powder differences?

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seagullplayer

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The last black powder shooting I did was back in the 80's.
If pelleted powder was around back then I never heard of it. :oops:

My BIL says he uses the white hot brand because the cleaning is much less of a hassle.

I like the idea of easier to clean! Is there any disadvantage of using them?

Are there other brands with the same claim to fame that I need to be aware of?

BTW: I picked up a stainless CVA Wolf last night with scope. I plan to deer hunt the dense woods near my home this fall.
I'm not new to deer hunting or dense woods, just new to ML and very new in inline ML!
That stainless barrel sure is pretty, I want to do all I can to keep it that way. 8)
 
Second the Blackhorn (BH209) recommendation, it's the cleanest and least corrosive powder available. It's a loose powder, pellets not available, but that means you can fine tune your load. You may need to pick up a breach plug that reliably ignites the powder, $25 - $35.

BH209 is not cheap to shoot, about 65 cents a shot (assuming 110grains by volume). But neither are White Hots, which are about 69 cents a shot, assuming a 2 pellet load. Shooting "magnum" loads (3 pellets) would bump that up to just over a dollar a shot.
 
209 here also in my CVA Optima V2 pistol and rifle. 80gr in the pistol, 90gr in the rifle with a .452 300gr. XTP in black crushrib sabot, W209 primer. No swabbing between shots... Your Wolf should shoot that load very well!
 
Congrats on the Wolf, it should be a good shooter for you :yeah:

I've never used White Hots but it gets pretty good reviews. It should be similar to Triple 7 pellets, with Triple 7 costing a few cents less per shot. To keep your barrel in good condition, clean it shortly after shooting it, all black powder substitutes are corrosive, with BlackHorn 209, IMO, the least corrosive.

I have had good accuracy with pellets but no longer use them, I would recommend using a loose powder but if you want to use pellets, keep them dry and don't smash them when loading your bullet. Loose powder is usually cheaper, doesn't limit you to 50-100-150gr loads, and can be pre-measured for hunting and range use. Pyrodex, Triple 7, and BlackHorn 209 are the ones I would choose from.

I swab between shots with all powders except BH209, but others swab with that powder between shots with good accuracy, just experiment and see what works for you.
 
When you compare cost per shot using pellets vs BH209, pellets are more expensive and have no real advantage. Its just as hard for me to pour powder out of a premeasured tube as it is to dump out a couple pellets. Sure i have to measure out powder and put it in the tube but its not hard.

Blackhorn209 is also the ONLY sub you can use in auto dispensing measures like the RCBS Chargemaster or the Reddings. So if you already reload centerfires its a "gimme". All you need are some powder tubes such as Lanes Tubes.

Blackhorn209 will never give you a hard crud ring like some powders. Its MUCH less corrosive and will have virtually no "fines" in the bottom of a bottle. If you like it then buy a 5lb jug. You will save a lot of cash getting the 5lber vs the 10oz bottles. Blackhorn209 stores extremely well so a large container is not a problem.

Roughly 80gr by volume of BH209 will get you really close to the same velocity as 2 pellets. Probably a tad more than WhiteHots.
 
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