All black powder and substitutes are hygroscopic and corrosive

[Jim Watson]

@Jim Watson There's no sense making this ridiculous. I have cited the source for the production of potassium nitrite post combustion in gun powder. You have not. If you want to believe that there is no potassium nitrite and/or that there are no corrosive salts of potassium in black powder residue, feel free. But don't ask others to share that erroneous belief.

No, you cited a reaction for the decomposition of potassium nitrate in the absence of the other reactants in gunpowder.

I showed a general equation for gunpowder and qualitative analysis of the output.

 

[DocRock]

Yep, the residues of black powder and all the substitutes, except for the possibility of Black Horn 209, are hygroscopic. Pyrodex and Triple Seven both contain large quantities of potassium perchlorate. The residues produced by firing Triple Seven are much less corrosive than the residues produced by the of firing Pyrodex.

Both blackpowder and Pyrodex produce very corrosive residues. Both contain sulfur. What about the sulfur?

Blackhorn209 contains potassium perchlorate, as confirmed in the NIST study cited above, but contains no potassium nitrate or sulfur, for example. I cannot speak to the products of combustion of sulfur except to note that, in the presence of other hygroscopic substances, sulfur residue could lead to the formation of some amount of sulfuric acid.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

How about we all just agree that we should clean our guns after shooting whether or not you think/know it will rust? We can all agree its a good habit to practice to keep the guns in tip top shape. Right? And can we all agree pyrodex is the work of evil forces? If you dont agree im going to assume youre posessed by the devil himself...and in the name of the lord i cast yee out!!!

 

[Heir Kommt Die Sonne]

And can we all agree pyrodex is the work of evil forces?

Misidentifying the devil is ignorance. The true devil is in "modern muzzleloaders"

 

[Eyrie G. Dogg]

I've shot a heck ton of Pyro P over the decades and lots of other powder, too. Never had a problem with any of it. Pyrodex P has treated me just fine. How promptly and effectively one cleans the firearm is a lot more important than what type of powder you've used.

Anyone who waits a prolonged period of time to clean up after black power shooting deserves whatever they get - rust and all.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Pyrodex can work just fine in a non humid or low humid environment...but im in south texas where humidity is at about 80s-90s% ...thats the killer. It immediately creates a sticky foulind and starts to eat the metal. You can sometimes see rust while doing a shooting session. Now i have used it in a low humidity environment of about 10-15% relative humidity and although i still didnt like the fouling ...its reaction in my barrel was different., not as bad. But as soon as im shooting locally in the high humidity i have issues. My cousin from el paso loves pyrodex and would always give me grief sayin i was "doin somethin wrong" because hes never had an issue and swears by pyrodex. One year he comes down and brings his "inline" (yeah, hes one of THOSE guys...hes family so i cant shun him too badly) and while enjoying a shooting session he starts realizing his fouling is keeping him from ramming a sabot down..hes surprised as its never happened before with his current bullet and sabot combo..even used a large felt wad and card. He took a look into his barrel and noticed the thick fouling...then we went home...but before we did we stopped to grab some drive through burgers...we sat together and took apart guns...we cleaned our stuff the usual way and he bragged about how inlines are so easy to clean and even tho he experienced the humidity affect the fouling he said he still swears by pyrodex. Next afternoon we have family stop by and wants to check out his inline....he proudly pulls it out of its bag and is shocked to see orange rust at the crown. He quickly takes it apart and realizes he has rust in some parts of the barrel and breach plug. He cant figure out why. Asks too see my guns because it must have been tthe soap or bucket of water we used. I just smurk and say "....pyrodex". He must have scrubbed that gun for a good hour with a wire brush. He never used a brush in the past...a swab was always good enough in high and dry El Paso..but in low wet south texas he learned his lesson. So...moral of the story is pyrodex is evil.

 

[woodnbow]

Pyrodex can work just fine in a non humid or low humid environment...but im in south texas where humidity is at about 80s-90s% ...thats the killer. It immediately creates a sticky foulind and starts to eat the metal. You can sometimes see rust while doing a shooting session. Now i have used it in a low humidity environment of about 10-15% relative humidity and although i still didnt like the fouling ...its reaction in my barrel was different., not as bad. But as soon as im shooting locally in the high humidity i have issues. My cousin from el paso loves pyrodex and would always give me grief sayin i was "doin somethin wrong" because hes never had an issue and swears by pyrodex. One year he comes down and brings his "inline" (yeah, hes one of THOSE guys...hes family so i cant shun him too badly) and while enjoying a shooting session he starts realizing his fouling is keeping him from ramming a sabot down..hes surprised as its never happened before with his current bullet and sabot combo..even used a large felt wad and card. He took a look into his barrel and noticed the thick fouling...then we went home...but before we did we stopped to grab some drive through burgers...we sat together and took apart guns...we cleaned our stuff the usual way and he bragged about how inlines are so easy to clean and even tho he experienced the humidity affect the fouling he said he still swears by pyrodex. Next afternoon we have family stop by and wants to check out his inline....he proudly pulls it out of its bag and is shocked to see orange rust at the crown. He quickly takes it apart and realizes he has rust in some parts of the barrel and breach plug. He cant figure out why. Asks too see my guns because it must have been tthe soap or bucket of water we used. I just smurk and say "....pyrodex". He must have scrubbed that gun for a good hour with a wire brush. He never used a brush in the past...a swab was always good enough in high and dry El Paso..but in low wet south texas he learned his lesson. So...moral of the story is pyrodex is evil.

Haha!

 

[Bruce D Pease]

Awesome lives up to its name. It’s a super cleaner, works on everything. I get mine at Big Lots. I’ve never tried it on my cnb revolver but next time I shoot it I will. The outlaw kid is on the money here.

 

[whughett]

Awesome lives up to its name. It’s a super cleaner, works on everything. I get mine at Big Lots. I’ve never tried it on my cnb revolver but next time I shoot it I will. The outlaw kid is on the money here.

Bet it’s 98% H2O

 

[Jim Watson]

At the maximum levels of active ingredients on the SDS, it might be as little as 90% H2O.

 

[whughett]

I use Dawn dish soap along with hand comfortable hot water. The Dawn is just to enable the water to remove and hold in suspension the oils and waxes left behind by the over powder grease wads or cookies. I rarely clean the same day but generally the next and on rare occasions forgotten for several days with no problems. The use of a bees wax/ vegetable oil based lubricant may add a degree of additional protection as it seems to mix with powder fouling and decreases the hygroscopic effect to a small degree until the fouling is removed by cleaning. Wouldn’t take that to the bank however. Just my own experience.