June 9, 2012, 04:19 PM | #1 |
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help, damp black powder ?
hey guys i been reading post for about a week now and i am amazed at all the information and stories you have here.
anyway i got out my .50 cal cva inline muzzleloader to zero in my new scope and when i got to the range i found my powder pellets must have drawn damp over the winter months and wouldnt fire. just looking and handling the pellets you cant tell their damp but i only had 1 set of pellets fire out of the 10 i tried. and it is verry damp in the room i stored the pellets in. my question is, is there a way to dry these powder pellets or just take the loss and throw them out. |
June 9, 2012, 04:30 PM | #2 |
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I've had success in drying BPowder out.
Just don't use the stove. Try laying them out in the hot sun.
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June 9, 2012, 04:35 PM | #3 |
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Itll dry out and be fine, as a matter of fact you have to wet home made powder to screen it.
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June 9, 2012, 04:47 PM | #4 |
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Yeah, as brushhippie says, BP gets wet a couple of times before we get it.
Probably, at some point during the mixing of the components, just for safety. But, really, don't use the stove. When I was a kid, one of the other kids in the neighborhood used to make all our fireworks for us. One day he tried to reinvent the wheel, and was sure that heating up the home made BP would make it more potent. You know those old movies, where things go blooey, and everyone in the vicinity stumbles out of the smoke all covered in soot and singed around the edges? That's what he looked like.
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June 9, 2012, 05:44 PM | #5 |
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ok thanks guys .. i was thinking about just sitting it out in the sun for a while but wasnt sure if it would work, hope its dry soon this stuff isnt cheap no more, thanks again for all your responses
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June 9, 2012, 07:54 PM | #6 |
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Um, bp pellets? Does bp come in pellets? Perhaps they're Pyrodex or 777 pellets?
Pyrodex and 777 degrade significantly when stored in open air, especially if it's humid. BP can be restored if dried out, but I doubt Pyrodex or 777 can. Even if it dries out I believe it'll still be damaged. |
June 10, 2012, 01:26 AM | #7 |
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They really should be stored in an airtight container just like with loose powder.
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June 10, 2012, 08:19 PM | #8 |
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yeah theyre pyrodex pellets.. i have a box for them ordered, i had them in the sun for about 6 hrs yesterday and a few thismorning they seem to be ok all loads fired today
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June 11, 2012, 06:47 AM | #9 | |
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Quote:
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June 11, 2012, 06:48 AM | #10 |
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There's a Revolutionary War account written by a soldier, letter to home, I think, describing how an entire wagonload of cartridges got soaked.
All of the cartridges were disassembled, the powder and paper put on blankets in the sun to dry, and then reassembled. Sounds tedious as hell.
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June 11, 2012, 06:57 AM | #11 |
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"You're in the Army now/You're not behind the plow..."
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June 11, 2012, 07:40 AM | #12 |
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Pyrodex is not black powder.
The pellets are ruined. Use for garden fertilizer. |
June 11, 2012, 08:31 AM | #13 |
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clearly if they fired they are not ruined ...and the way I understand it there is little difference between BP and BP subs, but Im sure Im wrong about that.... go ahead and pile on.
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June 11, 2012, 09:13 AM | #14 |
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The only difference that's been obvious, between BP and the substitutes, is the smell.
Or in the case of 777, thankfully, the distinct lack of it. Don't care what you old timey traditionalists say, sulfur just downright stinks!
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June 11, 2012, 09:59 AM | #15 | ||
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Quote:
Quote:
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June 11, 2012, 10:14 AM | #16 |
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they can not be trusted to get the job done.
Heck if they shove a ball out the end and it goes boom its gettin the job done....now if you're on your back and some guys standing over you with an axe....no I wouldnt trust them! |
June 11, 2012, 02:41 PM | #17 | |
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Quote:
Seriously though, those iffy pyrodex pellets would be better entertainment if pitched into a bonfire.
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June 12, 2012, 05:07 PM | #18 |
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The differance is that subs ain't Black Powder and anyone that knows can tell you there is a differance ... get a Pound of KIK or Goex, and a lb. of Triple Se7en and try to get groups with 777 that you got with the Black Powder from the same Revolver ...
Maybe it's just me, but I don't think so
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June 12, 2012, 06:34 PM | #19 |
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...not changing the fact that dampness is not going to render it useless. But thanks professor.... anybody that knows really should tell me, please explain. The way I understand it, it is made from the same ingredients with graphite and pottasium perchlorate blah blah whatever else they add, but once again ....pretty similar.
Last edited by brushhippie; June 12, 2012 at 06:46 PM. |
June 13, 2012, 06:06 AM | #20 |
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Ingredients aren't very similar. Not like comparing pancakes to waffles (same basic ingredients). More like comparing chicken and tofu. You eat them both the same way, but its harder to catch a tofu...
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June 13, 2012, 08:06 AM | #21 |
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I guess what you read here (internet)is not necessarily true...what I found. anyway I have had wet powder since I make my own but have not had wet pyrodex....sounds like a good experiment and I am dying to know whats in pyrodex since I keep hearing how different it is but no real explanation....help me out fellers I dont like having bad info...
Hodgdon's Pyrodex was the first widely available substitute on the market. Pyrodex is less sensitive to ignition than black powder, and uses the same shipping and storage guidelines as smokeless powder. Pyrodex is more energetic per unit of mass than black powder, but it is less dense, and can be substituted at a 1:1 ratio by volume for black powder in many applications.[1] Pyrodex is similar in composition to black powder, consisting primarily of charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate, but it also contains graphite and potassium perchlorate, plus additional ingredients protected by trade secret. now this is different, but not what we were talking about.... Hodgdon also makes Triple Seven, one of the family of sulfurless black powder substitutes. Triple Seven and Black Mag3 are more energetic than black powder, and produce higher velocities and pressures. Still burning carbon, the carbon-based fuel burned here is from the sugar family, not from charcoal. |
June 13, 2012, 10:39 AM | #22 |
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Pyrodex pellets have a black powder igniter on one end: Its darker in color than the rest of the pellet. The igniter end should go down the barrel first.
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June 13, 2012, 05:24 PM | #23 |
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http://www.whitemuzzleloading.com/black_powder.htm
This may help |
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