I'm running low on black powder. The only kind I have ever used is GOEX. Now that I need some more I am wondering how other brands compare with it.

I am not a competitive shooter anymore. Most of my shooting is for hunting and some target practice. I use a .50 percussion longrifle and a .62 flintlock smoothbore.

Any advantages/disadvantages between GOEX, Swiss, Schuetzen, and GOEX's Old Eynsford? Or any others?

Also I recently purchased my first black powder cartridge rifle, a .450 B.P. Express. What is a good powder for reloading that?

Old Enysford, and swiss are somewhat hotter, so if you get some reduce your load by 10% or so. I have also found they are somewhat cleaner burning. I have never used Schuetzen powder, so i cannot comment on it

Okay. Thanks

As the cheapskate on the forum I'll add that I will shoot any black powder I can afford, in other words, the cheapest.

In the past I've used Dupont, G-O, Elephant, Goex and Jack's Battle Powder. There are probably a couple I've forgotten. Graff's seems to be priced okay but once again, whatever is the cheapest.

I won several pounds of Schutzen in the last few years. A totally unscientific comparison with Goex showed no noticeable difference. As I said nothing scientific just an off hand shooter getting like results to 100 yards.
TC

Agree with Rocklock. No noticable difference between Goex and Schuetzen.

quote:

In the past I've used Dupont, G-O, Elephant, Goex and Jack's Battle Powder. There are probably a couple I've forgotten. Graff's seems to be priced okay but once again, whatever is the cheapest.

Yep I've used GOEX, Elephant, Diamondback (repackaged Elephant), and Graf's as well. I like "inexpensive" too.

I just bought five pounds of Graf's (three of which were "reenactor" grade for blanks so uber cheap), and two pounds of GOEX..., as I like to buy GOEX when I buy bulk, if for no other reason that it's made in the USA while Graf's is German, and I don't want some Washington Schmuck stopping inport of foreign BP and only then find out GOEX is out of business.

LD

I will shoot what ever I can get, but mostly Goex.
It works great , Mark

Me, too.

All I have ever found available in my neck of the woods is Goex. A friend gave me a few pounds of DuPont about 10 years ago and I used it up and then back to Goex.

I did not really notice any difference between the two brands. All shot well and fowling seemed same. I am thankful to find black powder from a local gunshop without going through the online order deal. Just old fashioned I guess! I grew up where you pull out your money and take home the item you put your hand on.

quote:

Originally posted by markh:
I will shoot what ever I can get, but mostly Goex.
It works great , Mark

That goes for me as well.

I just wish more gun shops carried black powder. ATF requirements for storage have made it too costly for the low demand. Besides, it is getting harder and harder to find gun shops. Towns have been passing zoning laws that have separation distance requirements that too often cannot be met.

On one of my scouts last year I stumbled upon a tiny, one room, log cabin gun shop tucked away back in the hills of northern Georgia. If you didn't know about it, you won't find it unless you happen to bump into it on a wayward ramble, as I did.

And, the proprietor wants to keep it that way!

Nifty little place run by an old man (older than me!) The shop is chock full of antique rifles and shotguns. You want an original 1886 Winchester; go there. How about an original Fox side by side 12 gauge? Mounted deer heads, coyotes, squirrels, and ducks are scattered amid the clutter. Long range rods, and even bamboo fly rods lean at odd angles here and there. A cracked glass display case holds old reloading tools, various gun parts, and hunting knives. Cobwebs encircle the windows. Everything is covered in a fine dust.

He sells GOEX by the pound. Last year it was $18.00 plus tax for a pound of 3F. The chances are, though, that his stuff has been stored there for years.

Goex has always been the most available to me however I have bought some Graf & Sons German powder and am quite pleased w/ it.

I've pretty much have stuck with Goex,,, though I did buy some old Meteor 1fg Black Powder (made in the '70s in Great Britain), at State Shoot some years back... I could hardly pass on it at $6.00 a pound... It's obviously a dirty shooting powder being 1fg, but all in all - it's black powder and it don't shoot to bad. I've used it in .40 through 28 gauge bores, both flint and cap locks. However, for the serious shooting - it's Goex all the way...

quote:

Goex has always been the most available to me however I have bought some Graf & Sons German powder and am quite pleased w/ it.

I just found out last week that Graf & Sons no longer buys their brand of powder from Germany.

It's now made here in the USA under contract with GOEX.

LD