© Wm. Hovey Smith, 2013. Any reproduction of all or parts of this work are prohibited and punishable under U.S. and international copyright laws, except that brief sections may be quoted in reviews. This copyright includes all original images and derivative works.
ISBN: 978-0-9855965-7-6
Introduction
Chapter
1. Choosing between today’s muzzleloading powders
Black Powders
Black-powder substitute powders
What is the best powder for my muzzleloader?
Equivalency
Corrosion
2. Managing percussion and electric ignition systems
Percussion
Solving percussion ignition problems
209 primer-fired guns
Small rifle primer replacements
Electric
3. Twenty-one steps to flintlock success
4. Tyranny of the match: Shooting matchlock guns
Hunting with a matchlock
5. Shooting the percussion revolver
Shooting for accuracy
Caps and powders
Lubrication
Cleaning
Recommendations
6. Muzzleloaders and round balls: How effective are they?
7. Muzzleloading bullets and shot placement: Big and slow vs. light and fast
8. Home casting bullets
Gathering lead
Casting bullets
Dropping bullets
Inspection and trimming
Labeling
9. Shooting sabots and such
10. Are 150 grain charges useful in today’s in-line muzzleloaders?
11. Weatherproofing your muzzleloader
Keeping flintlocks flinting
Keeping percussion guns popping
12. The fumble factor in muzzleloading hunting
Percussion double rifles
Big-bore smoothbore percussion doubles
Minie-ball percussion single-shot rifles
Big-bore percussion round-ball rifles
Big-bore percussion singles
Best quality flintlocks
Pellet-sabot in-lines
13. The four levels of muzzleloading accuracy: What they are and how to achieve them
Level 1. 3-inch groups at 25 yards
Level 2. 2-inch groups at 50 yards
Level 3. 1-inch groups at 100 yards
Level 4. Less than ½-inch groups at 100 yards
14. Cleaning your muzzleloader
Cleaning old guns
Ordinary gun cleaning
Cleaning side-lock guns
Cleaning in-line guns
Cleaning percussion revolvers
15. Storing muzzleloading guns
16. Muzzleloading accessories
Generic accessory needs
Extras for round-ball rifles and flintlocks
17. Getting your new muzzleloader ready to hunt in one day
Outdoor books by Wm. Hovey Smith
Muzzleloading short-shot series E-books for 2013
Suppliers’ Addresses
Books in the Muzzleloading Short Shots series were developed to give black-powder gun enthusiasts information in tightly-focused packages. Each book contains candid comments about guns, powders, bullets, ignition systems and hunting techniques.
These brief treatments are based on 50 years of shooting and hunting with muzzleloading guns. I started writing for the outdoor press in the 1970s in The American Rifleman and have sold articles to many other publications. I am now the Corresponding Editor for the Gun Digest Annual covering black-powder guns, products and hunting.
Besides these, I have written four books (now also E-books) including Practical Bowfishing (Stoeger), Crossbow Hunting (Stackpole) and Backyard Deer Hunting: Converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound (Author House).
My most recent title is X-Treme Muzzleloading: Fur fowl and dangerous game with muzzleloading rifles, smoothbores and pistols (Author House). These books are between 200-300 pages, and Backyard Deer and X-treme Muzzleloading have detailed information about individual hunts.
While the gun prices given in the Short Shot books were valid in 2013, they have been generally increasing every year and vary with international exchange rates. Stated prices should be used as general guidelines.
Constraints on economical E-book publishing prevent me from using as many photos as I would like. For more pictures go to the soft-cover edition of X-Treme Muzzleloading, my other soft-cover books and videos.
In the rear of the book, links are provided to the web pages of almost all manufacturers, and these should be consulted for up-to-date information.
Loads listed in this book were safe and effective in my guns, but I cannot take responsibility for those assembled by others. Any loads should only be used in newly manufactured guns in good condition – be prudent, be safe and good hunting.
Some of Hodgdon’s black powder substitute powders. The company now also owns GOEX and also makes powders under the Winchester and IMR brands.
Choosing between today’s muzzleloading powders
Propellants used in black-powder guns have come and gone in the American market over the past 50 years. When I was a boy the only black powder was made by DuPont. This remained true through the 1980s, but an explosion in the powder mill caused DuPont to withdraw from this business, and a separate company, GOEX, was formed to manufacture the powder.
GOEX ultimately relocated from the East Coast to Louisiana and built a new powder mill. During this 1980s transition period, Elephant Powder was imported from Brazil, Schuetzen black powder came into the country from Switzerland and Hodgdon speeded production of Pyrodex, the first really successful black-powder substitute which had been in development since 1975.
Later products from Hodgdon included Pyrodex Pellets and TripleSeven in 2004, which was followed a few years later by a new powder, IMR WhiteHot pellets. Pelletization allowed pre-measured amounts of these powders to be dropped down the barrel eliminating the need for powder measures while seemingly increasing loading efficiency.
Pelletized powders became popular even though those who used speed loaders could load premeasured charges of loose powder or the new pellets with equal speed.
Hunters who took their muzzleloaders out only a few times a year during special deer seasons/hunts felt more confident using pellets because this eliminated one source of potential loading error and the need to remember to set their powder measures to throw a particular charge.
In the 2000-teens GOEX was purchased by Hodgdon and some new varients of black powder were made which have thus far included a less expensive powder for reenactors, aptly named Reenactor; a powder for black-powder cartridge reloading, GOEX Black Powder Cartridge; and a newly introduced high-performance black powder called Olde Eynsford.
Not only have America’s shooters had five granulations of black powder available from five different makers over the past half-century, there are also three varieties of Pyrodex, several sizes of Pyrodex pellets and different configurations of Pioneer Powders, Jim Shockey’s Gold and TripleSeven that are being sold in 2013.
Most powders will work in nearly all muzzleloading guns, but some are restricted to particular functions and calibers. In addition, storage and shipment regulations are different for black powder and the substitutes which results in black powder being available from fewer sources than the substitute propellants.
Black Powder
Sulphur, charcoal and an oxidizing nitrate or chlorate compound that are ground, mixed, wetted, dried, reground and sized are the ingredients in black powder. When confined and ignited, this mechanical combination of components combines explosively yielding a large volume of propellant gasses and solid byproducts, including corrosive chlorate and/or nitrate compounds and a small amount of water.
These solid and gaseous byproducts yield the smoke and characteristic rotten-egg smell of black powder. Fortunately, these corrosive byproducts are water soluble and clean up with soap and water or a variety of water-based black-powder solvents.
GOEX and Swiss Schuetzen powders are the two most common black powders seen today. Grades that have uses in firearms include Cannon and increasingly fine granulations ranging from F to FFFFg grades. F, usually referred to as “one F,” is used in the largest of rifle calibers and for 12-bore and larger shotguns. FFg is most suitable for .44 to .58 caliber rifles while FFFg is restricted to smaller-bore rifles and pistols. The finest powder, FFFFg, is used for priming flintlocks and in .22 and .17-caliber pistols.
In terms of efficiency, Swiss Schuetzen yields more energy than GOEX which is a little more efficient than Elephant Brand, which was imported from Brazil, but is not frequently seen today. Generally, it takes about 105 grains of Elephant powder to reach the same velocities achieved with 100 grains of GOEX FFg.
More recently Western Powders has imported KIK black powder from Slovenia to help fill out their product line which also includes Blackhorn 209. KIK is available in the usual American granulations. I have not had enough experience with this powder to see how it ranks compared to other black powders.
For those interested in reloading black-powder cartridges, GOEX also makes a cartridge-grade black powder that is easier to meter than the typical angular grains of black powder.
The imported Schuetzen black powders are very costly, although do give impressive results on game and on the target range. In 2013 GOEX (now owned by Hodgdon) announced the introduction of Olde Eynsford, which was stated to be the American equivalent of the Swiss powders.
Wano is a German powder that I have used in South Africa. Although it may be that their export-grade powder is less powerful than what they sell in Europe, I found that I had to load about 10 percent more Wano than GOEX FFg to achieve the same levels of performance.
Compared with smokeless powder, black powder is a forgiving propellant. A grain more-or-less will not make a significant difference on game or target, and black powder is not as pressure sensitive as some of the substitutes.
Cautions with all of the powders are: avoid sparks, do not smoke or allow anyone to smoke while black powder is in use, do not attempt to grind powder as it can detonate under pressure and, on the range, swab bores between shots.
If you want to keep all your fingers and both eyes, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MAKE YOUR OWN POWDER.
With the exception of the Savage Muzzleloading ML 10 I and and ML 10 II rifles, do not use any amount of smokeless powder in any muzzleloading gun. Other muzzleloading guns and ignition systems are not designed for the higher pressures generated by smokeless powders.
Although made for about four years, the Savage ML rifle is no longer offered and no major manufacturers have followed Savage’s lead in this area of the marketplace with its high litigation potential.
Black powder substitutes
Black powder substitutes evolved because of the need to have a propellant suitable for muzzleloading guns that could move more easily from manufacturer to customer without having to go through the same shipping and storage regulations required of commercial explosives. Only a few dealers in each state may stock black powder, but every sporting goods store in the country can carry the black powder substitutes.
What these powders have in common is that they all produce smoke, they are more difficult to ignite than black powder, most may be substituted volume for volume for black powder and nearly all are corrosive to barrel steels.
One in-use problem common to many pellets is that they may develop a tough “crud ring” immediately forward of the pellets which can prevent the next charge from fully seating down the bore. Even when rapidly reloading, mark your ramrods to make sure that the bullet is seated all the way down or you will ring your barrel and/or miss your follow-up shot.
While black powder may be stable for centuries, at least some of the black-powder substitutes can degrade over time. Before each season be sure to check your guns and see if they still shoot to the same point of aim. If they do not, adjust the powder charge or buy fresh powder.
Pyrodex
Hodgdon helped support the early development of Pyrodex, the first modern black-powder substitute, and has continuously upgraded this product. The new powder was designed to simulate black powder as closely as possible while being free of the onerous shipping and storage requirements of black powder.
Pyrodex RS translates to Pyrodex Rifle-Shotgun, and this powder may be volumetrically substituted for FFg black powder. This powder is a little harder to ignite than black powder, and CCI Magnum no. 11 caps help insure ignition in damp weather.
This powder is also a little more sensitive to pressure variation during reloading. Historically, Pyrodex RS was not seen as having the accuracy potential of black powder, and a more carefully sized Pyrodex Select was developed to overcome this deficiency.
Most shooters now agree that Hodgdon has overcome its accuracy problem and are hard put to prove any real accuracy differences between Pyrodex Select and FFg.
Pyrodex P or Pyrodex Pistol is a finer granulation designed for use in pistols and 20-40 grain loads in .32-.40 caliber muzzleloading rifles.
Pyrodex Pellets have become the preferred muzzleloading propellant for many black-powder hunters. Rather than measuring powders, one or more pellets are dropped down a rifle bore to make a variety of loads. Rifle pellets are available in .45, .50 and .54 calibers. Pellet weights available in .45 and .50-calibers are 50 and 30 grains (also a 30-grain weight for pistol), and 60-grains in .54 caliber. Pellets are particularly suitable for modern in-line guns, but, with some individual exceptions, do not work in sidelock percussion guns.
Pyrodex rifle pellets have a black-powder priming charge that is loaded black-powder-end-down. If sufficient FFFFg priming powder can be teased through the vent hole of a flintlock gun, pellets can be successfully used in flintlocks, and I have done this countless times.
Two flintlock guns, Thompson/Center Arms’ Firestorm and Traditions’ Pennsylvania Pellet Flintlock are designed to function with pellets. The Traditions’ gun is the simplest, least expensive and more reliable of the two designs. The Pennsylvania Pellet Flintlock is pictured in Chapter 16.
There have also been a couple of side-lock guns set up for using either musket caps or 209 primers that were designed for pellet use. One was the Traditions Magnum Hawken that I used to take an alligator with and the other was the 209 Thompson/Center Arms Firestorm. Both of these guns were discontinued a year or so after they were introduced.
The pistol pellets were designed for use in black-powder revolvers, and for cowboy loads in .45-Colt and .44 Magnum cases. Many black-powder rifle cartridges may also be reloaded with the rifle pellets or combinations of rifle and pistol pellets. Hodgdon has developed a list of recommended loads that is available from the manufacturer.
Pyrodex powders produce smoke like black powder, and gives less, but harder, combustion residues. It is also more corrosive than black powder, and the same aqueous-based cleaning solvents are necessary to clean up after Pyrodex as with black powders. Because it is harder to ignite, Pyrodex and Pyrodex Select do not work well in flintlocks guns, although there is a new Hodgdon product, TripleSeven, that gives better performance.
TripleSeven
TripleSeven is the newest of Hodgdon’s black-powder substitute powders. Unlike previous formulations, this powder does not contain sulfur. Although its granular form looks like Pyrodex RS, it is from 15 to 30 percent more efficient, and less powder is required to achieve the same performance. It is also significant that TripleSeven produces much less in-bore residue than black powder or Pyrodex RS, and this less-corrosive residue is easier to remove.
This powder ignites better than Pyrodex RS and, in a pinch, can be used to prime flintlocks, although ignition is more sluggish than with FFFFg back powder. TripleSeven may also be used to reload black-powder cartridges. One less than favorable aspect of TripleSeven is that it is more sensitive to compression.