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WildBill
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| Joined: | 4 August 2005 |
| Location: | Grand Rapids, Minnesota USA |
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Posted: 7 August 2006 06:06 AM |
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What is the shelf life of Pyrodex Black Powder? I've had the same plastic type can for 10 years I guess. I was thinking about getting the old smoke poll out this fall, and was wondering if it would be wise to get some fresh powder.
Bill
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saddlesore
addicted handloader
| Joined: | 6 February 2005 |
| Location: | Colorado Springs, Colorado USA |
| Posts: | 478 |
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Posted: 7 August 2006 02:33 PM |
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My experience is that fter opened, Pydodex degrades. I don't know if it is hydroscopic or what. However, I have had serious degradation after only one year. I haven't done enough with Triple Seven yet, but suspect the same, but not as bad .
If you want to keep from chasing ghosts , throw it away and buy a fresh jug
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WildBill
Board Founder
| Joined: | 4 August 2005 |
| Location: | Grand Rapids, Minnesota USA |
| Posts: | 2264 |
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Posted: 7 August 2006 02:56 PM |
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I didn't realize until I posted the question just how old that powder was. Time just kind of gets away from me sometimes. I will deffinently replace it. Thanks Saddlesore.
Bill
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greysmoke
Administrator
| Joined: | 15 March 2005 |
| Location: | Port Elizabeth, South Africa |
| Posts: | 489 |
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Posted: 14 August 2006 02:34 PM |
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Wildbill, Saddle,
Bill, how about some pics of the smokepole?
Im thinking of getting into blackpowder shooting as well, as its about the easiest form of shooting still allowed(or not regulated yet)
How does pyrodex compare pricewise to the normal stuff? and the tripple seven you mentioned Saddle?
All the best
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Grey Smoke
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drinks
Handloading Master
| Joined: | 6 February 2005 |
| Location: | Trinity, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 491 |
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Posted: 15 August 2006 02:24 AM |
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Graysmoke;
It appears you have a homegrown product becoming available in SA, Sannadex, a dextrose based low explosive being made and marketed for the ML market in SA.
The early reports are very hopeful.
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saddlesore
addicted handloader
| Joined: | 6 February 2005 |
| Location: | Colorado Springs, Colorado USA |
| Posts: | 478 |
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Posted: 15 August 2006 02:28 PM |
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| I haven't bought any black powder for quite awhile but Pyrodex and Triple 7 are very close in price around here
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greysmoke
Administrator
| Joined: | 15 March 2005 |
| Location: | Port Elizabeth, South Africa |
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Posted: 17 August 2006 02:26 PM |
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Thanks for the info gents
Ill have to look into the Sannadex......might be a more cost effective option.....
All the best
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Grey Smoke
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
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WildBill
Board Founder
| Joined: | 4 August 2005 |
| Location: | Grand Rapids, Minnesota USA |
| Posts: | 2264 |
| Photo: | [Download] | | Are you a handloader?: | No | | Favorite type of cartridge to load?: | I shoot factory ammo |
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Posted: 17 August 2006 07:58 PM |
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Grey, I don't have any pictures of my smokepoll. It's nothing special anyhow, just your typical bolt action muzzle loading rifle with the synthetic stock made by CVA. I've had it for about eight years. It hasn't seen much use, but I have dropped a big doe with it. I hope you get more use out of it in the future though.
Bill
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wolfkill
Handloading Master
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Posted: 10 December 2006 02:18 PM |
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WildBill I use pyrodex too and had one container get lumpy I tossed. Otherwise that's only prob I had past 12 years or so. Best to use fresh with the smoke poles I guess though. It can't hurt.
Well we had planned 3 days for black powder. Minus 3 below got us the 1st day...we cancelled. Made it out day 2 pic's below. Work unexpectedly called me in day 3.
I saw nothing!!! But I had fun.
 Lyman great plains smoke pole
 Typical SE Minnesota River Valley State Forest open to public hunting
 "Puffers"
I don't know what puffers are, they may be solely indigenous to the area and protected for all I know...but they're cool to smash!! I haven't seen them since I was a kid and it brought back memories.
http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l89/dmkilbride/?action=view¤t=blackpowder12-06068.flv
Video of me poking the "puffers" and the thick green smoke that comes out of them.
Last edited on 10 December 2006 03:18 PM by wolfkill
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WildBill
Board Founder
| Joined: | 4 August 2005 |
| Location: | Grand Rapids, Minnesota USA |
| Posts: | 2264 |
| Photo: | [Download] | | Are you a handloader?: | No | | Favorite type of cartridge to load?: | I shoot factory ammo |
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Posted: 10 December 2006 02:26 PM |
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Nice smoke poll Wolfkill. I got one like that in 54 cal. and one in-line 50 cal.
BTW your video didn't work.
Bill
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wolfkill
Handloading Master
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Posted: 10 December 2006 02:35 PM |
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| Try the video again WildBill I think I fixed it. You were too fast for me!! Let me know if it still doesn't work and or if it gives you access to all my pic's at Photobucket since that's not what I want. My porno stash is private. The wife would kill me if she got out on the web.
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Notice to womenfolk visiting my cabin...the following comments will be ignored:
"There's mice living in my mattress."
"The outhouse is full."
"I smell something dead under the cabin."
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WildBill
Board Founder
| Joined: | 4 August 2005 |
| Location: | Grand Rapids, Minnesota USA |
| Posts: | 2264 |
| Photo: | [Download] | | Are you a handloader?: | No | | Favorite type of cartridge to load?: | I shoot factory ammo |
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Posted: 10 December 2006 03:29 PM |
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Works now. Those things are cool.
Bill
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DavidVanVorous
HB Full Member
| Joined: | 16 March 2008 |
| Location: | Montana USA |
| Posts: | 6 |
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Posted: 17 March 2008 01:26 AM |
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wolfkill wrote:
WildBill I use pyrodex too and had one container get lumpy I tossed. Otherwise that's only prob I had past 12 years or so. Best to use fresh with the smoke poles I guess though. It can't hurt.
Well we had planned 3 days for black powder. Minus 3 below got us the 1st day...we cancelled. Made it out day 2 pic's below. Work unexpectedly called me in day 3.
I saw nothing!!! But I had fun.
Lyman great plains smoke pole
Typical SE Minnesota River Valley State Forest open to public hunting
"Puffers"
I don't know what puffers are, they may be solely indigenous to the area and protected for all I know...but they're cool to smash!! I haven't seen them since I was a kid and it brought back memories."
New to the site but not new to the use of ML. Been doing that since '76 (memebr of the feathers and leather set where smoke poles and comp shooting are concerned.)
Pyrodex absorbs water unless kept tighly sealed. I opted out of its use because it turns out that the real stuff is the material the MIL FED s use as a reference standard for aging (it doesnt age unless it gets wet). The big hassle with the real thing is getting it in some areas of the US... (a topic for a more politically oriented thread)
As an aside, puff balls are pretty much everywhere. Here in MT and elsewhere they can get basketball sized. Some folks pick them and eat them when theyre a tad smaller than that, more like what you posted. Catch is that the young ones also look a great deal like one of the taste and yer dead type mushrooms so word to the wise there... 
As they say in the feathers and leather venues,
Keep yer powder dry,
D.
Last edited on 17 March 2008 01:37 AM by DavidVanVorous
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72coupe
Handloading Master
| Joined: | 11 June 2006 |
| Location: | Iowa Park, Texas USA |
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Posted: 17 March 2008 02:19 PM |
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Wolfkill those things you call puffers are called snuff boxes around here. They are a type of fungus and the stuff that comes out of them when you smash them is fungus spores.
Probably not good to breath that stuff.
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SCSlim
HB Life Member
| Joined: | 2 May 2008 |
| Location: | Boise, Idaho USA |
| Posts: | 153 |
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Posted: 25 May 2008 07:42 PM |
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I have a plastic can of Pyrodex P that I've had for about 10 years, kept in a controlled environment with the lid screwed on tight. It seems to be OK. I loaded some .45 Colt cartridges with it just the other day and will likely fire them tomorrow at the outdoor range.
On a tangent topic, I've been loading and shooting Pyrodex 45/30 (.45 caliber/30gr equivalent load) pellets topped off with a vegetable wad under a 250gr LaserCast round nose flat point for a year or so. Haven't chronographed it yet, but it gives an authoritative, smoky ka-boom, appropriate full-power recoil, and is fairly accurate shot from my Ruger New Vaquero (stainless, 5.5 inch bbl). It dirties up the cylinder pretty quick and starts to inhibit rotation after about 12 rounds. Bore leading is minimal to non-existant and the whole mess cleans up with plain tap water. It's a nostalgic load in terms of smoke and timbre, and lots of fun to shoot.
I can't get much more than 25 grains of Pyrodex P into a .45 Colt cartridge case of modern manufacture and still seat the bullet to the correct depth. Still, the loose stuff packs a pretty good punch. The pellets, while more expensive, are somewhat easier to deal with. The 25 grain load (with 250gr bullet as used with the pellets) doesn't need a card wad, as it is a compressed charge (I use the veggie wads with it anyway). I have some of the old "balloon head" stuff, vintage factory loads in their original boxes, but I'm not desperate enough for brass yet to use them. They should, however, hold closer to 28 - 30 grains of Pyrodex (or FFFg blackpowder, either one).
Tripple Seven doesn't hold a candle to Pyrodex P in the .45 Colt with the bullet noted above. I fired 25 rounds of an equivalent compressed load of 777 and found it to be pretty anemic by comparison. It might be a good CAS load - feels more like a mid-range .38 special in terms of recoil. Good for plinking too, I suppose. Haven't tried 777 in any of my front-stuffing revolvers yet. I will, but based on the results I got in cartridges, my hopes are not high for that application. Maybe it will work better in a smoke pole, where it has a longer, better-sealed tube to burn in.
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