is pyrodex good to use?

[mortarnoobie]

i was reading a bit about it, and its much more readily available (to me) than normal black powder.  however, the lit i was reading says the cannon grade has been discontinued for quite a while.  will any kind do the trick safely?  would it be able to ignite on heavy firecracker fuse (its about little less than 1/8" thick, blue coated, waterproof, burns a good 30 seconds+ per foot)

[Will Bison]

My results were poor with Pyrodex in the cannon. You could duplex it or use a percussion ignition system.

BP in bulk is by far the best solution. It can be ordered from several explosive suppliers.

[Terry C.]

Pyrodex blows, literally.

I tried all the tricks, could never get a decent report with a blank load. Pyrodex simply will not burn fast enough without the pressure of a loaded ball ahead of it.

If you can't get black powder in your area, you can buy it online. Thing is, you will have to buy a lot and pay the HazMat fee. But the plus side is that Pyrodex is priced higher per pound (at least here) than real BP and I still come out about equal if not better even after shipping/HazMat.

Www.powderinc.com will sell in lots as small as 5 pounds, but you still pay the same $20 HazMat fee if you buy 5 pounds or 50. But as I said before, the price per pound, even at the highest rate, is still comparable to buying Pyrodex locally.

Shoot safe and have Fun!

[mortarnoobie]

thanks for the tips... black powder is available here, its just more of a drive to get to it.  i called the guy and he said a little 1 pound can was 13$ or so... i'll check what deals can be had with a larger quantity.

[Blaster]

mortarnoobie, I'm sure that there are a bunch of folks on this forum who will say that $13 is pretty high for a pound of BP.  However, for me, only two places within 100 miles have it, one charging $18.95 per pound plus tax and the other $21.95 also plus tax.  I have recently made a road trip and bought five pounds at a much better price but the vendor was selling only at a mortar/cannon match.  With the "ding-a'lings" that we have making our laws, I'll bet BP is going to be very difficult to obtain one of these days and that's because some terrorist just perhaps/might possibly use it for some terrorist activity.  I guess it's get it while we still can. :cry:
Blaster (Bob in So. CO)

[mortarnoobie]

stupid terrorists

[John N]

If the government ever bans black powder, there's always charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate mixed in the right proportions in a water slurry, then dried and screened.  :-)

[mortarnoobie]

this is true... theres also disassembling shotgun shells if you don't have the proper equipment for good safe and proper mixing.

(slightly crude though... those are the kinds of stories i listened to at the metal shop from the employees during their cannon making days)

haha  :grin:

[CU_Cannon]

I have used pyrodex with my golf ball mortar.  The results werenÂ’t spectacular but it did work.  I definitely noticed the need for high pressure for proper ignition.  Any air space seems detrimental.  If I filled my powder chamber to the edge with no more or less it worked well.  

I don't think I would waste my time with it again.  Unless it is the only thing available I would stay away from it.

I would be careful unloading shot gun cartages.  Apart from the possible danger of unlading them they may be loaded with smokeless.

[CAV Trooper]

I think the thread is wandering way off topic but IMHO you guys are maybe making a mountain out of a mole hill. The odds of BP being banned because the bad guys might try to use it to blow stuff up are virtually nill.

Why would they even bother with something like BP when they have all the semtex, C4, RDX and other goodies they could ever dream of?

50 pounds of BP doesn't come anywhere remotely close to doing the kind of damage that 5 pounds of C4 will and the C4 is a whole lot easier to transport, hide and work with.

[John N]

I tried a 50gr pyrodex pellet in a .50 cal cannon once. It failed miserably. A little sizzling sound and the projectile, a patched lead-filled .45 ACP case, dribbled out of the barrel. Forget pellets. Bad idea to begin with.

Back to the off-topic black powder availability issue, in the unlikely event that commercial BP becomes impossible to get, folks do have the (last resort) option of making it themselves (after thorough study of risks and full adherence to all safety precautions). That's one option our smokeless powder brethren would find difficult to do with their propellents.

[Blaster]

Why would they even bother with something like BP when they have all the semtex, C4, RDX and other goodies they could ever dream of?

50 pounds of BP doesn't come anywhere remotely close to doing the kind of damage that 5 pounds of C4 will and the C4 is a whole lot easier to transport, hide and work with.

I'd venture a guess that the Black Powder would be just a "little" easier to get over that other very controlled stuff! :wink:

[mortarnoobie]

Why would they even bother with something like BP when they have all the semtex, C4, RDX and other goodies they could ever dream of?

50 pounds of BP doesn't come anywhere remotely close to doing the kind of damage that 5 pounds of C4 will and the C4 is a whole lot easier to transport, hide and work with.

I'd venture a guess that the Black Powder would be just a "little" easier to get over that other very controlled stuff! :wink:

ya

[Blaster]

mortarnoobie, since you are located in the KC area, you are pretty close to a very good source for BP.  When making a return trip home from visiting my kids in Illinois, I make it a point to go through Mexico, MO and stop at the R. Graf & Sons.  They carry GOEX, Swiss and their own brand of BP and the prices are very attractive.  Do you ever get over that way, off I-70 at Kingdom City and North on 54??  They are nice folks to deal with.  I don't know if they have a walk-in store so you may want to check via phone.  They also have a web site....  Blaster (Bob in So. CO)

[CAV Trooper]

I'd venture a guess that the Black Powder would be just a "little" easier to get over that other very controlled stuff!

The point is that they don't NEED to get semtex etc. They already HAVE it.
It doesn't make a lot of sense for the bad guys to go out and buy bulky, low powered BP (and leave a paper trail) when they already have large  quantities of the really high power stuff on hand.

blaster,
I just checked out Graf's web site. http://www.grafs.com/ $10.99/lb for GOEX is a real good price. Especially if it can be picked up directly from them.

[Charcoal]

I have to agree with everyone,Pyrodex is crap.I wont use it anymore in my CBs and smokepoles,only the holy black.I also found out the hard way way,Pyrodex is a terrible choice in cannons/mortars.

I understand why some folks use the substitutes,BP is getting harder and harder for many of us to obtain locally,and expensive.Find some buddys or join a club or just bite the boolit,order from one of the GOEX distributors and order 25lbs.In my neck of the woods,the only gunshop around that sells BP charges 23.99 before tax :shock: ,they also have a store policy of 3 pounds per day per customer.

http://www.goexpowder.com/

[Articifer Tom]

May want to try your local firework company we get  2fa and 3fa  for around $6.50 LB. in 50  LB. box. It is great for  noise making . Check  gox  site to understand the  size  diff. basicily it is ungraffited  and larger grain size variance  then  "f" grades.  
 Also mail ordering 50 LB. in cans  is alot cheaper  than some of the numbers am seeing here.

[GGaskill]

Pyrodex really needs the resistance of a tight fitting shot to build enough pressure to burn effectively.  My experience says straight black powder versus half and half black and pyrodex is twice as powerful.  Essentially the Pyrodex contributes nothing.