Love how you used muzzle blasts to bleep yourself. That’s quality videography! LOL

That was a Bitchen shot, at 220 yards, with that delay! Notice your anticipated reaction to the flash and then boom....hardly any flinch. I do admit, you got a steady hold, and one of the best shots I've ever seen, with a delayed Pyrodex charge.

That's why I say, "Hey man, nice shot" "A good shot, man"

I bought my first flintlock in July, the only powder in my immediate area was pyrodex and I thought I was just going to have to deal with misfires for a while. That is until I got ahold of some Schuetzen. My god what a difference it makes. It’s like I just figured out there’s more than one gear on a car.

I remember when I first started with black powder I had a cheap flintlock I bought online and went to my sporting store to get some powder. The man helping me at the store was very confident I could use pyrodex 2f in the barrel and the pan. I trusted him and very quickly learned that the guy had definitely never shot a flintlock in his life.

I remember hunting with my Traditions Deerhunter .50 CAL percussion rifle 30 years ago, I loaded it with Pyrodex powder first day of hunting in November. I went out every weekend and few days during week, good weather, damp weather and in snow flurry weather, my son did same with his same brand type rifle but he loaded with black powder...... We seen does but at end of season we didn't see any good shot on bucks, so at end of season near end of day, we decided to unload. I shot first at a tree and all my rifle did was click click click,,,,,,,,,, then my son shot at same tree with his rifle and he went BANG, from that day on I'll never trust Pyrodex on deer hunting. We had to take my cone off and put a little black powder in the hole to get the Pyrodex to fire. I now only use Pyrodex in cap&ball revolvers for target shooting..........

When I first shot a muzzleloader at 11 years old, it was my Grandfather's CVA Kentucky Rifle percussion .45 back in 1986 and he was using Pyrodex. When I first got into black powder shooting, that was the gun I used and for a while, I used Pyrodex, but never really cared for it. Eventually once Triple 7 came out I started using it but I think now I only use it in a couple of my guns, one being my CVA Kentucky Rifle, the other my Zoli Zouave musket. I even have a couple of percussion guns here I use Goex FFG in and my .32 Squirrel rifle gets FFFG Goex. The black powder out there now isn't much harder to clean up than the substitutes and as long as everything else works, ignition is as good. I get better accuracy from the black powder from the same guns and I have enough to last me awhile and during the winter I think it's time to start making my own. By the way, those Kibler guns are really nice and I'm having a hard time deciding if I want to eat and stay warm more or get a Kibler. I figure I can always stand to lose a few pounds and I have long underwear and wool blankets.

When I was much younger I couldn't get real black for my flintlock. I used Pyrodex for main charge and pan. What I did was crush the Pyrodex between to spoons to get it fine enough for the pan. Still wasn't as fast lock time as real black but it usually fired

In my experience pyrodex is harder to clean up, more corrosive, and only slightly cheaper than the real stuff, so why bother with it unless it’s the only powder you can get.

I love it when you say how you can't get real blackpowder locally and all the online stores are out and someone says,"Just use Pyrodex with a little real blackpowder first." Did they not read that I said I couldn't find any real blackpowder? If there's no real blackpowder to be had, how am I going to load blackpowder and then Pyrodex?:)

I can't remember what my reasoning was, but I dumped about a half a powder horn worth of black powder into my shop garbage can (home depot bucket) and kinda forgot about it until I was using an angle grinder on some metal and some sparks found it. I was very confused for a second about what just happened and why my shop was instantly full of smoke

Been a very occasional blackpowder shooter for thirty years. I have a CVA .50 cal percussion rifle that i like a lot. I am nearing retirement age and getting back into black powder and have ordered a Kibler Woodsrunner rifle kit in .54 cal and have learned so much more than the little i now realized i knew about black powder thanks to you and your efforts. I find your channel full of great information, explained thoroughly and quite entertaining as well. Other than being jealous of the cool places you have to shoot, i'm a city dweller, I think your content is supurb. Thanks for all the time and effort you do to make such great content for us less experiences black powder shooters. Very good stuff indeed!

I'm fairly new to Blackpowder shooting, having shot Percussion-lock and Cap and ball. I just guessed Pyrodex was a "good enough" substitute as that's really the only thing people carry in town. This helped greatly, so, thank you!

That last shot was fabolous (or however this word id being written) To stay at Your target for so long, while standing without any support... Man, You are trained well !

Very nice, thank you. I don't have any flintlocks (yet), and used Pyrodex for several years when I first started out. Since I used it for cap and ball pistols it worked very well, and I have even used it in metallic cartridge rifles without a problem, although it doesn't perform as well as Swiss 1.5F. Because of this success I was surprised to see all the Real Black Powder guys claim Pyrodex was garbage, but this shows me why--they had problems with it in flintlocks, and never thought to take it any farther than that.

Great shot! And thanks for stating all the differences appreciate that. Stay vigilant

I tried Pyrodex in 1976 when I was 16 in my .36 caliber TC Seneca… I got over that stuff in a few weeks. I had to drive 54 miles to a gun shop that sold Goex and it was darn sure worth the drive. Another excellent video brother.

I just like the smell of black powder. Thanks for the video.

Great demo, I don't have a flinty and wondered how that would work.

When I was using a lot of Pyrodex, I often had percussion caps fail to ignite the charge in my revolver. Since I switched to BP, those problems are virtually non-existent.

I have not shot a flintlock yet but I JUST ( today) bought a Traditions flintlock. On the barrel it says " black powder or Pyrodex only ". It did come with a separate measurer for Pyrodex but I have used Pyrodex in my revolvers and it gunk's up my action faster than regular Goex. I have used old 777 pellets in an inline ( 5 shots) but they didn't seem any better than Goex and I still had to swab the bore between shots. Interesting that the barrel itself says Pyrodex is a good substitute. Either way, I'll stick with real BP. Thank you for your videos, I have learned a lot.

The best use for pyrodex that i have personally found is in black powder type shotshells with 209 primer ignition.

Only reason I can see to use a sub in a flintlock is if the user is having a really hard time finding real black powder (and doesn't want to just make it themselves for whatever reason) and needs to stretch out what little they can find by only using it in small amounts as a priming charge... In that case I'd just say get a caplock, they'll probly be happier using subs with that.

I did have to do the 5 grains of real back under the main charge of substitute last year when powder is fairly hard to get. It does work if you really need to stretch out a pound of powder, but it's never preferred.

Your experience is the same as mine. 777 works the same. Since black powder is so hard to come by I will use the compound load from time to time. It helps me use up the substitutes and stretches the good stuff out! Great video and great info!

I used to prime the pan with black powder, and charge it with pyrodex. It generally works fine.

Not to mention that real black powder cleans up so much easier.. I do use pyrodex in my revolvers simply because I have it. But I don't buy it. And I'd rather shoot home made black than store bought substitute. If for no other reason than it's simply easier to shoot

Nowadays looking at powder feels like I'm being robbed. One bottle of pyrodex at my local shop, is 40 dollars. Last I looked online, it was only 21 bucks from natchez... one pack of the pellets, 60 dollars... I believe that's only about 30 on natchez... they dont even have real bp unfortunately. I would like to give business to a local shop, but with the markup they have its almost impossible to support them.

You're supposed to be using 4f black powder in your Frizzen pan even with pyrodex, at least according to the people that I knew about four or five decades ago who used pyrodex. They were regularly using 4f black powder or flash powder as one product was called for the frizzen pan which is what you're supposed to use. I never played with black powder too much but I do understand how it functions and how piratex functions. But everybody that I knew that played with flintlocks even a little bit understood that the replacement powder was not to be used in the pan. It was created only as a replacement for the main charge.

Over the last 40+ years of shooting cap and ball rifles, we have had times where Black Powder was not available. In fact here in Utah back in the 80's our regulations had to be changed to allow Black Powder substitutes to be used during hunting season. With Black Powder being hard to find, I choose to save my FFFF and FFF Black Powder and use Pyrodex when ever it was practical. When I hunted with my Flintlock, I would use 15 grains of FFFF Goex and top it off with 60 grains of Rifle/Pistol Pyrodex. FFFF was used to prime. This worked out very well and shot accurately. I have sense semi retired my Flintlock though so it isn't an issue these days.

I'm not sure why, but stores don't sell real black powder where I live. I had to order it on line, and I the minimum order was 4 pounds, and then you have to pay hazardous materials fee, so it ended up costing me almost $200 to get my hands on some black powder. I decided to learn how to make my own. It may not be as good as factory stuff, but it's better then the substitutes you can get from the store.

Great video

B's Thanks for the fine video. That's a lovely rifle you were firing. Back powder is hard to get commercialy where I live. Substituting Pyrodex for part of the main charge will help stretch what's available. I'm going to try this.

I appreciate all your videos I'm a newbie and about to buy something soon you sure save me a lot of time

I don’t know if I’m just lucky or what! I have a really really old repro flintlock pistol from Spain. My favorite was Black MZ. It kind of looked like FFG. I ended up using a stone bowl and a 6” stone rod with both ends grounded round. I ground the powder to the consistency of baby powder for the pan. It worked surprisingly well. Once in a while it would give me a surprise hang fire. I’m thinking the flash hole was slightly oversized as every shot there was a burst of flames shooting out the flash hole when the main charge went off. Thanks for the fun and interesting videos!!!!

In a previous video of yours, you mentioned the use of graphite to avoid humidity and static electricity and for its conservation, in what proportion it is used and how it is applied, ps. congratulations for your videos and greetings from Chile South America @Everything black power

Excellent video!

I've seen substitutes fail in sidelock percussion guns, now imagine how well they would work in flint locks of lesser quality than a Kibler.

Good Shot, Good info! Have a good weekend! Mike.

I recall watching a video in which a guy made nitrocellulose out of cotton balls. I know you can't use that as a propellant, but maybe you could twist up some nitrated cotton into a thread that could be inserted into the touch hole of a flintlock, and it might work for ignition of pyrodex in a flintlock.

Loved the video. Im glad to see you do one on pyrodex. How about doing a video on pyrodex in cap locks? Then, maybe another one with pyrodex in brass cartridges?

Well, you are perfectly right. I personally a big fan of Black MZ and was lucky to stockpile a lot paying $10/lb just before it got discontinued and I am using it in my caplocks and cap&ball with a great success. But it doesn't work in my flintlocks. Which is sucks because Goex/Swiss is unobtainable this days. So I had to start making my own with limited success so far - it goes kinda slow. Still learning, thanks for your work!

Love that flinter

I wonder if firecracker (flash) powder would work for priming? It's certainly easier to buy hundreds of firecrackers than a pound of black powder.

Pyrodex lights well with a cannon fuse in my golf ball cannon. I've used American Pioneer powder in 28 gauge 2 1/2" brass shotgun shells. My flintlocks get black powder.

Yes this is one of those deals were yes you can,but why would you. Or just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Substitutes can and do have its uses. I ended up purchasing me two more test subjects

One of your best videos. Which I could find Holy Black.

I've learned something today - thank you!

Pyrodex is clearly not a good choice for flintlocks and true black powder enthusiasts. But I find it to be very effective and convenient for percussion weapons, especially cap and ball revolver repros. And the cleanup is so much easier. It's not for purists, but it really works well for some of us. I like the pellets, and I can spend less time loading and more time shooting.

I just wanted to say thanks again for these videos. I made some black with black willow here in the middle of the USA. Need to do some further testing as my first batch wasn't even milled long enough, but it shot over 100 FPS faster by weight than Schuetzen 2F out of my 50 cal Hawken style rifle. Cleaned easier than Schuetzen too. I have no Swiss to compare it to but plan on getting some once I get my process down!

shooting for 22 years of flintlock i tried them all but always used 4 f in the pan i found the order of hardest to ignite pyrodex rs would hardly go off in my cap lock then pyro P then triple 7 2 f then triple 7 3f if you use a substitutes triple 7 is the way to go easier to clean and goes off at a lower temperature than pyrodex the triple 7 loading procedure for a flint gun in to put a little priming powder 5gr max down first hope this helps

I use the substitutes because it’s what I can get. I prefer the real stuff but a fellers gotta do what a fellers gotta do I reckon.

Another awesome video!

When I was young, I remember an old cowboy got shot with an arrow. His buddy pushed it through up to the feathers. Went around and removed the arrowhead and carved a notch in the wood. He packed it all with real black powder and lit it on fire. As it flashed he pulled out the arrow. Used more to pack the wound and bandage it. Can you see how well Pyrodex works at that?

I was grinding up triple 7 bricks when they first started leaning on black powder a.d making it harder to find in the store. Very long lock time but not obnoxiously so. Cleared up with a real BP prime. Dangerously long lock time in wet conditions. All in all i agree with your assessment

I love a bit of PYRODEX Rs in my percussion shotgun , hard word with a flint lock

P.S I grind up my priming powder for the flash pan and that seems to work better.

LMAO. I tried 777 in my flintlock and got exactly the same results. Had to use real blackpowder, 10 grains in the main and prime. Pain in my ass. Even my cap guns are more accurate with BP. I think the 1:66 riflings, reduced recoil and the residual in the barrel is softer contribute to better accuracy. I could be way off. I'm sure some substitute guy here will correct me

I use 2f Triple 7. The big thing is get a good touch hole. I like the one that is a Allen wrench. I use 4f in the pan. I don't have any problems at all.

You are right about pyrodek, but nowadays I pick up a can anytime I see one in a store. I use it in my cap lock guns..and when the can is empty, I can reuse it for my homemade stuff.

The only reason I know of to use substitutes is if you aren't cool with making it and no one stocks it near you. Here where I live, none of the shops stock it, but I order 4 at a time online and get it shipped. I've also started tinkering with making mine, but don't have a press yet, so it's only so-so. At some point, I do intend to do some more and I just got a nearly limitless supply of alder!!!

FWIW, as you explained, all the other substitutes will have the same problem as Pyrodex (if not worse) because they're DOT/UN classified as propellants rather than explosives. The only reason we can legally buy and store black powder is because of a specific exemption in BATFE regulations for black powder; it's very, very unlikely that any new substitute that burns like black (for instance, if someone were to resurrect ammonpulver or the "pink powder" based on picric acid that were used in some artillery during the Great War) could receive that exemption (black gets it because it was in very common use before BATFE was formed and their regulations first promulgated). I've seen other videos that seem to demonstrate that the only way to get substitutes to work fairly well in a flinter is to use actual black powder for the priming charge -- but if you can buy FFFFg for the priming, you can probably buy FFFg or FFg for the main charge, so all you might possibly gain by using substitutes is easier cleanup (and cleaning up black powder residue isn't that difficult). So, end conclusion, substitutes are fine for cap or primer ignited reproductions or modern inline muzzle loaders (and they let us buy *something* to shoot from sporting goods stores that don't have a BATFE approved explosives magazine on premises), but they aren't intended for and don't work well in flintlocks, wheellocks, or matchlocks/tinderlocks.

When I couldn't get black powder I tried pyrodex in my flintlock. Didn't work very well. When I got some black powder I tried black powder in pan and pyrodex for charge. Worked pretty well. Now that I can get black powder I use use pyrodex in my cap and ball revolver to use it up.

With Triple Seven my hangfire was measured in weeks. Works great in my caplocks but useless in my flintlock rifle and pistol.

Informative. I always wondered about that. Thanks.

I once couldn't find Black Powder, I got a can of Pyrodex I couldn't get it to light the main charge in two of my guns. It would light in my 62 musket. The hang fire was about a second and a half to 2 seconds

The only reason to use black powder+substitute, would be if you have or can get BP substitutes easily, but have a very limited supply of real BP & it would be difficult to get more. This would allow you to get the most out of whatever BP you have available. Otherwise I agree, the loading procedure is just too cumbersome, which also makes it more prone to errors.

Love this channel. I don't comment much . I know this video was not about triple seven but I just wanted to say that in my colt repros and my cap lock rifles I love triple seven.i shot a .50 cal last weekend 18 times with no cleaning between shots and when I got home bout 5 min. With warm tap water and it was clean. Never had a rust problem or loading problem and NEVER a misfire in colt repros or any caplock rifle. P.s. I only use fffg maybe that's why I been so lucky

Went up to help set up on the 9th at the Rendezvous. Ended up at the Rendezvous on Sunday. Missed it by a day. Don't know why I thought the shoot was on Sunday. thought that would be my church, I guess. Wasn't meant to be. Heard you Guys won the stake shoot, Again. Good Shooting Guys! Congrats on the WIN! Christ bless all of You Fellas! Hawk.

I just bought some pyrodex . Running low on real black powder. Now I’m sorry I bought it now . Always heard it was better, cleaner etc…. Want to hunt with my flintlocks this year .

Great video man! Plus a great shot😂

Well you may laugh, but it can be amazing how fast a project can take a hard left turn. Bigger than a .45 colt plans has an old and familiar platform to me. I've acquired colt chambering in .45 colt 10" barrel. And it's a contender iffin you know what I mean. I have had this platform in the past with 14" barrels of .35 Remington, .375 JDJ, and dare say it 45-70. One of the spur of the moment let goes, that wished never did. Oh I don't know how but I got it for less than the cost of a conversion.

I'm almost 70 years old. Started muzzle loading a little over 50 years ago. Pyrodex is the only substitute I ever used so can't comment about the newer stuff. I don't get to shoot or hunt much of anything anymore because of health issues. Here are some FYI'S for young shooters that maybe you know but bear repeating. Pyrodex is measured by volumetric equivalent to black powder. Theoretically if you weighed a charge trying to be scientifically precise you could get an over charge. Even in a percussion gun Pyrodex needs a high quality relatively hot cap. Don't waste your money on the cheap Italian ones. CCI and RWS were the best in my experience. Pyrodex is very hygroscopic which means that it draws moisture out of the air, so it's going to rust a bore faster than black powder. When hunting don't leave a charge in the rifle overnight to save money. Shoot it and swab it out with a little black powder solvent. If you're lucky enough to live in the country or on farm like I do you can shoot a fouling shot if you believe that improves accuracy before head to your hunting sight.You might let any neighbors within ear shot know why you're shooting when it's still dark. Don't reload until you get to your hunting sight. If you want to try Pyrodex in a flint lock, see if you can find some photographic flash powder. Mix a small amount with preferably 4F priming powder in your priming powder horn. You can try screening 3F if you don't have any 4F. You might be able to find flash powder at a theatrical or magicians supply or antique photography specialist. I'm sorry I can't remember what percentage of flash powder to mix with your regular priming powder, but it will greatly increase the speed and reliability of your priming charge. I think it also increases the temperature but I'm not positive about that. You'll all have to do some research. Happy hunting boys and girls.

About 25 years ago I talked to some guy who had tried to use pyrodex in a flintlock without success. He took it home and used a red-hot pin to discharge it into a block of wood in his basement. He said his wife wasn't happy about the noise.

Man....that was a Kool Shot at the Stake Shoot Win! two strikes and still Split the Stake! Great Goin', Man! that Stake didn't tip over....it jumped off and balanced for a second, then tipped over! Wow! Awesome!

I have by far shot more black powder firearms than modern and I can honestly say I have never once shot pyrodex. My Dad tried it one time in his 1863 Springfield rifled musket and tried working up a load for it and no matter what he tried, he couldn't get it to shoot. I have had friends ask me to help them sight in their deer guns for muzzle loading season and I always can get their guns to shoot better with the real stuff every time

I have been shooting muzzleloaders since 1975 and I use Triple 7 in my percussion pistols and my Bedford County rifle and never had a problem. I would use black powder but I can't get it here and Triple 7 is a hell of a lot better than Pyrodex.

Hey, a hits a hit The only way I would consider mixing pyrodex with real black powder is if black powder was extremely hard to get and if I, for some reason, couldn't make it. Rationing is the only real reason to use a mixed powder load imo

Well I never had a problem shooting Pyrodex out of my .45 percussion rifle, or my .44 Confederate Navy revolver. And I never seen a hang fire like that as long as my powder was dry. But I also never shot flintlock rifles or pistols. Knew one guy that did though, and he tended to push the Pyrodex up on the side pan a bit more. Always thought that was strange, but now I understand why he did that. Now I do not shoot with Pyrodex anymore, I’m using real black powder. But I will be changing the bore lube, that I use as this stuff I got sucks as it’s too thin.

If you are a re-enactor, you cannot prime with black using pyrodex in the paper cartridge without having to depart radically from either von Steubin's or the 1764 British drill, and accurately presenting the musket drill is as important for safety and period portrayal as is having your musket volley nice and tight, not ragged or out of sync,

Funny how people who are avid Black powder pushers, always put Pyrodex in the damn pan. No no no, Put Pyrodex in the main charge and BP in the pan. Yeah, It didn't fail when you did that. Anyone saying it will not work in a flintlock is wrong. Thanks for the video to prove what i been saying for years.

Another drawback to Pyrodex is that it produces a different form of fouling in the barrel, for which you have to use chemical cleaners Plain ole BP can be cleaned out with just plain ole WATER! You can put some kind of soap, like Murphy's, in if you want to, but it isn't NECESSARY. Just pour hot water down the barrel until it comes out the touch hole clear, run some dry patches down, followed by an oiled patch Just one less item to have to carry. By the way, if you use something like "bore butter" as a patch lube, you CAN'T use chemical-base cleaners, as they strip the protective effects of the "butter" from the barrel

This is a neat presentation! Black powder is hard to get where I live so I process FF powder through a glass and ceramic grinder (made for kitchen application, no spark potential) into an extremely fine dust for the pan and tap my flintlock pistol sideways to fill the touch hole. It works very reliably but I'd love to get my hands on real black powder to see the difference. I also slightly abrade my frizzen to create more sparks and insert the flint upside down for a more aggressive angle. This wears down the flint a bit faster but achieves instant ignition. Anybody else do this?

Agree totally.

Truth never sucks. I have had way to much experience with pyrodex to want anything to do with that nasty crap, my opinion. Black Powder is corrosive and it takes work to clean but it is easier than pyrodex, and I think it somehow erodes the bore again my opinion! Thanks for the video!

I believe that's the first time I have seen a hang fire SO bad you had time to say "hang fire" and the shot still hadn't gone off 😂

Loving your presentations Please keep them coming- Doris

I use Pyrodex and it works all the time. You only gotta mix it with 50% black powder, a few drops of Liquid Nitrogen, hold your rifle 15° past a full moon while standing on one foot on a Thursday, and it’ll shoot every time.

Ive been using Pyrodex for years in a flintlock. Not for the flash-pan though just the propellant. Also the main thing i use in my cap and ball guns.

I load 10 grains of 4F GOEX first then 60 grains substitute and GOEX in the pan. Yeah, I'm that guy!🤣 Love your channel! I'm going to try demineralized (nitric acid washed) activated charcoal, but you may have already found one of the best, Cotonelle, which is presumed to use a hydrogen peroxide bleach rather than chlorine dioxide, like most producers.

Pyrodex ignites at 600 degrees vs 300 degrees for the holy black. That's the main difference.

Hilarious. Last shot was prime! “…then go make your own da#n video.” Subbd

Thank you

Everything you said about the synthetic powder is true. Same result with triple 7. F.Y.I.

I know this is an old video, I've watched it several times, I just got my first flintlock, I've only had caplock until now, watching this again Gave me a thought, I've always used triple 7 because black powder is very rare, only store that has it is an hour away, I'm curious about stretching out your black powder by potentially doing a 50/50 mix in a flask with black powder and substitute of choice

Well I use triple 7 in my flintlock and prime with black. However it does help if you're flintlock has a powder mag incorporate in the breach plug. A Mortimer pedersoli has this or a PA pellet ultra light tradition's. A simple side lock won't work as well with a substitute . I use triple 7 because it is easy to obtain. I only have one place to by black at 60.00 bucks Canadian. If you're shooting a lot it adds up quick. I get more shots out of a lb of triple 7 because it's more powerful. 78 gr is the same as 100 gr of black and that's still a hot load. LoL . Black powder is a true explosive because of it very low ignition point. The flintlock is best with black powder it was made for it. Even though flintlock rifle and shotgun's require no license to buy in Canada only a driver license they never took off. With the country wide confiscation the government wants to do here in Canada it might be the only thing left if we are lucky to subsitant hunt with. That is what I use my flintlock for.

This discussion came up recently on a FB group I am a membe of, and the duplex load of black powder, then a substitute with black powder in the pan was suggested. Well, if you can get black powder for the priming charge, and black powder for the duplex load, why wouldn't you just get black powder for everything and skip the substitute? Why go to all the trouble?

I've only one BP gun, a Ruger cap n ball...it seems to not mind Pyrodex P. But it's funky smelling, so I'd rather use 4f black. IIRC, the Lyman BP manual claims grain size goes with bore dia... 1f would be cannon, 2 in large muskets, 3f in .45 or smaller, 4f in revolvers.... 🤷

Nice shot.

Hey everything black powder how about a video about burning Pyrodex versus Burning real black powder on a polished steel surface and see which one makes the most rust and corrosion.