Black Powder, Pyrodex or 777?

reload999

New to muzzle loaders and wanting to shoot the CVA .50 cal Hawken rifle my dad gave me. I seem to be having trouble finding black powder or pyrodex locally, and just learned of Triple Seven, which is in stock nearby...pellets even [:0] . I'm certain I can find BP or Pyrodex somewhere, but I now see there are more options than I had realized. I'd welcome any powder recommendations members might offer for what will be an occasional shooter only. Thanks.

festus

I would go with black powder. If you are going to be an occasional shooter, black powder will last forever if you keep it dry. I think the other stuff has a shelf life.

cbyerly

If you are having trouble finding powder, ask at your area gun shops to find other black powder shooters. If they have been at it a while, they will have a 'stash" of black powder. Get a copy of the NMLRA Muzzle Blasts and find your area field reps and contact them.

dandak1

I will be in the minority here, but after EXTENSIVE testing over the last 17 years with BP, Pyrodex, and now 777, I use Pyrodex in every one of my muzzleloading and "BP" cartridge firearms. 777 is a real close second. You dont mention if your CVA is flint or percussion. I have no experience with flint but have been told that Pyrodex is harder to ignite with a flint and to stick with bp for that.
Realize that all 3 powders are measured by volume and not weight. Set a black powder measure for the charge you want and use that setting for pyrodex or 777 irregardless of what it weighs. In my 50 cal percussion my plinking and general target shooting load is with a black powder measure set to 65 grains, I use pyrodex RS with that setting (it will weigh far less than 65 GNs on a scale) and a .495" ball with a 0.010" patch. For hunting I up the charge to the 100 GN setting on the volume measure. My barrel is a green mountain and I average 2 1/2" at 100 yards from a bench with this setup (3 shot groups, open sights). With the "real" black powder I never could get 3 shots off w/o a ball jamming in the barrel while being seated, necessitating pulling the breech plug (of course after killing the charge with oil squirted in thru the nipple hole). 777 gives more "oomph" at any given volume setting. This is very noticable using it at the 65 GN setting. 777 burns very clean and lately it is starting to replace Pyrodex in some of my loads (1851 navy for example).
Since you mention you are new to muzzleloading, remember that you cannot leave an air space between the powder charge and the ball. Make sure the ball is seated on the powder. Make a mark on your ramrod for each powder charge you shoot so you know you are seated each time. Keep your head out of alignment with the bore as you seat that ball. You would be surprised what i have seen on the range!!!
Anyway, welcome to muzzleloading...you should find it a joy to shoot. Make sure your gun has been gone over and is safe to shoot. Black powder is hard to find, but as stated above it does have a long shelf life...I even experimented with some old Curis and Harvey brand that had to be 50 years old and it shot fine (for black powder). I cant vouch for 777 but I bought some pyrodex recently that had to be 15-20 years old and it still shoots fine. Keep the lid on tight with all these powders as they suck in the moisture when left open. Good luck.

reload999

Thanks for the great information and tips; I appreciate them. My rifle is percussion, and before I started my powder search, I figured on using pyrodex...I didn't expect to have difficulty in finding it, and until the other day I had never heard of triple seven. I will check with the muzzleloader shooters at the local range to see what they use and where they obtain it. I have loaded metallic cartridges / smokeless powder for decades, so it seems strange to be a newbie again [;)]

slumlord44

I use all three from time to time. They all work fine as far as I am conerned. I have recently shot some extremely old Pyrodex in the old green cardboard containers. Went boom with no problem. Never tried it on a chronograph to compare velocities with the new stuff. Tripple Seven works fine also. A little easier to clean. Got some black powder that is close to 100 years old and it also works great. Use whatever suits you. The deer will never know the difference. Welcome to the wonderful world of front loaders. It is a lot of fun.

He Dog

I have used pyrodex pellets with Musket nipple and caps in a .50 TC Hawken with good success.

firstharmonic

I use both pyrodex and black powder. Pyro is easier to find and works well in caplocks. My flintlocks get a diet of black only; black powder ignites in the mid 400 degree range while pyrodex has an ignition temp almost 300 degrees higher so black just works better for me.

Pyrodex does lose potency after a year or so of being opened. I don't own a chronograph but a friend does and we've confirmed this after reading about it on another forum. It'll still go bang just fine, however.

Never tried triple seven; haven't seen a need to. And both pyro and black require thorough cleaning; both types of foulings are very corrosive. I enjoy using both.

bambambam

I have a T/C Hawkin and I shoot 60grs of Pyro(RS) for target & 80-90gr for hunting deer. I use a .010 prelube patch from Cabela's and Hornady .490 balls. I use bore butter on my own patches.

BE SURE to look at any 777 you buy, I've heard they are making MAGNUM powder for inlines not to be used in sidelocks.

Someone above notes measuring powder for muzzleloaders. ALWAYS measure by volume and never by weight with a scale. Pyrodex and 777 are formed to perform like BP by volume.

As far as clean up, I've found that 777 is almost as clean as smokeless. Pyro and BP are corosive and need to be cleaned up really good.

I also have gone to musket caps to prevent hang-fires and igniting the older Pyro after it has lost it's freshness.

Have fun, be safe[:p]

reload999

thanks, everyone.

allen griggs

Black powder!

reload999

Update - I finally fired my CVA .50 cal Hawken. I still haven't located any BP or pyrodex within about 60 miles of home (seems odd), and my last couple of trips to the range yielded no conversations with muzzleloader shooters (for help in locating powder), so I took the easy way out and bought some triple seven. With 60 gr (volume) the rifle went boom just fine, and I found that a patch & ball was more accurate than the 275 gr hunting bullets that came with the gun. I enjoyed the experience, but as a smokeless cartridge guy, I probably won't shoot it much. With gasoline @ $4/gal, I won't make a special trip to get BP, but I will eventually get some to experience the "real thing." Thanks to everyone who replied to my post.

andersk

I've used them all, and I think that Hodgdon 777 is the way to go. Shoots fine and consistently and the clean-up is a whole lot easier!

fishkiller41

GOEX 777 is the best,most accuate I have ever used in my Hawkin .54.
I have the plastic "speed loaders" that old a cap as well.
I keep about a dozen or so loaded & ready to go,at all times,.

glockman40sw

I started using 777 because it is cleaner and I get good accuracy from it.

MMOMEQ-55

I only have flinters and caplocks I only use BP. Misfires are rare. I used Pyro once and had 2 misfires in 20 rounds. BP I have a misfire maybe every 200 rounds.