Manual

Understanding

Black Powder And Pyrodex

™

Make no mistake about it, Black Powder or Pyrodex are the only

propellant powders that are safe to use in a muzzleloading firearm.

Oh,

you will hear, or possibly read, advice to the contrary but don’t follow it for

you will never hear such advice from a competent source.

The reason for using a low yield powder such as Black Powder or

Pyrodex is quite basic and it is related to firearm design. When used as a

propellant, Black Powder or Pyrodex generates a relatively low breech pres-

sure. Muzzleloading firearms, even those with modern steel barrels, are not

designed to withstand the high pressures produced by a Smokeless Powder

charge. Think about it for a minute and you will understand why. The igni-

tion hole in a muzzleloading firearm is a direct port into the combustion

chamber. This port is sealed only by the thin foil of a cap and weight of the

hammer in the cap lock model. In the flint lock design this port is not sealed

at all. The high pressure of a Smokeless Powder charge would destroy this

ignition system and the gun itself.

To avoid any misunderstanding on the part of the reader let us explain

further why Smokeless Powder cannot be used in a muzzleloader in any

quantity. People who become interested in muzzleloading tend to research

and to seek out some of the early journals which describe loading imple-

ments, components and powders of yesterday.

Reading these old books

can be pleasurable. Never assume, however, that obsolete printed mate-

rial has a safe application in today’s world.

In the early days of the breech loader there were powders manufactured

which were called “Bulk Smokeless”. These powders were measured by the

volume and used interchangeably with Black Powder in early cartridge

firearms. Even in their time these powders were never used in muzzleload-

ing firearms.

Early “Bulk Smokeless” powders are not available today and, even if

they were, their erratic performance (extreme variations in pressure) would

not meet current industry standards. By modern standards, such early bulk

powders were unsafe, even in the days of their use. The same type of misin-

formation exists concerning “duplex loads” or the mixing of Smokeless

Powder with quantities of Black Powder. This practice was popular in the

days of the early br

eech loaders. It was danger

ous then and it is even mor

dangerous now for modern Smokeless Powders are far more complex in

their composition.