Good Source for Swiss or Elephant?

[Venator]

Anybody got advice on the best place to buy Swiss or Elephant brand BP? All the dealers here in Houston only carry Goex in BP, and the usual brands of phoney powder.  I'm just switchin from Cleanshot myself, and don't know a thing about buyin, shippin or storin the real deal.  Advice appreciated.

[Double D]

Drop by our resources page on the the Blackpowder Mortar and Cannon Forum.  We have a listing of suppliers of black powder.  Powderinc says they ship in 5 lb quantities. They list GOEX but if you click on their purchase button and scroll down you will see that you can order KIK and Swiss from them also.

  Elephant brand headquarters is in Arlington a short drive up the road from you I believe.

[fredj]

Venetor- I think with the shipping, Hazmat, and wholeasle prices you're much better off just buying a case (25 lbs) if that seems too outrageous just split it up with your friends, which is perfectly legal, an individual can order up to 50 lb's, and store that much, there are however more restrictive local fire codes and insurance reg's in certain area's, Most if not all of the common wisdom concerning the dangers of BP are based
on myth and misunderstanding. Basically you need to keep your BP away
from curious kids and open flame or sparks, static electricity isn't an issue.
You can build an approved BP magazine with 2 x 4's and drywall, some people use an old refrigerator or freezer I keep mine in my workshop in a locked cabinet. I used to keep it in coolers in a chicken coop freezing doesn't hurt BP, sustained temperatures above 150 degrees will weaken
BP. If for any reason your powder gets damp it can be dried out and restored to it's original potency.
    Elephant was sold and it won't be available for the foreseeable futeure
the US importer is now selling Schuetzen BP which is an improved Alder based rifle grade WANO which is reputed to be really excellent and priced about the same as GOEX. I've been getting my Elephant and Swiss BP
from Clarksville Gun & Rod   803 1/2 Vine Street Clarksville, Arkansas 72830 (479) 754-8358 the owner Don is extremely knowledgeable and a fine person to do business with.
   Congratulations on coming over to the dark side  :wink:  I think your
shooting is going to be a lot more productive and fun.
Regards fredj

[Stuffy25thIA]

I bought 25 lb. of Elephant from the Maine powder House for $205.00 two months ago, I see their price now is $207.00, and that includes everything, shipped to your door.

[Double D]

I forgot the link to the resource posting containing Black Powder distributors in my previous post. Here it is. http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=2814

Although the resource list is for cannon shooters we have links there on powder that will get you to all the powder distributors that we have found so far.

If any one has anymore let me know.

I like that Powder Inc will sell and ship you a 5lb lot, mix and match.  I intend to order several one lb cans of the various different brands and grade to have for testing.  It will be nice to have the variety for testing.

[simonkenton]

Can someone tell me what the conversion would be of Swiss to Goex. I am used to shooting 90 of Goex ffg in my .50. I may have a .54 in the near future. I understand the Swiss is more potent, and maybe finicky.

[fredj]

SimonKenton- There's no direct conversion per se, particularly as there's so much variation in the past with GOEX, my guess would be to start with
about 65 gr. of 1 1/2 Fg Swiss and work up in 5 gr. increments.
I found FFg Elephant to work the best in my .54 RB rifle, it worked so well
I really didn't try to much with the Swiss, I'm pretty sure the 1 1/2 Fg would be the right Swiss grade.
Regards fredj

[Venator]

Thanks for the advice.  Ya'll are a fine bunch of folks!

[simonkenton]

Hey Venator, I love that drawing of the cowboy and the starry night firing his pistol. That is cool.