Pyrodex in revolvers?

[LynnC]

I tried T 7 in a cap lock rifle last year.  Seemed to go off just fine.

Just for laughs I tried it in a flint rifle, barrel and pan.  Took 4 tries just to get the pan to ignite. Talk about slow fire fuse effect!  I bout died laughing.  You could jusy about count the seconds till it went off

[Harnic]

Lynn, as Taylor said, I have used a fair amount of T7 in my stainless ROA & really like the performance.  It generates more velocity ( likely pressure as well) than the same volume of GOEX 3F, but the accuracy is exceptional & the lack of fouling is great!  Clean up is too simple!  I have part of a can of Pyro around somewhere, I'm not likely to shoot it, but it works great for starting campfires!  The kids love the effects!   I tried T7 in my flintlock last winter & was pleasantly surprised.  I used 4F GOEX for prime & with my W/L touch hole liner it was barely slower to ignite than real bp.  I can't hold very steady anyway, so the very slight lag makes very little difference to my shooting!  To get back on topic, I haven't tried Pyro in my revolver, but I have used 2F goex ( the same burn rate as Pyro RS) & it works very well in the ROA.  Give it a try, just be very thorough cleaning the pistol after.

[flatrock]

hey guys,  thanks for the replies.  many of them were quite helpful.  I to usually use plain black powder but wanted to see other peoples experiencies in using pyro in revolvers.  When I first started using bp it was about 1.50$ a can.  The old dupont powder.  That probably was in the early 1950`s.  I guess that tells something about my age!!!!  Caps were very cheap.  I have since graduated to flint and have no intention of going back.  When I started my grandsons shooting I made them learn to shoot flint before I would ever let them try caps.  Thanks for all the replies.

[LynnC]

Flatrock, welcome and hang around,  Good info and good folks here 

[LynnC]

Harnic - What load of T-7 are you shooting in your revolver.  Maybe that stuff I tried was old or had absorbed moisture.

It did clean up easy.  Anything we ought to know if I try it in the Rem 58 again?

[aflo]

As far as absorbing moisture, what is the best thing to do if one suspects his powder is not totally dry? Put it in the oven??

[bgf]

Harnic - What load of T-7 are you shooting in your revolver.  Maybe that stuff I tried was old or had absorbed moisture.

It did clean up easy.  Anything we ought to know if I try it in the Rem 58 again?

T7 needs a magnum primer esp. with a patent breech (don't know what you have) -- you'll get slow and/or inconsistent ignition with "normal" primers.  The Winchester Magnum BP primers that Walmart carries (the one choice) are good for 777, in addition to the brands others mentioned.  I had switched to them before trying T7 after some trouble with CCI primers (high percentage of dud caps), but when I went back to some regular CCI primers in practice to use them up, the CCI's were regularly slow and inconsistent with the T7.

I really can't figure out why it was underpowered for you.  T7 is definitely not weaker/slower than Goex -- probably it is more than comparable with Swiss.  I used it for quite a while in a capgun to hoard BP and in lieu of BP when I couldn't get any, and it is very accurate when you find the right load and use a suitable primer.  Except for the funny smell and high price (cmp'd to Goex), I don't find it lacking in any respect.  There are a couple of other shooters in my club who had a similar (i.e. extended trial) experience with it and they have favorable reviews of it as well.  One expressed dismay at the extra cleaning when he went back to BP.  Anyway, I don't want to start a war over phony powders, blah, blah, blah, but T7 is in my opinion a viable alternative to BP with few if any significant disadvantages in a caplock and shouldn't be thrown out with the Pyrodex bathwater .

In reference to the original post, I used Pyrodex (both RS & P) some starting out (mainly because I didn't know how/where to get BP regularly) and I found it was about equal in performance and accuracy to Goex in equivalent granulation.  It is, however, dirtier and more corrosive, and I don't think I knew the half of it at the time.  I am reluctant to use it much anymore, but I do use some leftovers in a cheap pistol, where the barrel can be removed and dunked easily.  The pistol doesn't appear to have any problems, but it doesn't get shot a whole lot.  I expect hot primers would be good to try with Pyrodex also, as a new shooter one day at a match had some problems getting his rifle to go off fast using Pyrodex (and he had tried the obvious cleaning, etc.), but some magnum primers I still happened to have in my shooting box solved that issue for him.  I can't remember, but I think he didn't want to try BP because he thought it would be too dirty ?

[LynnC]

Bgf - Thanks for the input on magnum caps

Last year In a cap rifle the T-7 shot well using cci caps

I tried it in the flinter just fo laughs.  Yes I could prime the barrel with bp but too much trouble to fool with.  Much easier to load and prime from the single bp horn.

In the remington 1858 44 cap an ball revolver using cci caps I had the low power/velocity event

Our area wal-marts sell no caps at all and sends you down the road to a local gun shop, the only place around that sells em.  Pretty limited on the caps I can get.  Regular cci only

I still womder if that T-7 was degraded in some way

[Daryl]

As far as absorbing moisture, what is the best thing to do if one suspects his powder is not totally dry? Put it in the oven??

Throw it away. As Monk noted here or elsewhere, Pyrodex 'changes' it's chemical properites over age and becomes weaker and weaker. Do not put it in the oven, microwave or other moisture absorbing medium. As Harry noted, you could burn it - carefully.

[R.W.D.]

I really don't like pyrodex and I don't use in in my rifles. I will shoot it in my Lyman 1858 Rem. Everytime I think I've burned up all the pyrodex I have someone will give me a can or two. It's okay for plinking but when I'm carrying my pistol during deer season it is loaded with black powder.

Ross

[Harnic]

Harnic - What load of T-7 are you shooting in your revolver.  Maybe that stuff I tried was old or had absorbed moisture.

It did clean up easy.  Anything we ought to know if I try it in the Rem 58 again?

Lynn, I shot with my 35 gr measure using both a .457 rb & the Lee 230 gr conical.  Recoil is near the upper end of comfortable to me with the Lee bullet.  In my 58 cal fullstock flint Hawken I shot with my 75 gr measure & GOEX 4f prime, as I said there was a tiny bit of lag, but not excessive.  Unless real bp gets too expensive or hard to get because of regulations, I'll be sticking with real in the rifle, but in my ROA, T7 is my fave!   It's noticeably more potent than GOEX 3f.

[Harnic]

As far as absorbing moisture, what is the best thing to do if one suspects his powder is not totally dry? Put it in the oven??

Not in my oven!  Wow, would that get your attention!  Just lay it out in a pan on a nice warm day for a few hours.

[LynnC]

Thanx harnic.  35 grains.  Will give it a go with some fresh T-7 when I get the chance.

[Harnic]

Thanx harnic.  35 grains.  Will give it a go with some fresh T-7 when I get the chance.

I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised Lynn, it's a good propellant in cap&ball revolvers & eliminates that pesky jamming that comes from the fouling of too many shots with real bp.  I have fired in excess of 100 shots in an afternoon using H777 with no binding, period!  I enjoy my ROA a lot more when I'm not shooting real bp.  Have fun!

[LynnC]

I'll post my T-7 revolver results as soon as I get an opportunity

[LynnC]

Harnic, at the risk of getting this thread moved what lube if any are using with that 35 gr equiv load?

Thanx

[Harnic]

Harnic, at the risk of getting this thread moved what lube if any are using with that 35 gr equiv load?

Thanx

I use a Crisco/beeswax/olive oil mix.  The olive oil makes is spread smoother.  I'm not sure of the exact ratio, but it was roughly 3 parts Crisco shortening to 1 part beeswax.  When it cooled I realized it was too "stiff" so I remelted it & added some olive oil.  Sorry I can't be more specific, but it was done "by guess & by golly", not exactly repeatable!

[LynnC]

Thanks Harry, I have another recipe to try out I appreciate it.

[LynnC]

This afternoon I went out back with the 1858 Remington 44

Man what a difference moving up to 35 grains volume of T-7 makes... Authoritative!

For lube on the range I used 1 drop of castor oil and let it run around each loaded ball.  Way less mess and kept the fouling soft with upper 80's and 50 percent humidity today. 

Like Harnic said, cleanup was E-Z

[Daryl]

This thread was left on the shooting forum for people to discuss and more people to see the hazzards of using Pyrodex in a gun we want to last us for years. That is all.

Please post all future (if there are any) cap and ball threads in OTBF.  Too many of these threads might find further restrictions.  TKS.

Also note there are moderators who do not wish to see any C&B threads - this is under an on-going discussion at this time, amonsgt the Amin Team and Modertors.  There are many other sites which cater to all black powder firearms, no matter where of how they are loaded, whereas this site is primarily devoted to the American Longrifle and it's associate period firearms. Even that was a long stretch for some.