With all the black powder substitutes on the market, does anyone make a replica flash powder suitable for the flintlock? Triple 7 in FFFG will ignite but burns slow and won't set off main charge. Is there something else that will work?

I shoot a lot of ML, from traditional flintlocks and percussion to "modern" inlines with sub-powders and sabots etc, and I know of no substitute for 4F black as a priming powder for flintlocks. I shoot Goex black in my flint rifles & smoothbores and prime with 4f.

Agree with the previous post.....There are no suitable substitutes for FFFFg powder. Even if the granulation was finer, the ignition temperature of the subs is higher than black powder.
Black powder in FFFg works just fine as a flash powder.
Pete

__________________
"Only hunting and mountain climbing are sports. The rest are just games."

I have tried all the sub powders. Even the ones they "claimed" worked in flintlocks. Well they do, and they don't. While some of the subs might go off 50% of the time, the other times they don't. Black Powder was and still is the best priming and for that matter, charge powder, for any flintlock rifle I have found to date.

I tried to duplex loads also. And while that helps... its not black powder.

Thanks guys. Just keep hoping something will come along. Real BP is scarce here. Guess I'll have to use what I've got sparingly.

A pound of FFFFG goes a long way in the flask pan!

If FFFF is hard to come by locally, you can do what I did for several years -- use a small wooden mortar and pestle to grind F or FFF a bit finer. Just be cautious not to do anything that would generate a spark (thus, the wooden m & p.)

Mr. C,

Where do you live? If 4F BP is hard to come by, why not get with a few Muzzleloader friends and order a mixed case of 4F, 2F, 3F and what not from Graf & Sons? They will ship 25 pounds of BP for a reasonable shipping charge. I know guys who put together a 25 pound order for themselves to Prep for the Lean Days AHEAD!

An order to Graf is a lot safer than Home-Grinding 2F to 4F with a pestal & mortor. That has to be GREAT Quality Control on the finished product!

Webley

>An order to Graf is a lot safer than Home-Grinding 2F to 4F with a pestal & mortor. That has to be GREAT Quality Control on the finished product!

No risk to it whatsoever, my firend, if you take care to avoid any ignition souce, and works splendidly. In fact, if your lock sparks strong, FFF works well as a prime with no grinding.

We use to have a large well known BP mill a few miles away. One night BANG. the plant is gone now. Even professionals get some ignition problems.

Old timer just used whatever they had and ground it between 2 spoons. Seen it done but am too fond of my thumbs.

Well, when you are doing maybe 1/2 teaspoon at a time, making a crater is a slim possibility.

There is no need to grind down FFFg powder. It works great as a prime as it is. Sub powders have a figher ignition temp and will not work in flint locks reliably. Some of subs claim they will work in flint locks, Unfortunately, it will cost you the price of a pound of powder to find out they are wrong. Stick with real black powder and you can't go wrong.

FFFg works just fine as a priming powder. When I am hunting, I carry one powder for charge and priming ......makes things a lot simpler. I understand that one can prime with FFg, though I have not tried that.
So.....if you cannot find 4Fg, 3Fg will do.
Pete

__________________
"Only hunting and mountain climbing are sports. The rest are just games."

1+ on the fffg , Works well in my Harpers Ferry 1803 and brown bess. Seem to need less of it than 2f .

I'm in Southern Illinois. I had FEL #29 explosives Black Powder dealer's license until 2009. Personal possession limit in Illinois is only 5 lbs. Grinding won't give the same 4-f results. Burn rates are different mixtures. I go through a lot of powder in guns and cannon. Was interested in other, non-bp because we have a more generous limit of 25 lbs. powder in other types. Thanks.