Black mag 3 BP substitute

[Cortland]

Anybody try this stuff ("Magkor Black Mag' 3")? The fellow at the local BP shop couldn't say enough good things about it, especially with respect to barrel fouling. It's a BP substitute, it's white , and it costs about three times as much as the real stuff. Not sure about relative corrosiveness.

I'm thinking of trying some in my original 1873 Winchester and/or repro 1863 Sharps carbine.

 

[Mark whiz]

Ok - I thought I knew this one................... and after a little 'Net surfin', I was right.

This is but another form of what you'll see sold as CleanShot, or most recently as American Pioneer Powder.

This powder is a mixed bag as it has some nice pluses and some bad negatives.

On the plus side...........it is absolutely the cleanest powder on the market, including 777 powder. Clean up is remarkably easy and it leaves no "crud ring" that 777 has become noted for.

On the minus side................
1) It is slightly on the weak side - about 10% weaker than Pyrodex and 20 to 25% weaker than 777.
2) In 2fg cut, it looks more like gravel than powder - such large chunks makes measuring less accurate and ignition less reliable in sidelock/flintlock use.
3) And the biggest minus is that is sucks moisture out of the air like SpongeBob on steroids. In use, it just doesn't last long before it deteriorates because of the moisture it picks up every time the bottle is opened - even when kept indoors under HVAC.


I used CleanShot exclusively until 777 hit the market, because of the cleanliness issue..................about the same time I had a bottle of it go bad, literally overnight. No more of that for me - 777 is a much better buy .................. it lasts longer, is more powerful, cleans up almost as easy, is cheaper, and is more readily available. Seems like a "no-brainer" to me.

 

[Hellgate]

Cortland,
It has been my understanding that Black Mag (made by Arco) has not been made for a few years. I shot up the last of mine about 2-3 years ago. I liked it. It was a light tan color and not nearly as moisture grabbing as Black Canyon which was improved upon and became Cleanshot which became American Pioneer Powder (APP). The original Blk Canyon would go bad from moisture in the air & turn from light grey to brown to black and then aggregate together into one big chunk of fused kitty litter. The Black Mag would occasionally chunk up but a quick shake of the black plastic jug would break it up again. I only used the 3F size. Where did you buy it? Is it freshly made? How much did it cost. I'd buy more if I could get it for a reasonable cost. I found it to be non fouling, about as strong as Blk Mag/Cleanshot/APP or BP and hell on brass unless soaked quickly. I loaded it exclusively into 357mag cartridges for Cowboy Action shooting. I now use 777 which is noticeably more powerful than all of the above mentioned powders.

 

[mec]

The American Pioneer is fun to shoot but delivers really low velocities. We tried it in a .31 and it clocked somewhere in the 300s. Balls would bounce off of cans. It works pretty good in 36 and above. Velocities are low but sometimes, who cares.

20 grains of 777 duplicates 30 grains of pyrodex p in my 50 Lyman plains pistol Real accurate too. With other handguns and heavier loads, its kind of a mixed bag. Generally higher velocities and less consistency than fffg or pyrodex.