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Originally Posted by Nathan
Also, I have always used real BP. If I try Pyrodex, etc, what is different?
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Every powder has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Black Powder has the lowest ignition temperature but tends to leave more residue, except that some brands and granulations burn cleaner than others. BP can be hard to find for sale in some areas.
Pryodex has a higher ignition temperature and Pyrodex P 3F would burn cleaner than most BP.
Pyrodex is also the most widely available substitute powder, and is easy to find for sale at almost any gun shop.
American Pioneer Powder and the similar Shockey's Gold are slightly weaker powders that produce higher velocity when they're compressed more during loading and ramming. They're also among the easier powders to clean using water, but are harder to find available in stores.
777 is one of the most potent substitute powders but also the most expensive. It produces a noticeably sharper felt recoil and the volume should be reduced by 15% to equal any black powder load.
Each powder has its own pressure curve and resulting velocity for any given volume load.
And each powder may also require a different amount of compaction when rammed to produce consistent and best results.
Each powder may have powder fouling characteristics that are different than the others with regard to how often to swab and what solvent to swab with.
Each provides an opportunity to improve accuracy results while using the same bullets by simply switching powder. Some bullets may show a distinct preference for one powder over another which is probably related to its pressure curve/velocity. But similar accuracy results may also be obtained with more than one powder if the right loads for each can be worked up.