Peter D. I worked with Pyrodex more than 40 years ago, when it was first out. The Can, then, specifically said it wasn't for use in flintlocks, but I had a friend who had a flintlock and didn't like to believe factory warnings, so he tried pyrodex. He had both RS, and P, configurations. Both created hang fires. Neither produced good groups. Occasionally, with RS being worse than P, the flint would not even ignite the Pyrodex.
No doubt you have extensive esperience in the art of the smoke pole...I was just sharing my own personal experience. not intending to get you all in a fuss. I like Pyro-P and will continue to use it as long as they offer it.
-Cheers.
Since then I have seen many others try using the stuff in flintlocks. It hasn't worked for them, either. Both are slow to ignite, IF they do ignite.
When someone wants to tell me, in person, or on a forum like this that Pyrodox P works just fine in his flintlocks, I am going to challenge him. For all I know, he's a shill for the Company that makes the product!
This site, and the internet does provide more than a little Anonymity, after all. A lot of people with a lot less experience than I Have had are going to read comments like that, and believe it. They will spend good money buying Pyrodex P, and then spend a day struggling to get it to work in their flintlocks. They will be frustrated, and then angry. I don't want that anger turning on this forum, because NO ONE had the decency to challenge these kinds of claims, here.
The most common fall-back for these guys is to admit they use a " booster charge " of black powder in their flintlocks, to get the Pyrodex( or other substitute powder) to ignite. They never send pictures of their targets, unless they are shot at 25 yards, or less. If you are going to use Black Powder as a " booster" with the stuff, why not simply use Black Powder loads, as God intended to be used in flintlocks??? :hmm:
The only honest explanation I have heard to justify using "duplex" loads came from BrownBear here, on a prior thread. He lives on Kodiak Island, and its illegal to fly black powder into the island under federal laws. So, when he is low on black powder, he makes it stretch by using small booster charges in his flintlocks to ignite some other substitute powder that he can obtain.BB does most of his shooting at game- not targets, I gather, so he's not that interested in very small groups. "Minute of deer" are good enough. The brush is so thick on the Island that if he sees a bear, its almost always too close for comfort. Under the circumstances, pin point accuracy is not his first concern.
I hardly would call my response a " Summary disbelief". As to the man being a liar, those are your words. I find a lot of people have no clue how fast a flintlock should be expected to fire- having only information gained from watching old Hollywood movies to tell them this. They actually expect that a flintlock should have along delay in firing. If I thought he was lying, trust me, I would have said so. I didn't call him a liar, because I suspect he just doesn't know better.
If I could be paid $5.00( sorry, inflation) for every BP shooter who has come up to me at the club range to ask me how I get a flintlock to fire so fast, I would own a couple of Mike Brooks rifles! Every time I shoot at the club, I end up with a small group of shooters watching me load my gun, prime it, and shoot it. Some honest express shock that a flintlock can fire " almost as fast as a percussion rifle". Some flintlock shooters come over to ask me what they are doing wrong that is causing the hang-fires, etc.
So, lack of knowledge is the more likely problem when claims like this are made. :hmm: :thumbsup:
