Blackpowder recommendation desired (not a substitute)

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mcb

mcb

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So I have three black powder firearms. A 36 caliber Spiller and Burr replica, a 9-inch 54 cal pistol Lyman Plans pistol, and a Thompson Center Big-Boar 58 Cal. For the pistol I have always use Goex FFFg in the revolver, and Goex FFg in the 58 rifle. I have used both FFg and FFFg in the 54 cal pistol though it seems to like the FFFg over the FFg.

So this past weekend was the opening of muzzle loader season and I came to realize I am basically out of FFg. I have enough for 14 rds which will hopefully get me through the short hunting season unless next weekend goes extraordinarily bad or good. :D

So none-the-less I need to order some black powder and figured I would ask if there is any good reason to move away from my tried and true Goex brand. I have used Goex for years and its always worked well but there are a lot of members here that are more knowledgeable/experience with black-powder than myself and though it could not hurt to ask for opinions. I will likely have to order it online as none of the local big box and LGS seem to carry real black powder of any brand. I will probably put together a larger Powder Valley order together since I need some smokeless powder too.

Any suggestion or advice is very apricated.
 
I have always preferred the Swiss brand, it’s definitely stronger than Goex and somewhat cleaner burning as well. I’m also checking out the Olde Einsford brand, it seems to be slightly less powerful than Swiss but clean burning too... accuracy is the benchmark however and Swiss has been very consistently accurate for me.
 
I’ve only used Olde Eynsford by Goex and really like it. It’s energetic like Swiss and Triple 7. Since my revolvers are sidearms while hunting I need them to perform well so my options are rather limited with Swiss being the only other option I know of outside of some European stuff or making it myself. The cost is reasonable being a bit more than a $1 more than standard Goex. And it’s an American product.

But I want to try Swiss as well. I’ve read many who compared it to Olde E say Swiss still has the edge. One found their Olde E 3F doesn't work well in his rifles like usual, but that 2 and 1.5F were superb.

But if you’re only punching paper and are happy with what you’ve experienced maybe it’s not an issue, and maybe the bulk of your order being for what you’re used to and a pound or three of various others to try next to it (3, 2, and 1,5F). If you order from Graf’s their house powder is now Goex.
 
There's a lot of folks who love Swiss and also many who criticize it for producing hard fouling.
It can depend on the type of gun and caliber, the granulation of Swiss and the amount of the powder charge.

This 2 page thread has posts by folks who complained about the hard residue Swiss produced in their .58 rifles with heavy powder charges.
Yet some of the same folks praise using Swiss in their other guns. --->>> https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/swiss-blackpowder.57914/

It's easy to find opinions on both sides of the issue by doing a Google search using the words: Swiss Harder Fouling
I think that it boils down to trying different powders in different guns to see which works best in each.
 
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rodwha said:
...being a bit more than a $1 more than standard Goex
Click to expand...
Closest price difference I find is 2.05 from Maine powder house. Midway is 2.50, Graf 2.75 and Powder Valley 3.00. I save the OE for my rifles. Smooth bore and revolvers do fine with Graf Goex-supplied house brand
 
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DeeTV said:
Closest price difference I find is 2.05 from Maine powder house. Midway is 2.50, Graf 2.75 and Powder Valley 3.00. I save the OE for my rifles. Smooth bore and revolvers do fine with Graf Goex-supplied house brand
Click to expand...


Clearly been a while since I last ordered.
 
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Have you found the Goex to be lacking in any area for you?
If you have good results with it, and your guns are already dialed in with it, why change it?
If it aint broke......................you know the rest.
 
Goex works well for most things. Swiss is a better powder in just about every way, but I'm not convinced it's worth the price when it comes to things like revolvers and buckhorn-sighted cap guns. I reserve Swiss for my Gibbs long range rifle, which is the only gun I have that gives objectively better performance with Swiss.

For everything else I use Olde Eyensforde, as I got a pretty good deal on a big lot a while back. I find that OE is almost as fast and uniform as Swiss, and the fouling is softer and easier to remove than Goex. I definitely prefer it over Goex. When I run out, though, I will have to take a hard look at the price tags - I'm not sure how much extra I would be willing to pay over Goex.
 
Thanks guys. I am not after super accuracy, just good hunting accuracy. The old Thompson Center Big-Boar 58 is my deer hunting rifle during muzzle loader season and if I can shoot ~3 inch group at 100 yards with the iron sights I am more than happy. I have no great reason or motivation to move away from Goex other than I am just about out and if I am going to order some more powder I might as well see if there is something better worth trying.
 
mcb said:
Thanks guys. I am not after super accuracy, just good hunting accuracy. The old Thompson Center Big-Boar 58 is my deer hunting rifle during muzzle loader season and if I can shoot ~3 inch group at 100 yards with the iron sights I am more than happy. I have no great reason or motivation to move away from Goex other than I am just about out and if I am going to order some more powder I might as well see if there is something better worth trying.
Click to expand...

In your shoes I would spring for a pound of OE. It is a better powder and you may find the results, for your application, worth the extra cost. And if it is not, well, it was a fairly inexpensive lesson, no?
 
As of recent the Grafs is made by GoEx, far as I can tell shoots like the plain red jug of GoEx.

Before, it was made by Schuetzen/Wano
 
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Swiss it top of the line for sure. A bit expensive. I've been shooting Goex lately because I came upon some for free, and trying to hoard my supply of Swiss for my Jeager. Only the best for the Rose of Alabama. I think Goex is much better than when I shot it years ago. I really think the quality has gone up.

I've never hear of the "hard fouling" of Swiss. I need to get out more. I shoot heavy loads in my .58's with it, and up to 140 grains of it in my Brown Bess, and I find it fouls less than other powders, and cleans up easier. ???? Perhaps I've been living in another reality. Actually......!! Anyhow, yeah, if Goex has worked well for you in the past, why change.
 
Im an OE type of guy. Its worth the small extra price over goex..especially for how much stronger it is than regular goex...and its just as hot as swiss. Its only like 10 feet per second slower than swiss when hitting the 900+ feet per second speeds..so only about 1.5% slower than swiss but about 25-40% cheaper than swiss...and up to 25-30% faster than goex. So price wise you get more for your money when it comes down to using Olde Eynseford. But swiss is top shelf stuff as well...if swiss and old Eynseford were to cost the same i would be buying swiss.
 
I’m not awake of any hard fouling from Swiss powder either, but maybe since it’s 90% of the powder I’ve used for the past decade I’m just unaware. Wouldn’t be the first time. I’m using my third jug of OE right now and it’s good stuff too. Jury is still out but the fouling seems about the same as Swiss, (all blackpowder fouling is crusty here in the arid west.) velocities seem close to Swiss and accuracy, well, that’s going to take time to sort out.
 
I think OE is made by Hodgdon/Goex. It is good. I like 1 1/2 in cartridge rifles. Use a little less when using 3F instead of 2F.
 
I would think twice about changing powders in the middle of hunting. Swiss could easily change your point of impact. Ooopps, a miss.
 
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Thomasss said:
I would think twice about changing powders in the middle of hunting. Swiss could easily change your point of impact. Ooopps, a miss.
Click to expand...
Definitely agree. I have just enough powder for 17 pre-measure charges I have in quick-loaders (5) and screw top test tubes (12). Unless things go really bad or weirdly good that will be more than enough to get me through this hunting season. This would be a new pound or two for the next few seasons.

I have been using 300 XTP/HP .452 diameter bullets in MMP sabots for the past few years. I have two boxed of the Hornady 300 gr SST .452 bullets I bought at blems from Midway I was going to use in my 450 Bushmaster but I have fallen in love with the Barnes 275gr TSX in that gun so I am going to try the SST in the old Big-Boar. Figure changing bullets would be a good time to try a new powder too if there was something to be gained from the change.
 
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