AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Black Powder Shooting => Topic started by: rich pierce on April 24, 2025, 04:32:28 PM
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Striking out at Midway and Grafs. Prefer not to spend $40 a pound plus fees but am running low.
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Striking out at Midway and Grafs. Prefer not to spend $40 a pound plus fees but am running low.
It's more or less a captive market and I am old enough to remember when DuPont 3fg was $1.50 in the oval cans.
I haven't bought any for decades but still have some and am wondering what the NMLRA sells it for at the Spring and
Fall matches.I know our currency is collapsing but $40 a pound sounds like a gouge of the first rank.
Bob Roller
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https://www.powdervalley.com/product-category/muzzleloading/black-powder-substitutes/
They have some in stock. Pretty close to $40. Not sure about fees.
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Wait for a free hazmat sale and it gets a good bit cheaper.
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https://www.powdervalley.com/product-category/muzzleloading/black-powder-substitutes/
They have some in stock. Pretty close to $40. Not sure about fees.
Amazing how much they have listed that is out of stock. And some of their synthetic powders are totally ridiculous in price. I am like Bob, but I never bought the oval can DuPont, but I did buy powder in the late 60's for $1.98 a pound. It used to be pretty reasonable to shoot muzzleloaders, but now... Well, I think I am glad I don't have my big bores to feed at 200 to 400 grains per shot. They would probably just be wall hangers now if I still had them.
John (Bigsmoke)
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I figure I average 100 shots per pound. At $35 per pound of powder shipped that’s 35 cents per shot I guess. If shooting a .54 at 32 balls per pound the lead costs me about $6.50 per hundred shots or 6.5 cents per shot. So, 40 cents per shot more or less. 25 shots at the range or competition for $10-$12; price of a burger. But arithmetic was never my strong point so I could be off.
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I think $40.00 was the last price I payed - about 6 or 7 years ago.
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If you really need some, Coonie's in Hobbs New Mexico has been a reliable source over the years.
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powderinc.com
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Powderinc.com
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Buffalo Arms. They give an additional discount for 10 lbs. or more.
https://www.buffaloarms.com/black-powder.html
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Thanks, everyone!
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If you think $40. a pound is high then take a look at smokeless powders. Some of that is going for $80. or so. I'm glad I made a couple of good buys several years ago of 2f,3f, and 4f. At my age now I should have enough to last me till I go under.
I would consider buying a case because I don't think it will get any cheaper.
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Many smokeless powders here were well over $100.00 per pound before tariffs. Maybe even higher now, don't know - got some.
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It almost seems that these shortages and price increases are purposed ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)
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There might not be that much bang for the buck in the black powder making business. BP substitutes have taken a big chunk of the muzzleloader propellant market with folks who primarily hunt deer as an extra season using guns we don’t discuss here. It would be interesting to know trends in how much BP is consumed here by shooters since the 1970s. A lot of shooting clubs are diminishing in numbers over the past 10 years. Others are doing well.
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There might not be that much bang for the buck in the black powder making business. BP substitutes have taken a big chunk of the muzzleloader propellant market with folks who primarily hunt deer as an extra season using guns we don’t discuss here. It would be interesting to know trends in how much BP is consumed here by shooters since the 1970s. A lot of shooting clubs are diminishing in numbers over the past 10 years. Others are doing well.
Food for thought....However, with the rising cost of smokeless powders, primers and casings the BP segment is not the only one feeling the pinch so to quote Buffalo Springfield, "there's something happening here".... :D.......With that said, I totally agree that the BP market is in decline which could effect things. Back when I was a young man it was fast growing, along with traditional archery. It seemed that wherever you turned someone was going afield with a new TC, CVA, or Lyman rifle.Parts, barrels and stocks abounded and they were reasonable. I became so enamoured with traditional tackle 35 years ago that I sold off all my modern rifles, shotguns and pistols, opting instead for long guns, smoothbores and BP revolvers and pistols. Longbows and recurves became my early season weapons and still are, and till this very day, and the only guns I take afield are loaded from the muzzle and nothing has changed. Trips to the Traditional Archery gatherings and Dixon's yearly event were delightful for the wife and I.
But alas, the world around us has changed. Young able bodied men going afield with crossbows, "Muzzle loaders" that look like tactical weapons that can shoot further than I can see, and graphite arrows being launched from "traditional longbows". Whats a fellow to do?... :(
When I speak of the ALR to my friends I call it out of affection....the "old man page" I belong to. Old men in the sense that they are the last to remember that "Golden era" of American history when men took to the old time tested ways to go afield. When the destination was nowhere near and dear to our hearts as the journey was.
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That inline 'segment' of the black powder community is very small here in B.C., at least up here in the North. There are many more people shooting actual black powder than the subs.
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I’m looking at buying more percussion guns since pyrodex is still pretty cheap, my first love will always be flintlocks.
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You do realize Pyrodex is 17% perchlorates and that fouling produced is EXTREMELY corrosive.
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I personally wouldn’t use Pyrodex in a junk cannon. It’s like acid in the bore. Apologies for getting off original topic.
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Has anyone used a base charge of real back powder and a main load of whatever ersatz powder they might have? I have duplexed loads for BPCR but only for practice.I still think shooting 25 yards in a rifle is a waste of powder and lead but that's just opinion.
Bob Roller
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Well, let’s hope we get some new black powder companies to produce powder here in the USA.
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I still think shooting 25 yards in a rifle is a waste of powder and lead but that's just opinion.
Bob Roller
Maybe not so much if shooting offhand at lollipops, straws, crossed strings, roofing nails, match sticks, splitting the ball and such ;D
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I just bought some Swiss from grafs for $40/pound with their free shipping/hazmat sale. I've got a special elk tag for this fall so I'll be burning up lots of powder over the coming months practicing. Even at that price, it still feels very affordable compared to feeding a CF rifle
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There are targets best set closer than 50 or 100yards.
These are hard to see past about 20 or 25yards and are quite a lot of fun.
Calibers noted on the cards.
(https://i.ibb.co/6RWMD4jS/IMG-2739.jpg) (https://ibb.co/FbDr8BR1)
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I got some 3fg from Grafs , Buffalo arms has some in stock now also.
george
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Graf & Sons does indeed have BP (and a limited selection of smokeless too!) in stock. Ordered some last night with NO Hazmat fee!
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Has anyone used a base charge of real back powder and a main load of whatever ersatz powder they might have? I have duplexed loads for BPCR but only for practice.I still think shooting 25 yards in a rifle is a waste of powder and lead but that's just opinion.
Bob Roller
This was explored in this video, the results were predictable. It was found to be perfectly functional, but tedious and not worth the effort unless you find yourself seriously lacking BP and fat with BP substitute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qU46bN2sa4
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IF you were closer to where I live - near Phila., Pa - I'd be glad to make a nice deal as I have a bunch of Goex 2F.
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I bought some powder at the National shoot in Friendship a few weeks ago. They had Swiss, Schuetzen and new production Goex, in all granulations. Schuetzen was $23 a pound. Goex was higher but I don't recall the price.
If you're a member and close enough to Friendship it's the place to buy your powder. Even when there's no event going on you can call the office and they'll have your order ready for pickup.
Ron
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Ron, Friendship had Swiss for $33, Goex for $30, but I thought Schuetzen was something like $27. I tried to buy some on my last day there on Tuesday, but it was pouring rain, and I didn't make it to the magazine until a few minutes after it had closed for the day. Unfortunately, the ATF shut the sales down from Thursday to the end of the shoot. Heard it had something to do with record keeping...Hope they can get this ironed out with the Feds and continue to be able sell powder.
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IF you were closer to where I live - near Phila., Pa - I'd be glad to make a nice deal as I have a bunch of Goex 2F.
PM sent interested in you Goex 2F power.
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Last time I bought powder, it was $8-9 a pound. Bill Knight (Mad Monk) told me what one to buy (by the run#) and I bought some & as always, he was correct. He ran the tests on them and always knew what one to buy & what ones to avoid. I guess the days of shooting all day for $8-10 has passed, like allot of good things.