doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Pyrodex for BP

I recently came across an 8 gauge Lefever. I obtained some brass shells. I found a recipe for loading with Black Powder. However, I cannot find Black Powder here in Hawaii. Only Pyrodex.
The company states Pyrodex can be used on a volume to volume basis as a substitute for BP. The recipe I have is in Drams (4 Drams BP for this load). I read that Pyrodex density is about 70% that of BP. That leaves me to believe that about 2.8 Drams of Pyrodex would be the equivalent of 4 Drams of BP.
Has anybody got any experience with this?

Use the proper scoop for the original charge of black for Pyrodex. When I loaded 45-70s with it, I used a measure designed to throw a charge of 70 grains of black. That amount of Pyrodex weighed much less than 70 grains. There is data out there for Pyrodex by actual weight, too. Someone with more experience should be along to offer more. I dabbled with it a little about 15 years ago. Good luck!

When I loaded BP and still load CleanShot/American Pioneer BP sub in shotshells,,I always use the same scoop for the shot and the powder. Same VOLUME of each component.

It's always been a decent rule of thumb for a good all around load in BP shotloads and if the sub is a vol to vol replacement powder,,it works just as well.

Choose the shotload (oz) you want, make a scoop that holds that weight of shot.
Use the same scoop to load that same volume of powder in BP or the substitute.
Adjust the height of the load in the shell by adding to or deleting from the filler wads if you use lighter or heavier loads.

The advise you have received is all good. The Key here is the words the Co stated is Volume for Volume, not Weight for Weight. If it were Wt for Wt you would actually have to use more of the Pyrodex, not less. A 4 Dram charge of Black weighs about 109 grains, with the 70% density a 4 Dram "Volume" of Pyrodex is going to weigh about 76 grains. Industry standard for a volume measure for Black is .115 Cubic inches per Dram, thus a .460 CuIn measure would be correct for the 4 dram load. With those figures you can if needed make your own.
Pyrodex leaves less fouling in the bore than Black, but do not be deceived into not cleaning effectively. It is actually more corrosive than black but the same cleaning technic will take care of it.

Please tell us about your 8 ga. Lefever. I'm sure we'd all like to hear about your new pop-gun!

Dr Bob,
My use of Pyrodex,in a rifle,showed clearly that it needs to be compressed a good bit.This was necessary due to "hang fire",this may or maynot be as critical in a shotgun.Also, I agree with the above comment about cleaning.
Mike

Pyrodex does seem to like to be "snug".

Pyrodex fouling also seems to be more corrosive than black powder fouling and it can be more difficult to remove. The stuff smells funny, too.

I have found that the only real advantage that Pyrodex has over "Holy Black" is that it is easier to obtain.