Understanding Smokeless Powder
and Muzzleloading
Let’s face
it, folks: we don’t understand smokeless powder. We don’t understand
what makes a powder smokeless; we don’t understand the threshold
for a propellant to become a “non-smokeless powder.” What we have
been fed is not competent information with cited, credible sources.
In muzzleloading, it has never been about safety, it has all been
about sales.
I well understand
the motivation for manufacturers to attempt to promote their products.
Few of us actually believe every ad-brag that is blown on paper
at significant cost hoping that people will buy into it. Getting
people to “buy into things” is what glossy paid ads are intended
to do, and that literary license is taken to do so is unsurprising.
However, when exaggerations descend from bloated claims to unsubstantiated,
blatant falsehoods and outright lies—it is time to cut away the
nonsense with the only side of the blade that really stings: the
truth. The spectacular level of technical incompetence demonstrated
by such foolhardy folks as CVA and most recently, Thompson / Center
Arms is misconduct of the highest order in my opinion. It is tantamount
to complete negligence, and it is easy to show that. So very easy
to show, in fact, that I believe I will.
Thompson /
Center Arms, in their owners manual that accompanies their brand
new 2007 Triumph inline muzzleloader, really steps into it on pages
16-17 of this manual. In a bizarre, rambling, technically incompetent
section that proves to be a huge embarrassment to Thompson / Center
Arms, they attempt to help the consumer by “Understanding Black
Powder or an approved Black Powder Substitute, Such as Pyrodex,”
the name of this section. That would be helpful, of course, if Thompson
could possibly buy a clue about understanding it themselves. On
the basis of this article, they absolutely do not. The opening paragraph
reads, “Make no mistake about it, Black Powder or an approved Black
Powder Substitute such as Pyrodex are the only propellant safe to
use in a muzzleloading firearm. Oh, you will hear, and possibly
read, advice to the contrary but don’t follow it for you will never
hear such advice from a competent source.” The article goes down
hill from there, leaving the poor victim of the new T/C manual with
no “understanding.” Quite the contrary, Thompson / Center obfuscates
and complicates things while wearing their own tremendous ignorance
like a badge of honor.
Apparently,
T/C is asserting that Johan Loubser of Western Powder Company and
Hartmut Broemel (two of the world’s finest ballisticians) are incompetent.
They apparently feel that muzzleloading legend Dr. Gary “Doc” White
is incompetent. T/C apparently feels that muzzleloading’s foremost
sabot expert, Del Ramsey of MMP, is incompetent. T/C must feel that
Alliant Powder Company, Vihtavuori Powder Company, Accurate Arms
Powder Company, Barnes Bullet Company, Browning Firearms Company,
Savage Firearms Company, multiple patent holder and master riflesmith
Henry Ball are all incompetent. They obviously must feel that I’m
incompetent as well. It is a shame that I have to tell Thompson
/ Center Arms, “America’s Master Gunmaker” how muzzleloaders work
and how smokeless powder works, but it seems they are in dire need
of an education.
Blackpowder,
merely called gunpowder for centuries, is fairly easy to describe.
It is not a chemical compound, but a mixture of three distinct organic
substrates: sulfur, potassium nitrate, and charcoal. There is no
precise substitute for it, chemically or performance wise. Its easy
ignition and low explosive nature (explosive being defined as the
rate of gas expansion) has yet to be equaled or precisely duplicated.
Blackpowder is not at all obsolete; in certain military, mining,
road department, and other commercial applications it remains a
product that has yet to be replaced or improved upon. Goex would
not continue to enjoy the level of commercial, industrial, and aggregate
industry sales that it enjoys if their blackpowder was obsolete.
The properties of blackpowder in muzzleloading firearms are well
known and well-documented in readily available extremely competent
sources: Lyman’s Black Powder Handbook & Reloading Manual is
an established source that is available to all of us with interest.
Words do mean
things; at least they darn well should. According to Merriam-Webster,
“substitute” means “a person or thing that takes the place or function
of another.” There is little confusion that a “substitute teacher”
in the classroom is not the same teacher, or the equivalent teacher,
or is the identical quality teacher. There is seldom any confusion
that while vinyl has been used for decades as a “leather substitute”
it in no way could be considered animal skin. Perhaps you remember
when Naugahyde was jokingly promoted as the hide of the Naugabeast?
Naturally, by now, there are many readily available “Naugahyde substitutes.”
Good grief! By now, the circular logic of what an “approved blackpowder
substitute” may or may not be is all up to the discretion of the
would-be product seller and ad-buyer.
You might be
using a “sugar substitute” or a “cream substitute” in your morning’s
coffee. The word “substitute” tells us nothing of quantity, granulation,
or chemical composition, or behavior. It defines nothing at all;
it merely tells us that it is taking the place or function of another.
The interested reader is referred to Major General Julian S. Hatcher,
USA, Retired in “Hatcher’s Notebook” (Third Edition, 1962) pages
300-360 and pages 519-540 to learn more of the well-researched,
well documented characteristics of small arms propellants and primers.
If the perpetrators of the Thompson / Center Triumph owners manual
had studied this, they might gain a rudimentary understanding of
how small arms propellants and firearms actually work.
Smokeless powder
is defined, designated, and regulated by the United States Department
of Transportation and the National Fire Protection Association,
as is black powder. Pyrodex, Triple Se7en, American Pioneer Powder,
Black Mag 3, Accurate Arms 5744, and Hodgdon-IMR SR4759 are all
smokeless powders as mandated by the DOT and the NFPA. As a matter
of fact, I recently reviewed Hodgdon’s new “Triple Se7en Magnums”
pellets sent direct to my door from Hodgdon Powder Company—quite
favorably, I might add. The box is loudly marked “Smokeless Powder
For Small Arms.” The FedEx shipping label filled out by Hodgdon
direct to me also states “Smokeless Powder For Small Arms.” That
is what it is, according to all the reputable, legitimate authorities
involved. I have personally tested and used all of these products
mentioned quite safely and successfully in muzzleloading firearms.
None of these
products are remotely similar in terms of geometry, chemical composition,
corrosivity, hygroscopicity, heat of explosion, burn rate, gas generation,
or performance.
This is
important: NONE of these propellants may be safe in a muzzleloading
or other firearm at all.
At the same
time, contingent on quantity, bore size, and projectile or projectiles
being used, firearms metallurgy and design and other factors: ALL
of them MAY be. Industry standards dictate than until something
is shown and proven to be safe, it is NOT SAFE. It really is that
simple.
Ardesa S. A.
is a Spanish black powder firearm manufacturer. Though the name
“Ardesa” itself may not mean much to you, it is Ardesa that made
the barreled actions for Austin & Halleck, Ardesa that Traditions
imports and sells, and Ardesa that makes the imported Genesis for
Remington which Traditions actually imports for Remington. Ardesa
publishes loading tables for the muzzleloaders.
The Ardesa
loads are clear, they are blackpowder loads. The suggested load
for their .45 caliber Hawken model is 55 grains of FFFg blackpowder
pushing a .440 in. diameter round ball. Now, I would never suggest
that you use 100 grains by volume of Blackpowder much less 100 grains
of Pyrodex or Triple Se7en in this rifle—that would be reckless,
negligent, and a horrific overload based on their presented data.
Until a specific load is shown to be safe, it is not safe.
While Black
Powder defines a propellant, the term “smokeless powder” defines
NOTHING. Saying “smokeless powder” is meaningless. After all, there
are over 200 different smokeless powders manufactured today. When
the term “smokeless powder” is used, it is no more precise or meaningful
than saying “fuel.” I can’t answer what fuel you might or should
use; I have no idea if you are fueling a gas grill, a diesel engine,
a 4-cycle engine, a 2 cycle chainsaw, or an extremely high compression
sports car. The wrong fuel can destroy your equipment, and of course
has done so. So can the wrong type of powder, but merely saying
powder or smokeless powder tells us nothing of the design parameters
of any firearm, nor what have been proven safe as shown by proof-testing.
Proof testing is a big deal; there is no substitute for it; please
see http://www.chuckhawks.com/big_deal_about_proof.htm for an older
article written by a hard-working firearms authority some years
back. This author is a credible, competent, respected source that
documents his sources and tries his very best to talk and shoot
straight. He is also a very good friend of mine.
Quality firearms
are designed with industry standards of metallurgy, component thickness,
and integrated component capabilities all by design. A design, no
matter how good it looks on paper or how well it comports to industry
standards is still just a design. To become viable, usable, safe
product the design must proven and shown to be as suitable by extensive
testing long before offered to the consumer. We do not assume, we
show. We do not assert, we demonstrate and prove. We do not guess
or speculate, we know. That is what all reputable firearms manufacturers
do throughout the world. We need to be able to show that structures
can hold what we have designed them to hold whether high-rise apartments,
bridges, or roads. We need to be able to show that tires can stay
together under the conditions they are used.
If you read
“Hodgdon Powder Shotshell Manual” (October, 1996) you’ll learn that
when the family of colloid based propellants were introduced in
1880 – 1890 as black powder substitutes it was met with some consumer
resistance; folks didn’t want to give up their pretty Damascus barrels
in favor of the early modern steels, sometimes called “fluid steel.”
By the late 1800’s, it was clear that the better, more efficient,
safer propellants were going to be the colloid family and the Winchester
.30-30 and .38-40 Krag already had demonstrated and proved they
were the better way. So clearly so, that shotgunners soon fell into
line. As cited in the Hodgdon manual, the Winchester Model 1893
blackpowder pump became the Model 1897, the Winchester blackpowder
lever action was upgraded to the newer, better propellants and was
designated as the Model 1901 rolling block. Over a century ago,
colloid-based propellants have gotten better as have modern steels
and manufacturing techniques. It has all gotten better.
There are differences
in propellants, to be sure. As you can read in http://www.chuckhawks.com/difference_black_powders.htm
, a missive that has become a standard reference work thoughout
the country, there certainly are dramatic differences between propellants.
The fundamentals of competent firearms design, standards, and testing
have not changed significantly over the last century at all. Smokeless
powders are the first and best blackpowder substitutes and that
has nothing to do with the method of loading a firearm. The .45-70
Government blackpowder cartridge has long been commercially offered
loaded with smokeless powders; the 3 DE (dram equivalent of black
powder) designation is still printed on fresh shotshells and shotshell
boxes though it is modern, progressive, energetic cellulose propellants
that are in daily use throughout the world.
John Moses
Browning understood it with the Winchester 1897 he designed, he
well understood it with his magnificent Auto-Five, he understood
it with the Colt 1911 he designed, and he understood it with arms
designed for the United States Government that sustained us through
two World Wars. We simply use the ignition source, propellant type
and quantity, sabot and projectile that our muzzleloaders are designed
to use, and proven competent and safe to use by testing and documentation.
It is no more
complex than that, my friends. We are all here to have fun with
our friends and family enjoying the outdoors together with recreational
shooting sports. There is no need to let the green-eyed marketing
hyperbole distort or distract us from what is shown and what is
known. Muzzleloading has come a long way; so have propellants, sabots,
and projectiles. What adds to our humane, clean harvesting of game
and what removes the potential of corrosion, stink, and mess can
add immensely to our pleasant hours in the field. It is great to
be able to see what you are shooting at; being blinded by your own
firearm is the really long way around the skeet field.
Make the choice
that suits you; I support your personal choice whatever it might
be. But please, do yourself a favor and make an informed decision.
At one time, blowing a bunch of smoke is what muzzleloaders did.
Now, the only acrid belches of smoke seem to emanate from a couple
of once-reputable manufacturers themselves. The truth is a bitter
pill for them to swallow.
