Powder maker

[Blizzard of '93]

Are Swiss and Elephant powders made by same firm? Seems that both are European made. Few years back I had a can of one or the other, it left quite a bit of fouling and I went back to Goex.

 

[arquebus]

No, Swiss is just that, Swiss-made & Elephant is made in Brazil if memory serves me right. I have heard nothing but good reports on the Swiss powder, but cannot say the same for Elephant.

 

[Mad Monk]

Elephant ceased production in late 2001. The plant was shut down and the machinery sold. Somebody down there built a new plant down the coast.
A company imported one container of the "new" Elephant back in April 2006. I was supposed to get some for testing. The company that imported it was supposed to contact me bid never did.

I had warned the new company back in 2004 that any new Elephant simply would not be competitive in the U.S. market given the improvements in GOEX quality since 2001. So now I must assume that what was imported in April simply could not come close to matching the level of quality now seen in GOEX, Schutzen or Swiss powders.

The type of charcoal used in the old Elephant powder was barely acceptable in 1999. The other powder makers left that in the dust with their quality improvements. Can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear!!

 

[renovato]

You ain't kiddin' about the quality of Elephant. I shot a few cans years back because I got them cheap and figured powder was powder. The stuff fouled worse than anything I had ever encountered, wasn't consistant and wasn't as powerful as Goex.

 

[Mad Monk]

Depends on what year production you got. 1999 was the high point for Elephant. Then the guy who was in charge of charcoal making retired. His replacement had a rough time of it.