black powder laws confusing

[SPUSCG]

i was at cabelas and asked to chesck out an 1851 navy i was thinking of buying and he checked my ID. Said "well you can buy the gun but cant buy black powder until you're 21." What's with that?

[Raider2000]

Some localities place other regulations on certain items like Black Powder & what not over what the BATF has on them & unfortunatly there is little that can be done about it.

You need to find out what the laws are in your area.

What about Pyrodex P, any restrictions on that?

[SPUSCG]

not sure. one of my friends said black owder is easy to make but i doubt that would be easy. No muzzleloader season hunts until im 21 would depress me.:(

[Raider2000]

Black Powder is not hard to make but can be dangerous unless cautious handeling & processes are performed.

[SPUSCG]

and i kind of suck when it comes to science

[pohill]

Was that the Cabelas in Portland?

[SPUSCG]

scarborough

[hillbille]

thats just about as dumb as being asked when buying 22 cal. shells are these for a rifle or pistol, if pistol you have to be 21, a rifle 18.:confused:

[Ironwood]

I'm 71, half bald, long gray hair, full mostly gray beard, and I was ask for ID when I bought some Remington #11 caps. :(

[SPUSCG]

well ive never seen my friends asked if 22 is for a rifle or pistol but i did ask if i bought a musket if i could get powder, they said its not the use thats banned its the product, the powder. Im mad to say the least. As for being carded i know ammo they check state residence.....but caps?

[Raider2000]

How about Pyrodex P?

Black Powder is conciddered a low yield Explosive by the BATF & in some localities they will impose stricter rules governing the product but Pyrodex is not & you may be able to buy that at your age & it'll shoot quite well for you.

[SPUSCG]

ill ask next time im in a gunstore.

[rem870hunter]

i bought 1 pack of 777 pellets,1 pack of .50 cal sabots,1 pack of #209 primers back in feb. was asked for id for the stores logbook for the pellets. then at another store in june i bought a 1 lb. container of pyrodex,wasn't asked for id there. bought #11 caps at another store, no id checked there. and this is NJ. where a muzzleloader must be registered,a pistol permit must be purchased for a muzzleloading pistol too.

[Raider2000]

Here in Virginia I'm only asked for my ID if I buy real Black Powder & that is for logging in who bought it, otherwise I can get Pyrodex, 777, Shokeys or what not & all the primers in different sizes to suit me & most times they'll ask "Are ya stocking up?" but I'm never bothered otherwise "I Love Virginia."

[pohill]

SPUSCG, I buy all of my black powder, caps, guns, etc at the Kittery Trading Post. Have you tried there?

[SPUSCG]

havent checked there for black powder, did get my shotgun there though awesome store

[simonkenton]

No muzzleloader season hunts until im 21 would depress me.

You are not going to be hunting with a .36 pistol anyway, right?
If you are using an inline any bp sub will work fine. Get some Blackhorn 209 for the inline, I doubt there are restrictions on it.

[arcticap]

First I would check to make sure that Cabela's policy isn't more restrictive than Maine's state law, especially considering that Maine allows the private transfer of long guns to 16 year olds, and the private transfer of pistols to 18 year olds, and will even issue a CCW to an 18 year old. Maine also allows unlicensed open carry except in Portland.
This black powder age restriction sounds awfully uncharacteristic for Maine.
Maybe Cabela's is interpreting the sale of Black Powder to you the same as if a dealer sold a handgun or handgun ammo to someone under 21 according to Federal Law which is more restrictive than Maine's state law specifying 18.
So Cabela's may just want to limit their liabilty by being more restrictive because they have an FFL and don't want to be subject to a lawsuit for any reason involving the sale of BP.

And if you do find out differently and you're traveling south to Kittery anyway, maybe you should just drive a few more miles across the Piscataqua Bridge to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. :)

[SPUSCG]

I dont really know the state law on BP, anyone know a good site. and i was thinking of getting a cap and ball just for range fun. a musket down the road sometime.

[pohill]

maybe you should just drive a few more miles across the Piscataqua Bridge to Portsmouth, New Hampshire

What'd I miss in Portsmouth? I pass through it to get to Kittery. Great town, but no BP that I know of. In fact, I don't know of any place in NH that has BP. Rileys used to but the state shut them down due to storage problems.
If you do decide to go to Kittery for powder, call first - they were out of it (and caps) last week.
Because Kittery was out of Goex, I've been using Pryodex FFG in my ROA with great results, even better than Goex FFFG for some reason.

[SPUSCG]

what is the difference between pyrodex and similar products and regular black powder?

[mykeal]

'Real' black powder ignites at a lower temperature than any of the synthetic, or substitute, powders, and is thus somewhat easier to ignite. It is classified as a Class E explosive by BATFE, while the synthetic powders are classified as 'propellants'. Many states regulate the purchase, possession and storage of Class E explosives as that classification includes explosives used in mining and construction work.

[Gewehr98]

Pyrodex and other BP substitutes were developed to get around onerous shipping and handling regulations that handicap the availability of Holy Black, period.

Regional zoning and fire laws also dictate what you can have stocked in your retail establishment.

If you're in a place where you can get the real thing, you're fortunate. If not, then you have to resort to the substitutes.

A lot of shooters won't allow BP substitutes in their guns, myself included.

I drive about 160 miles round-trip to get my Goex FFg and Cartridge. You can also mail-order the stuff, but you'll pay the HazMat fees.

[Double J]

Yesser they be a might hard to keep up with. Here a man can get a Black Powder Dealer's License from the Feds, but then can't advertise it to sell the stuff. Wonder who keeps voting these new laws in?

[speakerguy79]

Is real BP more useful in bomb-making than smokeless or something? Or is it just a concern over user safety? Just seems odd that there would be different standards.

[Hawg]

Is real BP more useful in bomb-making than smokeless or something? Or is it just a concern over user safety? Just seems odd that there would be different standards.

Smokeless is a propellant it would make a crappy bomb, if it would even make one. Black is an explosive it would make a very good bomb but Tim McVeigh pretty much proved you can make a bigger and better one cheaper with fertilizer and diesel fuel.