Black powder

[tacfoley]

Quote from post #7 -

'BTW, NONE of the subs work well in a flintlock action, especially in the powder pan. This is because Pyrodex has a far higher flash initiation point than any grade of BP by a country mile - sparks from the frizzen just refuse to light this stuff up. Triple 7 is needs even hotter ignition, about 777F, hence the name.'

Pyrodex was never intended to replace BP in flintlock use. The late Mr Pawluk was a very clever chemist, and was insistent that his invention was aimed at the ever-growing percussion shooter market. Given his expertise in the field of propellant manufacturing it is unlikely that the fact that Pyrodex performs as well as self-raising flour in a flintlock was an oversight on his part.

Sure, you CAN shoot it in a flintlock, but only by priming the pan with BP and first putting a small initiating charge of BP down the breech, making a so-called duplex load. Over in the Americas, where most folks are willing to try just about anything once, that's about as many times as folks do it. Even Pyrodex pellets, intended for in-lines, have a small centrally located initiating charge of compressed BP to get them going.

In any case, most flintlock shooters of my acquaintance would rather have boiling mercury poured into their stapled-open eyes than admit to knowing anything about Pyrodex except in passing.

tac