Gentlemen:
It is just called "Gunpowder"
For
centuries, no particular distinction was made in small arms propellants--
it was just called gunpowder, likely because that all it is. It
is just a propellant.
There
is a wide area for innocent misunderstanding, NOT based on facts
of any sort-- but strictly on independent companies' commercial
marketing attempts. Effective marketing is precisely what good companies
do-- however, it has all too often been at the expense of reality.
Most modern inline muzzleloaders shoot the very same projectiles
at very similar velocities and very similar ranges. Loading from
the muzzle is a severe restriction, and no .45 caliber projectile
can fly particularly well. No .45-70 Government load can possibly
have the trajectory of a .22-250 or a .300 WinMag. Basic, fundamental
external ballistics physics prohibit that.
As much
as muzzleloading propellant manufacturers try to change how their
new propellants are presented and touted, they cannot classify
their propellants or reclassify their propellants to suit their
latest ad campaigns. The U.S. Department of Transportation classifies
these propellants, not powder companies.
Hodgdon
Pyrodex was sold for many years as a "smokeless propellant
for muzzleloading." Hodgdon printed this on bottle after
bottle of Pyrodex, and on box after box of Pyrodex pellets-- not
by accident, by intent. The U.S. DOT says that it is. That has changed
now-- not the propellant, but only the marketing of it.
Loose
blackpowder is DOT classified as 1.1 Hazardous Material. It is an
explosive, and is harder to legally ship, store, and sell due to
the rules that come with a DOT 1.1 classification.
Hodgdon
Pyrodex, Hodgdon Triple Se7en, American Pioneer, Goex Pinnacle,
and Accurate Arms 5744 are all DOT 1.3 powders. They are all classified
as smokeless. Perhaps American Pioneer is a bit more forthright
in their products: Modern Gun Powder for Black Powder Guns™
is their trademark. That is what it is.
Even
"smokeless" as commonly used is a bit incorrect; a "low
smoke" propellant more precisely defines what it is. All blackpowder
replacements vary in the amount of smoke they produce, energy content,
and the amount of residue left behind. You cannot arbitrarily interchange
a given weight of Goex blackpowder, Triple Se7en, American Pioneer,
Pyrodex RS, Accurate Arms 5744, or the various synthetic stick or
pellets now on the market and begin to think that performance, pressure,
velocity, or SAFETY in a randomly selected frontloader with various
projectiles has any correlation. They are all just propellants,
and they are to be used in strict accordance with the specific firearm
maker's rules.
It isn't
that tough. Few people randomly swap transmission oil, motor oil,
or 80-90W gear oil. Not many would consider random interchangability
of propane, gasoline, nitromethane, or diesel fuel to be anything
but exceedingly unsmart. Run your gun on what the manufacturer of
the gun says it is allowed to run on is forthright enough for anyone
accepting the responsibility of muzzleloading-- which by nature
is a form of reloading.
Sulfurless
propellants giving higher velocities by weight than blackpowder
with less maintenance is what BlackMag3, American Pioneer, Hodgdon
Triple Se7en, Goex Pinnacle and Accurate Arms 5744 all promise and
deliver. None are chemically, volumetrically, or in weight
identical to blackpowder. Not even close. As far as "modern"
propellants, ascorbic acid based BlackMag3, ascorbic acid American
Pioneer, ascorbic acid based Goex Pinnacle, gluconic acid salt based
Hodgdon Triple Se7en are all far more "modern" and recent
compared to Accurate Arms 5744 which has been a nitrocellulose based
powder on the scene for decades. ALL of these powders can be used,
and are recommended to be used in modern centerfire brass cartridges.
All of them.
Now
the issue of safety is somtimes injected. Not for safety, but
for marketing purposes. No powder manufacturer has the authority
to override the individual muzzleloading gun manufacturer's recommended
loads-- not one. The Thompson / Center Cherokee is a .32 caliber
sidelock, with a maximum load of 50 grains (volume) FFFg blackpowder
or 50 grains (volume) Hodgdon Pyrodex "P." What powder
manufacturer will sign their name to the use of 100 grains of powder
by volume in this rifle? If you want to know, it won't take you
long to find out.
Every
box of Triple Se7en .50 caliber 50 grain "equivalent"
pellets comes with a "NEVER EXCEED WARNING." NEVER
EXCEED TWO PELLETS, 100 grains equivalent followed by
the usual talk of severe injury to shooter and bystander, including
death. However, THREE Triple Se7en pellets are allowed and encouraged
by Knight, Thompson, CVA, and others in many of their guns, sometimes
(incorrectly) called "magnum loads." Does anyone
really think that Hodgdon Powder is so completely out of touch with
their own industry that they are not completely aware of this, and
have been for years? Does Hodgdon go out of their way to discourage
this? Do they discourage this practice, specifically, at all
by saying "DO NOT"
use three pellets of Pyrodex or Triple 7 as directed by Thompson,
Knight, and CVA in many of their inline rifles? Of course not--
it means more pellets are burned per shot, and that's good for business.
In the case of Thompson and Knight anyway, you have well-tested
proven product before these loads are allowed. Again, no
powder company can tell Knight, Thompson, or Savage Arms what their
guns are designed, tested, and proven to be able to use.
The
reality is, shoot a quality muzzleloading manufacturer's gun, and
follow their recommended loads. The manufacturer's loads exist
to keep you safe. Modern blackpowder replacement powders are
marketed to be sold, all too often at the expense of candid, forthright
information.
More
often then not, my blackpowder replacement powder in a Savage 10ML-II
is a charge of 45 grains by weight of Accurate Arms 5744 pushing
a 300 gr. Barnes bullet. There is NO safer way to muzzleload, by
any standard of current muzzleloading firearms design. No powder
company, no firearms company, no bullet company, no industry entity
can show begin to show differently-- or EVER has. Don't we
all really know the reasons why?
Sometimes
gunpowder is just gunpowder, and a cigar is just a cigar.
Postscript:
We
have no universal muzzleloading standards to rely upon today; neither
SAAMI / ANSI in the United States or the CIP have any criteria for
sulfurless blackpowder replacement proofing, or maximum service
loads. There, of course, are no "NATO" muzzleloading guidelines,
either. That leaves muzzleloading in a bit of a fix, where ad-copy
and hyperbole have developed biases and attitudes, not empirical
evidence.
I
do shoot sulfurless blackpowder replacement powders, and have almost
exclusively since Triple Se7en came out in 2002. The vast majority
of today's muzzleloading hunters do not shoot blackpowder; most
never have. The last half-dozen or so animals that have hit my freezer
have been one-shot drops with a Savage and Accurate Arms 5744. The
best bet for anyone entering muzzleloading is to buy a quality
rifle from a quality manufacturer, and whether it is Savage, Thompson,
or Knight-- follow their recommended propellant suggestions.
None of the three are powder makers or sellers, they just want
their guns to perform for you safely and well.
©
July, 2005 by Randy Wakeman
