. Risky stuff.
 
"You can't blow up a muzzle loader by over charging with black."
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Not so sure this is a myth. Is there any evidence that you CAN "blow up" (that is, catastrophically destroy) a muzzle loader by overcharging with black powder?
 
Is there any evidence that you CAN "blow up" (that is, catastrophically destroy) a muzzle loader by overcharging with black powder?
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Not to my knowledge but that ain't sayin much.
 
4V50 Gary

Recognized a few names in that thread that got the theroy of B/P making down pat. I read the entire thread and gave this one individual a A mark on that thread.
MRRAGPICKER
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his short definition for hardwoods use was about as close as one can get in regards to B/P make'ins. No doubt there are equal or better woods to use than Black Willow. But Black Willows use is considered the Gold Standard by which all others are measured. BTW you don't really need a burning barrel. A old second hand Webber charcoal grill I bought at a garage sale cooks my charcoal. 1-gal at a time Sir. Here a link to what I use for a wood preference.
(Scroll down) until the following charts are seen:

Follow-up
Burn Rate Testing
These are relative times - though all are very repeatable on the same day, weather and other factors can contribute to significant time differences.

http://www.creagan.net/fireworks/charcoal_tests.html
 
"You can't blow up a muzzle loader by over charging with black."
Click to expand...
Not so sure this is a myth. Is there any evidence that you CAN "blow up" (that is, catastrophically destroy) a muzzle loader by overcharging with black powder?
Click to expand...

I used to frequent a local gunsmith, now deceased, he had a modern round barrel, I can’t recall the name but it was a popular brand, that had a blown seam. He used to show it to people to debunk any claims that you could not blow up a blackpowder barrel with blackpowder.

I would be very cautious about assuming any black powder barrel is made from the same materials as a centerfire barrel. You can make a blackpowder barrel from very low grade, low strength steel, basically wrought iron, because the pressures are so low. Don't assume a blackpowder barrel has the same margin of strength as a centerfire.
 
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