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That imitation black powder

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Our club buys in large amounts, usually fifty to a hundred pounds. We can generally find black powder for sixteen to eighteen dollars a pound. Shipping and hazmat increases the cost by roughly 40/45%. There is no savings, but at least we have it. None of the retailers in town will stock Holy black but the substitutes they do sell are cheaper than the club purchase by $6:00 a pound. The alternative is driving 750 miles round trip to get real powder at $24 to $30 a pound depending on brand and availability.
Availability of real powder was the reason I started out with a caplock. I'm starting to see that getting black powder, with a little planning is not a complete lost cause. I've picked some up on the two trips to Anchorage I've made in the last year so will be prepared when I eventually get a flintlock rifle and/or smoothbore.

Need to get out shooting soon. I like this time of year when there's sunlight but don't have to worry about smoldering patches setting the woods on fire.
 
Well, all this talk about synthetic gun powder has bought an interesting conversation with another old timer. He bought some of that pyrodex RS over and convinced me to give it a try. We shot about 50 rounds down range and I must admit. It shot just as well as the gunpowder, We both were using percussion rifles. I am no expert, by no means, but the first time I have used the synthetic I had no problems with a Thompson center Hawken, 50 caliber. Old dog can always learn new tricks.
 
I’m sorry I think your missing my question I do not advocate discussing modern projectiles or egnition powders or any other modern mambo jumbo but I just noticed the other day someone was explaining different types of projectiles that can be used or should not be used to a newcomer that had some questions and this guy was bashed for explaining why not to use modern projectiles and how it was better to use the traditional round ball or plains bullet or mini maxi ball.I just felt he was not starting a discussion on modern products just trying to set this newcomer down the traditional pathway.There are times where a more involved answer is needed that’s how we learn and teach the traditional ways or our way of life will become just a vaige memory.
So, what are your thoughts on brass, aluminum or stainless steel range rods? Does your "mambo jambo" include: Delrin, phenolic, fiberglas or those tricky 'unbreakable' wooden rods with steel core? Lee "Improved" minies? Ampco nipples? Ballistol? Wonderlube, CO2 Stuck Ball removers, plastic tubes for premeasured powder/shot, steel instead of iron barrels, stainless steel patch knife blades, cotton/polyester blend attire, tennis shoes. Do recommend only traditional transportation, or is an internal combustion engine vehicle OK - with or without using A/C? What about deodorant?

Where do you draw the line? Or are you a pick & choose kind of guy?
 
So, what are your thoughts on brass, aluminum or stainless steel range rods? Does your "mambo jambo" include: Delrin, phenolic, fiberglas or those tricky 'unbreakable' wooden rods with steel core? Lee "Improved" minies? Ampco nipples? Ballistol? Wonderlube, CO2 Stuck Ball removers, plastic tubes for premeasured powder/shot, steel instead of iron barrels, stainless steel patch knife blades, cotton/polyester blend attire, tennis shoes. Do recommend only traditional transportation, or is an internal combustion engine vehicle OK - with or without using A/C? What about deodorant?

Where do you draw the line? Or are you a pick & choose kind of guy?

I draw a line though all of those accept the two I can't control.
I can buy a gun with an iron barrel and I can't travel by horseback or buggy.
So, I shoot steel, but not stainless, and I use a car because I'm not suicidal. You'd have to nuts to take a horse and buggy down the road in the 21st century.
 
Perhaps we should be more of a live and let live society. I too compromise, this is not 1819, not even 1919 and I know my gun with modern steel is probably superior to whatever they had in 1819. That being said my modern day Flintlock is probably safer and far cheaper than one of the originals would be. I cast balls on a propane fired camp stove, and I weigh them on a digital scale. But when I'm out walking down a game trail with my Flintlock, my advantages over those 1819 fellows are not that great. I don't know if my advantages are that great when I return to 2019 either.
Squint
 
"You'd have to nuts to take a horse and buggy down the road in the 21st century."

Yeah, probably true! Here's me being crazy... It's much easier (and probably safer) near Amish communities though. It really is amazing how much difference there is when you travel by buggy though. You go from being an anonymous ass speeding by, to someone that everyone waves at or runs out to greet. I often think of how older homes that were built out near the road are so undesirable today, but would've been quite pleasant before the advent of the internal combustion engine. Buggy travel has a lot to recommend it, a large portion of which I never even imagined before experiencing it.

IMG_20181212_152645267.jpg
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I have nothing about old ways. But just read of an Amish buggy hit by a car. Killed the horses but thankfully the people survived.
About powders, I use Pyrodex in my .54 but I do not like 777 as it does not like compressed at all. The hard thing is to just touch it. Pyrodex needs a little compression so I made a tool with a spring to seat the rod equally. The bad thing is it is harder to clean then BP.
BP is still classed as an explosive so it needs bunkers to store in and most gun shops do not handle it. They can only keep a few pounds on the shelf. Fake BP is a flammable. Wall Mart is full of acetone and paint thinners. Fake BP and such. Not a single grain of BP. Is a pound of Goex more dangerous then a gallon of acetone? There are gallons of Coleman fuel or camp fuel in the store. Makes no sense at all.
 
There's definitely risk out on the roads even if all engines went away. My best friend was killed in a car accident a few years back (no buggies involved, only an unlicensed 15 year old running a stop sign). Another was hit by an impatient driver trying to pass while she was making a left turn. She lived, but was yelling at the first responders to just let her die because she was in so much pain. It's not really that buggies are dangerous, so much as the fact that *we endanger others* every time we get behind the wheel of a car (which I still do as well, unfortunately). It's just so commonplace that it doesn't register anymore.

At least with the buggy, your own speed is much less likely to do you in. Other advantages... people don't take frivolous trips, because harnessing up the horse is kind of a pain in the rear. 20 miles is about a max range, with 10 being much more comfortable (which is why areas developed before cars typically have towns spaced 5-10 miles apart. Big hills are something to be avoided at all costs, whereas they're not even a consideration in a car.

Perhaps the biggest thing we lost when we started speeding around in cars is community. All of a sudden people could live anywhere far from work and family, and move on a whim, so that's the new norm. That's precisely why the Amish refuse to own cars, because their community is central to their very existence. We're all anonymous behind the glare of our windshields, and are travelling so fast that nobody would have the time to recognize us anyway. I can't count the number of times I've thought, "Who's this ass riding my tail?", when my thoughts (and the other person's inconsiderate behavior) would probably be very different if we could see and recognize each other.

On this website, people clearly have an appreciation for older ways of doing things; it's not all just ramping up the challenge and thus the reward. I suspect that very few people know what they lost with advent of the automobile though.
 
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Might be some city law but state law its 5lbs. What most people don't know about Calif. is its a very red state and has lots of rural area and lots of common since people. Its just along the coast and silicon valley that all the crazies live and pass all these left wing laws. Should of left years ago but didn't.
Like I may have mentioned earlier, I live in an Assoc. where keeping any kind of explosives in your home is forbidden, so I burn subs. They are classified by the fire code as ‘burnable solids’ not explosives. Black is classified as an explosive. I always prefered black, what can I say. Its’ like going to the brothel down the block....for a back rub....
 
There's definitely risk out on the roads even if all engines went away. My best friend was killed in a car accident a few years back (no buggies involved, only an unlicensed 15 year old running a stop sign). Another was hit by an impatient driver trying to pass while she was making a left turn. She lived, but was yelling at the first responders to just let her die because she was in so much pain. It's not really that buggies are dangerous, so much as the fact that *we endanger others* every time we get behind the wheel of a car (which I still do as well, unfortunately). It's just so commonplace that it doesn't register anymore.

At least with the buggy, your own speed is much less likely to do you in. Other advantages... people don't take frivolous trips, because harnessing up the horse is kind of a pain in the rear. 20 miles is about a max range, with 10 being much more comfortable (which is why areas developed before cars typically have towns spaced 5-10 miles apart. Big hills are something to be avoided at all costs, whereas they're not even a consideration in a car.

Perhaps the biggest thing we lost when we started speeding around in cars is community. All of a sudden people could live anywhere far from work and family, and move on a whim, so that's the new norm. That's precisely why the Amish refuse to own cars, because their community is central to their very existence. We're all anonymous behind the glare of our windshields, and are travelling so fast that nobody would have the time to recognize us anyway. I can't count the number of times I've thought, "Who's this ass riding my tail?", when my thoughts (and the other person's inconsiderate behavior) would probably be very different if we could see and recognize each other.

On this website, people clearly have an appreciation for older ways of doing things; it's not all just ramping up the challenge and thus the reward. I suspect that very few people know what they lost with advent of the automobile though.
Very well said, sir! I grew up just outside of Amish country in Pennsylvania in the '70's. I envied their simpler life.
 
Buggys and horses are a slower and simpler way to travel and there are probably less deaths and accidents. But let's not forget that people got killed and maimed then and now when using horses, mules etc. Horses and mules kick and it can be deadly. They run away and cause accidents for those riding or in a buggy. Nothing in life is totally safe. I grew up on a farm and being around livestock isn't all that safe. They kick, bite, and crush folks. You may have heard the saying, "I haven't had so much fun since the hogs ate my sister." Well, pigs can do that. Being around a stud when a mare is in season may not be a very safe place to be. I like working with animals, but I'll take my truck for travel.
 
T7 is handy as an absolute last ditch backup because unlike Pyrodex, it WILL ignite in a flash-pan

Discovered this to my chagrin while attempting to show my Dad how hard to ignite the newest "safety powder" was.......loaded a pan and POOF.....thinking it an anomaly, I tried it again and POOF
 
Like I may have mentioned earlier, I live in an Assoc. where keeping any kind of explosives in your home is forbidden, so I burn subs. They are classified by the fire code as ‘burnable solids’ not explosives. Black is classified as an explosive. I always prefered black, what can I say. Its’ like going to the brothel down the block....for a back rub....

I would just buy and use black powder and say nothing, its not like the Assoc. is going to come inside your home and see what you got.
 
I would just buy and use black powder and say nothing, its not like the Assoc. is going to come inside your home and see what you got.
I was President of my neighborhood HOA for over a dozen years and was approached by several nosy busybodies who wanted to intrude in matters that were none of their business. One Nosy Nellie demanded a particular neighbor have his home searched and "dangerous, explosives" (black powder) be confiscated and removed. Apparently a visiting neighbor kid saw a couple of muzzleloaders & the guy happened to show off a couple of powder horns he had made & just filled. The woman threatened to "contact the authorities" if I didn't immediately 'deal with it'.

It all came to a screeching halt when I told her I've seen her 5 cats (her precious babies) all sunning in her front window. I asked her which 3 she was going to dispose of, since the HOA permitted only 2 pets per household, and the HOA could compel a homewowner to be rid of animals in any pet infractions, on my recommendation. The 'dangerous' black powder ceased to be an issue right there.
 
I was President of my neighborhood HOA for over a dozen years and was approached by several nosy busybodies who wanted to intrude in matters that were none of their business. One Nosy Nellie demanded a particular neighbor have his home searched and "dangerous, explosives" (black powder) be confiscated and removed. Apparently a visiting neighbor kid saw a couple of muzzleloaders & the guy happened to show off a couple of powder horns he had made & just filled. The woman threatened to "contact the authorities" if I didn't immediately 'deal with it'.

It all came to a screeching halt when I told her I've seen her 5 cats (her precious babies) all sunning in her front window. I asked her which 3 she was going to dispose of, since the HOA permitted only 2 pets per household, and the HOA could compel a homewowner to be rid of animals in any pet infractions, on my recommendation. The 'dangerous' black powder ceased to be an issue right there.

People like that dont realize that sometimes what goes around comes around.
 
I was President of my neighborhood HOA for over a dozen years and was approached by several nosy busybodies who wanted to intrude in matters that were none of their business. One Nosy Nellie demanded a particular neighbor have his home searched and "dangerous, explosives" (black powder) be confiscated and removed. Apparently a visiting neighbor kid saw a couple of muzzleloaders & the guy happened to show off a couple of powder horns he had made & just filled. The woman threatened to "contact the authorities" if I didn't immediately 'deal with it'.

It all came to a screeching halt when I told her I've seen her 5 cats (her precious babies) all sunning in her front window. I asked her which 3 she was going to dispose of, since the HOA permitted only 2 pets per household, and the HOA could compel a homewowner to be rid of animals in any pet infractions, on my recommendation. The 'dangerous' black powder ceased to be an issue right there.

Yes people are a funny lot, "do as I say, not as I do"
 
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