DuPont 1F

[Garbler]

Years ago I traded into a keg of old ( late 40’s early 50’s ) Dupont 1F BP. Ive never opened the 25 lb keg but there were about two more loose pounds in the deal. It’s pretty course looking compared to 3F but in doing some research this granulation was used in match competition years ago from the 32-40 up to the 45 and 50 cal. So I’ve been shooting it for a while and despite the size of the grains it ignites and shoots very well. I use magnum primers but not sure if that’s necessary. In my 38-55 and 45-70 it’s accurate but deceptive as the recoil is less and it’s more of a quick push. It also doesn’t leave as much fouling as Goex or Swiss.

Anybody else shooting this old powder and wonder if your findings are the same. All the old timers that I knew who shot it are gone now and I could kick myself for not picking their brains more than I did.

Rick

 

[X-ring]

Years ago I traded into a keg of old ( late 40’s early 50’s ) Dupont 1F BP. Ive never opened the 25 lb keg but there were about two more loose pounds in the deal. It’s pretty course looking compared to 3F but in doing some research this granulation was used in match competition years ago from the 32-40 up to the 45 and 50 cal. So I’ve been shooting it for a while and despite the size of the grains it ignites and shoots very well. I use magnum primers but not sure if that’s necessary. In my 38-55 and 45-70 it’s accurate but deceptive as the recoil is less and it’s more of a quick push. It also doesn’t leave as much fouling as Goex or Swiss.

Anybody else shooting this old powder and wonder if your findings are the same. All the old timers that I knew who shot it are gone now and I could kick myself for not picking their brains more than I did.

Rick

I used Goex F shooting at 800-900 and 1000 yards with a 45-100 high wall. Accuracy in my rifle was excellent and the recoil was exactly as you describe, more like a push. I only used regular large rifle primers and never had ignition issues. F gives lower muzzle velocities than the other grades of powder but at mid-long range it's more about wind reading than MV. X

 

[anonymouscowherd]

Bigger granuels give less burning surface area compared to a finer powder, so pressure ramp up is slower which changes the recoil characteristics

My only DuPont powder experience was in my misguided youth and involved mailing tubes duct tape and cannon fuse

 

[Garbler]

That makes sense to me anonymouscow. Never heard it explained before but I’m thinking you are on to it. Thanks

Rick

 

[Solomoriah]

Years ago I traded into a keg of old ( late 40’s early 50’s ) Dupont 1F BP. Ive never opened the 25 lb keg but there were about two more loose pounds in the deal. It’s pretty course looking compared to 3F but in doing some research this granulation was used in match competition years ago from the 32-40 up to the 45 and 50 cal. So I’ve been shooting it for a while and despite the size of the grains it ignites and shoots very well. I use magnum primers but not sure if that’s necessary. In my 38-55 and 45-70 it’s accurate but deceptive as the recoil is less and it’s more of a quick push. It also doesn’t leave as much fouling as Goex or Swiss.

Anybody else shooting this old powder and wonder if your findings are the same. All the old timers that I knew who shot it are gone now and I could kick myself for not picking their brains more than I did.

Rick

When I make BP I use a stack of five gold mining pans to do the sorting, (10,20,30,50,100) resulting in my getting 1F+ through 5F. What goes all the way through has returned to the dust I started with, so it just gets added to the next powder mix.

What stays on top came out of the grinder, so its no larger than 2FA, but is anywhere from 1F up to 2FA in size. As I do not have a canon I have been wondering if I should just add that to the dust and run it through the puck & corn process again. But I have a CVA Scout in 45-70. So after reading this, I'll try filling the case to the top and then seating my 320 grain bullets on top of that, giving it some compression as there is a lot of air space.

Gives me a use for the large grains and from the sound of it a lower recoil 45-70 load. My 66 year old shoulder didn't care for what I was shooting a couple of weeks ago.