Shockey's Gold powder

Hi,

Does any one here use/shoot the Shockey's Gold FFG powder in thier Muzzle loader rifle? I bought a pound of it today and wanted to get some input about what to expect it to perform like. I shoot 2 ML rifles, both are 50 cal., one is a T/C Renigade and the other is a T/C Encore inline. In the Renigade I shoot a home cast 370 T/C Maxi bullet using bore butter for lube. In the Encore I use a sabot and 200-240 grain Hornady XTP HP bullet. What is the good, the bad and the ugly of using this new Shockeys in place of the Pyrodex RS that I have been using? Thanks

Regards

BudT

Where did you get it, who makes it, was it expensive, etc. Details, please.

I bought this FFG powder from a local gun store. It is Jim Shockey's Gold powder made by the American Pioneer Powder Inc. americanpioneerpowder.com

I know little to nothing about this except what is posted on their web page and that is the reason I posted in the forum, to find out what I can before I try shooting it. Thus far no one seems to know anything about this powder based by the lack of informative replys to the post. I have already contacted the powder company for data and will find out from them. Thanks for the reply and questions.

BudT

I have used American Pioneer Powder for years with good results. Don't know if the Shockley Gold is the same formula. You measure by volume not weight.

BudT, I'm a new member to this forum so this may be a little late. I have been using the Jim Shockey's Gold for years and for the most part had good luck with it. Two years ago we had a bad snow and ice storm just before th Blackpowder deer season. I found that the Gold powder would get damp in my guns if the guns were taken in an out of warmer areas so they would frost up some. The powder would become bad enough in one day of hunting that the bullet wouldn't make it more than 25 yds when shot at the target. I have since been using Blackhorn powder and it is working much better. My crony test have shown the the Blackhorn powder is giving me 150 more fps than the Gold powder with the same measure and bullet weight. A real great load for your .50 cal guns is the Hornady FPB in 350 gr with 120 gr Blackhorn powder. This should give you about 1900 fps at the muzzle with around 6 inches of bullet drop between 100 and 200 yds. When zeroed in at 100yds. The guns should be comfortable to shoot with this load.

I hope that will help you. The best thing you can do is shoot your guns offen to get comfortable with them and how the loads react to the different conditions. Most hunters shoot thier guns a couple of times before heading out to hunt and are miffed when they miss the game. You very seldom shoot from a seated position when hunting, and shooting from a lot of different positions and ranges will give the hunter great confidence in the shot.