Guys, a friend of mine said he was told that if he uses pyrodex powder in his flintlock that he must use 5 gr. of FF black powder like a duplex load in order to get it to ignite. I can't with authority anwser his question because I'm only getting interested in B/P because of his starting interest, but I told him I know where to get an answer. Can anyone give advice on this question, thanks...........Bob

Bob,

Haven't heard that one. My dad and I once shot a trade gun quite a few times using pyrodex and didn't have any problems, IIRC. We did use 4F to prime the pan, but just used straight pyrodex. Make sure there are no burrs in the flash hole, and if you do have an ignition problem make sure you poke a few grains in there, I bet that would fix your problem.

Yes, that is the recommended solution to a problem that really does not exist. If you can get bp for a priming load, then you can get bp for a main charge and be much much happier - and your rifle will be happier too. But straight Pyro has a very very bad rep for reliability in flintlocks.

Brent

Duplex loads are a pain but yes that is what typically needs to be done in flinters. I say typically because there are always exceptions but the vast norm is that pyrodex in unreliable in flinters.

Why?

It has to do with ignition temperatures. Pyrodex in particular and other substitutes have ignition temperatures twice that of black powder. Thus it is far easier to ignite actual black powder than any of the substitue powders.

So if you want to use pyrodex for the main load you need to also carry 2F or 3F black powder for the main charge and then potentially 4F to prime the pan. Now you are potentially carrying 3 different powders everytime you want to shoot your flinter. This really complicates the loading procedure.

Given a correctly tuned lock you can aceive fast ignition with 2F, 3F or 4F powder. The difference must be measured by high speed camera equipment. Remember I said a "tuned" lock and one that throws the white hot sparks. If your locks through orange or even red sparks your lock is throwing cooler sparks and you may need the finer powders for quick reliable ignition. The smaller the granual the easier it is to ignite. In addition the little "g" on the can of black powder stand for graphite coated. This coating helps prevent the powder from sucking moisture from the air. Uncoated powder draws moisture faster but is yet again easier to ignite. 4F powder is uncoated.

And again as was mentioned ... if you already have a source of 2F for the duplex load and 4F for the prime, why even bother with the Pyrodex. Just load up with 2F and shoot.

Thanks guys for all who gave advice and for those that may come latter............Bob