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Different powders?

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shortstart

36 Cal.
Joined
Jul 15, 2012
Messages
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Location
Western, Pa.
I’ve been thinking about trying either “Swiss 3f or “Old Eynsford” to replace Goex for handgun and 45 caliber and smaller rifle use. I understand that Swiss is a hotter powder but not sure about Old “E”. What are the basic differences between Swiss, Old E, and Goex? And, what potential benefit does one have over the other two? Thank you to all who may respond.
 
Shortstart I am fairly new to traditional muzzle loading and started out with Swiss 3f in my small caliber guns 32 36 and 45 all with patched round balls. Swiss is a hotter powder but is pretty expensive. I was gifted some Goex 3f and have been very happy with it and my 32 shoots it extremely well. Cleanup is about the same. In my opinion if the Goex works well for you I would stick with it and save your money. Cant say about Old E have never shot it. I mainly target shoot and want to get into small game and from what I have seen so far If I should run out of powder I would most likely purchase Goex 3F.
 
Swiss is expensive powder. OE is between Goex and Swiss in strength being a bit closer to Swiss than to Goex in power, while costing only a little more than Goex. I think either will give better performance in revolvers and pistols than Goex. In fact, they likely give velocities about on par with the original sporting powders used back in the day.
 
Swiss is expensive powder. OE is between Goex and Swiss in strength being a bit closer to Swiss than to Goex in power, while costing only a little more than Goex. I think either will give better performance in revolvers and pistols than Goex. In fact, they likely give velocities about on par with the original sporting powders used back in the day.
Thanks for the responses. A better question on my part would have been,”what is the difference between OE and Swiss. Thanks again for the reply’s.
 
Old Eynsford is a refined Goex powder, and is made by Goex. I have used all three mentioned and have settled on Old Eynsford. I shoot the 2F in the big calibers (58 and 75) and 3F in everything else. I use the 3f as priming powder in the 75 cal Brown Bess. I get excellent results that are repeatable in all of guns I shoot it in. Consistency is the key, and the OE produces consistency as good as the Swiss, but is priced a couple of bucks higher than Goex and a LOT lower than Swiss.
 
i fooled around a lot with Swiss and O.E., and settled on O.E. I chronographed a lot of loads and there is very little difference between the 2- I.E. with 65gr. of 3f in a .45 I was getting (average of 5 shot strings) 1,904FPS with Swiss and 1,887FPS with O.E.

Both Swiss (least amount) and O.E. make less fouling and smoke than standard Goex. The Swiss fouling was MUCH harder, and produced the toughest "fouling ring" I have ever encountered. It was nearly impossible to get that 5th shot down while O.E. was a breeze. It was the biggest reason I settled on O.E.

I found 2F Swiss to have softer fouling than the 3F Swiss.

Both cleaned up easy, rather amazing in this regard.
 
I received O.E. 2F and 3F from Grafs and will be shooting this in my Hawken for the first time when I get to the range. Have only shot Goex 2f up to now.
 
Swiss is expensive powder.

It does cost more per pound than something like Goex. But, reportedly, it is hotter (more powerful) and less is needed to attain equivalent velocities than using Goex. So the cost is basically a wash or maybe even a gain. I have recently begun using it but cannot yet comment on accuracy better or worse. However, it cleans up quickly and very nicely compared to Goex.
 
I have reported in previous posts of this nature regarding the difference between Goex and Swiss and OE. The main difference I am told is the wood used for the carbon component of the black powder formula. Swiss and OE use alder wood, which burns hotter and with less ash than goex which uses cottonwood or poplar wood. Cottonwood and poplar burn with more smoke and not as hot. You can verify this by burning some of each in a fire pit. The alder will be totally burnt to ash with little smoke as compared to poplar which will leave black coals and produce more smoke. My guess is that the hotter burning produces slightly higher velocities and less barrel deposits.
 
Swiss and OE use alder wood

I talked to Goex about O. Eynsford. There is no difference of ingredients between regular Goex and O. Eynsford, and he specifically stated it was the same charcoal (i didn't think to ask what kind) the difference is the processing time is considerably longer for O. E.
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. But, reportedly, it is hotter (more powerful) and less is needed to attain equivalent velocities than using Goex. So the cost is basically a wash or maybe even a gain

Swiss is hotter than Goex, but it is not close to being a wash economically. O.E. and Swiss are virtually identical in power. in my .45 using a 65grain charge of 3F Swiss and O.E., Swiss was 17fps faster (5 shot string) as I stated previously, and Swiss was about 80fps faster than standard 3F Goex.
 
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