Black Powder vs Pyrodex vs Triple 777 - Least corrosive?

I vote BP

They are all at least as equally corrosive. All contain similarly corrosive chemicals and leave corrosive residue. All require the same easy clean up. There is no appreciable difference whatsoever in the degree of corrosiveness caused by the residues of their combustion. They are all hygroscopic without exception.

In my 40+ years of experience with real bp and quite a bit with pyrodex, hands down, pyrodex is bad news. Jury's out on T7 but it seems at the moment to be about on par with the real deal bp.

While there may be some differences in their degrees of corrosiveness, I wouldn't know how to go about proving anything.
There may be different objective ways to measure corrosiveness under identical conditions.
And then there's variables such as different types of steel, and how much of each individual powder is considered to be an equivalent amount?
Would it be based on an equivalent volume of powder, or the amount of powder needed to obtain a specific velocity, and would the results be the same under high humidity as under low humidity, how many days or hours can a person go without cleaning, or which is more corrosive for brass cartridge cases?
There's room for a lot of potential tests that could possibly produce some different results.
Since each powder contains different ingredients their residues may also have different degrees of corrosiveness.
There's also other sub. powders besides those three powders being asked about that have their own formulas, American Pioneer powder and Blackhorn 209.
They also contain Potassium perchlorates but not every powder contains charcoal or sulfur.
And who really knows the exact amounts of Potassium perchlorates that each powder contains and whether other ingredients or by-products offset any of their effects.

I don't really believe that normal Black Powder fouling like Goex, Swiss, Schuetzen, etc are actually corrosive at all to speak of, only hygroscopic.

Just apply a generous amount of your favorite neutralizing lubricant, solvent or mixture such as mineral oil, Ballistol or moose milk, and consider cleaning the gun within a reasonable amount of time after shooting it.
Then choosing which is more corrosive doesn't need to be an issue.

IME: Black powder and Pyrodex are equally corrosive, either is capable of ruining your gun unless promptly cleaned. The agent of corrosiveness in those powders is sulfur. Triple Seven does not contain sulfur and is not unduly corrosive.

For years, beginning in about August; i would receive a dozen or two muzzleloaders from owners who had neglected to clean same. They expected me to do miracles with their rusted guns. Finally quit doing that.

sleepysquirrel2 said:

When perchlorates decompose/burn, they turn into potassium chloride, aka de-icing salt. And for any of you who live in the rust belt, you'll know what kind of damage de-icing salts can do to metal.

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Potassium perchlorates are used in all the black powder substitutes. It's a cheap method of increasing puissance. Residue of potassium perchlorate is mildly corrosive, if at all.

Properly clean your BP gun soon after firing and there's no problem.

When 777 first came out, the marketing gimmick was that it only required water to neutralize the corrosives in it as opposed to soap and water for Pyrodex and real BP. Even though that does not directly address the OP’s question, it does offer a characteristic that may or may not be advantageous.

In the end, my personal opinion is that real BP is best for all around use. That being user friendliness, cleaning/corrosiveness, accuracy, ballistics, etc. it’s just harder to get your hands on.

When it comes to corrosive properties in cap lock firearms at least I was lead to believe that the main culprit in causing corrosion were the salts found in the priming for original caps? I'm a rookie on the subject of BP and it's modern equivalents, just throwing in what little I understand on the subject.

I use Goex in my flinter. And pyrodex in my inline. Clean with hot soapy water after shooting. Treat bore with barricade for storage. Never had any problems with the bores degrading.

At the end of any day that I shoot a front loader, I clean it.
End of story.

sleepysquirrel2 said:

In your experience, which one of these is the least corrosive?

I know pyrodex is the worst, but the jury's still out on Goex vs Triple 777

There is this scientific study that found that the corrosive parts of Black Powder are the sulfur compounds.
While the corrosive parts of substitutes (Pyrodex and Triple 777) are Potassium Perchlorates: which are the same thing used corrosive commie-bloc primers. When perchlorates decompose/burn, they turn into potassium chloride, aka de-icing salt. And for any of you who live in the rust belt, you'll know what kind of damage de-icing salts can do to metal.

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There was a fellow who did a test in his garage during the humid summer having used 3 steel plates burning BP vs Pyrodex vs T7. I only saved the photo after he cleaned them up (day 4) and used a wire wheel except on the T7 as it wasn’t needed. These were his results:

I had issues with Pyrodex trusting what I was told that you could get to it the next day, which was absolutely false. But then I had another telling me that if I ever was short on time again then I could use an oil to saturate the fouling leaving no room for moisture. I tested this in my two revolvers using Ballistol. Days in my Texas garage during our hot and humid summers proved that it indeed does work.

Pyrodex is the worst.

In 2000 i bought a cheap CVA Stag Horn rifle. That rifle has fired over 3,500 rounds using Pyrodex. The bore remains pristine. Properly clean your gun and it won't get rusty.

I use a lot of pyrodex, I've had rust starting minutes after shooting. Shot my 51 navy a few weeks ago, 4 mile drive home and chambers were already red. Normally I carry a small bottle of soapy water to flush the gun some until I am home.

777 pellets are your friend. That doesn’t mean you can neglect your firearm after shooting; they should be cleaned THAT DAY with soap and hot water. Yes, 777 will not destroy a barrel as quickly as BP or Pyrodex, but push the limits at your own risk. 777 cleans up in 10 minutes, and the pellets have a long shelf life if you vacuum pack them

I never used T7, but used Clear shot, which was supposed to be similar. Corrosion was not an issue, but I cleaned quick. Real black it almost non corrosive, and I can half ass cleaning and not have issues. I have fouling in areas for years. Pyrodex will fully ruin a gun in 2 days, I have seen it.

IMHO, Triple 7 is far less corrosive than the real thing. It also fouls less and allows more shots between swabbing. The downside is that it's harder to light and doesn't smell like rotten eggs.

My first thought was, are you planning on not cleaning your gun? I have numerous guns I have used real black in, for decades, that show no corrosion. I shoot Pyrodex in subscale cannon, mostly because people gift it to me because they had ignition problems. No corrosion. Clean a fired gun before you go to bed. Clean it again in three days, then in three weeks, and if it's stored, every three months.

Fine Figure of a Man said:

I vote BP

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Fine Figure of a Man said:

At the end of any day that I shoot a front loader, I clean it.
End of story.

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Once again, perfectly put.

Fine Figure of a Man said:

At the end of any day that I shoot a front loader, I clean it.
End of story.

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If you do it like that, you'll never know the difference. However, 777 does afford you a buffer, should you need it.

I actually bought a SmokePole used, that someone didn’t clean. Had to be either 777 or smokeless, cause it cleaned right up. Also, shooting 777, sometimes I wait a day or two before cleaning; no corrosion

We have covered this before. Exhaustively.

All black powder and it’s substitutes are corrosive and hygroscopic. Anecdotal claims that one sub or that black powder is less hygroscopic or less corrosive are just that: anecdotal, and unsupported by extensive scientific research.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...titutes-are-hygroscopic-and-corrosive.873458/