Everything about Black Powder Substitute totally explained
A
black powder substitute is a replacement for
black powder used in
muzzleloading and
cartridge firearms. Black powder substitutes offer a number of advantages over black powder, primarily including reduced sensitivity, reduced fouling, and increased efficiency.
Types of substitutes
Hodgdon's
Pyrodex was the first widely available substitute on the market. Pyrodex is less sensitive than black powder, and uses the same shipping and storage guidelines as smokeless powder. Pyrodex is more powerful per unit of
mass than black powder, but it's less
dense, and can be substituted at a 1:1
ratio by
volume for black powder in most applications. Pyrodex is similar in composition to black powder, consisting primarily of
charcoal,
sulfur, and
potassium nitrate, but it also contains
graphite and
potassium perchlorate, plus additional ingredients protected by
trade secret. Originally available as loose powder in two granularities, Pyrodex is now available in
Select and solid pellet varieties. While Pyrodex offers improved safety and increased efficiency (in terms of shots per pound of powder) over black powder, the level of fouling is similar.
Hodgdon also makes
Triple Seven, a reduced fouling substitute. Triple Seven also is based on charcoal, potassium nitrate, potassium perchlorate, and graphite, but doesn't contain sulfur. Additional ingredients are protected by trade secret.
Clean Shot and the short lived
Black Canyon powders are reduced fouling, reduced smoke substitutes that rely on
ascorbic acid as a fuel, while Goex's
Clear Shot uses a complex
sugar, possibly
fructose, as a fuel. These all offer the benefit of more shots between cleaning than other charcoal-based powders.
Western Powder now offers the Blackhorn 209 which is a radical shift in powder design. This extruded propellant with innovative formulation gives better velocity to pressure ratio and is non fouling and non corrosive for the barrels.
Disadvantages
With the increased safety of the black powder substitutes often comes a reduced sensitivity to ignition.
Flintlocks in particular need very sensitive, finely granulated powder for use in the flash pan, and black powder tends to perform more reliably in these and traditional
caplock guns than substitutes. Modern in-line muzzleloaders provide a stronger ignition than traditional designs, and this helps to increase reliability with the less sensitive substitutes.
Further Information
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