Alliant Black MZ

I never see anyone mention this stuff. Have any of you used it, and what was your experience. I bought a pound, to try in my old Hawkin. Will it reliably ignite with the #11 cap in the caplocks?

It goes boom reliably with #11 caps. I shot it both in sidelocks and inlines. It does like to be compressed quite a bit for best consistency. I dumped powder then used a flat faced jag to lean down hard on the range rod prior to loading projectile. Got decent accuracy and seemed to shoot to same point of impact that the guns were sighted in for. I bought a pound to try because it was cheap. No intentions on using full time. I heard it was being discontinued?

I heard that, too, but Alliant still has it listed on their website, What kind of velocity did you get with it? What bullet and charge weight were you using?

90 grns vol. with a 450 grn conical. No idea of velocity..no chrony set up.

Harleysboss said:

90 grns vol. with a 450 grn conical. No idea of velocity..no chrony set up.

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Thanks!

Chick said:

I never see anyone mention this stuff. Have any of you used it, and what was your experience. I bought a pound, to try in my old Hawkin. Will it reliably ignite with the #11 cap in the caplocks?

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I have been using Black MZ for a few years. I have no complaints. I use it in my TC Hawken and my White Bison. I get good accuracy, it ignites as it should. When I heard it was being discontinued I searched to find it, most were out but Sportsman Guide had it for cheap so I bought 6 pounds. I showed s friend how easy the cleanup was. He was using BH209 and me BMZ. Using Hornady 1, the BMZ was clean with 3 patches. The other used 8 or 10. I know BH209 uses a different cleaner but no matter what is used it can't be done with 3 patches. It is not near as corrosive as T7. I dont know about fps but with open peep sights I can put 3 450 gr conicals in the kill zone at 100 yds. Most people on these forums that shot it was very positive about it. Pyrodex and T7 is corrosive, hard to clean, etc so to me BMZ was not really marketed well. Besides BMZ is more like black powder than T7. Ok, just so I have made my point. I really like it. It's a shame to be discontinued.

Chick said:

I never see anyone mention this stuff. Have any of you used it, and what was your experience. I bought a pound, to try in my old Hawkin. Will it reliably ignite with the #11 cap in the caplocks?

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I will ignite with cap ignition very well. And it will shoot accurately. I found it to be really anemic as compared to other powders. And it was really susceptible to collecting moisture and clumping.

This stuff?
Glad i saved the pics before he deleted them

Consistency of gravel - I forgot to mention that

sabotloader said:

Consistency of gravel - I forgot to mention that

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haha. That lump is some funny stuff, right there. I don't care what you shoot. Alliant claims that it will still ignite, when others have got too wet.

sabotloader said:

I will ignite with cap ignition very well. And it will shoot accurately. I found it to be really anemic as compared to other powders. And it was really susceptible to collecting moisture and clumping.

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I never seen it clump up. Not saying it doesn't or hasn't. For #11 caps I like it.
I guess it dont matter since it's soon to be a Studebaker.

If you take a look at the MSDS’s for BMZ and T7 they look to be very similar in chemistry. But with chemistry a small difference can have a huge impact on performance. This may explain why it clumps and T7 doesn’t.
But I do like it because it cleans as easily as T7 and doesn’t leave a crud ring in my barrels. That has to be related to chemistry as well.

BlackMZ is made under the same patent as APP powders and made for Alliant by APP. BlueMZ is identical to White Hots.

Manufactured under U.S. Patent Number 5,557,151
https://patents.google.com/patent/US5557151A/en
Current Assignee: Legend Products Corp

Alliant finally returned my email. They confirmed that the Black MZ is being discontinued, due to lagging sales.

What longbowelk said.

I've used Black MZ powder since it first came on the market. My best groups were fired using Black MZ. This past deer season i killed seven deer with conventional and inline muzzleloaders loaded with 250 grain SST bullets or patched round balls and Black MZ powder. All were one shot kills. Four bang flopped.

Yep, Black MZ has it's detractors IMO who never learned how to use the stuff.

1. Black MZ does not have the consistency of gravel or kitty litter. Yes, the grains are bigger than 777.

2. Black MZ is not unduly hygroscopic. It clumps infrequently. The clumps are soft. Shake the can hard and the clumps disappear.

3. Black MZ likes a tight sabot or ball seated very hard on the powder. Put a ball on the ramrod end and lean on it.

4. Black MZ lights easily with a #11 cap.

5. Velocity wise Black MZ is the equal of Pyrodex. It's not as powerful at 777, but at $9.99 per pound just use more of the stuff. Unlike 777 there's no crud ring.

6. Black MZ cleans up easily using tap water. i seldom use more than four patches.

7. Yep, Black MZ production has ceased.

8. Lastly, Sportsman's Warehouse sells Black MZ for $9.99 per can.

https://www.sportsmans.com/shooting/muzzleloader-black-powder/powder-primers/c/cat100011

Has anyone heard of alliants (APP) new black powder substitute? I have not either. There is still tons of Black MZ warehoused. When it is sold, look for a new product to be marketed. Just my opinion.

herschel conyers said:

Has anyone heard of alliants (APP) new black powder substitute?

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There are the Blue MZ pellets. Not sure who makes those.

Poster on the Frontier website said the Whitewater, CO plant may be closed forever because of the last explosion. There was an explosion at that plant in July, 2016. Not sure that was "the last explosion".

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/ne...res-burning-in-whitewater-near-grand-junction

Tried to call APP about three months ago. Phones at the Whitewater plant and at corporate in Florida went unanswered.

What would be a good non-corrosive alternative to Black MZ for use in a T/C Firehawk? I've been told that BH209 is not a good idea for the Firehawk. I'm almost out of my supply of Black Mag'3.

Is there a hazardous charge for the Black MZ?

Yes, there is a hazmat charge.