The current situation with black powder, I have been looking at alternatives.
There has been a bunch of discussion on this topic lately.
I tried testing pyrodex with both 4 inch LOC cardboard body tubes, and some
thicker shipping tubes.
Pyrodex is used as a replacement for black powder since it is not explosive,
and therefore safer to handle and store. When at normal atmospheric pressure
pyrodex burns much slower than black powder. When contained, such as in the
chamber of a firearm, it rapidly pressurizes and acts very much like gun powder.
Setting up ejection charges the same way I would with black powder resulted in
a much slower burn. Ejection was much less energetic than with black powder,
and the longer exposure to heat resulted a tendency to set rigging and the body
on fire.
Containing the pyrodex in solid plastic bottles wrapped in tape resulted in
VERY energetic action, which did result in prompt ejections but in one case
blew the side out of the LOC body tube. The plastic bottles tended to shatter
and become shrapnel.
On a side note, I have also found that pyrodex, while a very good substitute
for rifle propellent, is not suitable for use in the flash pan of a flintlock.
In general, I do not suggest pyrodex as a substitute for black powder ejection
charges.
Dave Smith
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