Shooting 45 smokeless and blackpoweder

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shafter

New member
I was wondering if shooting 45 smokeless rounds and blackpowder at the same time is okay. I usually shoot smokeless but I want to try out some blackpowder loads too. The only issue I can think of is cleaning. Do I have to clean the gun before switching loads? Thanks
 
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Hafoc

New member
Reading the BP posts here, I've seen them say you shouldn't use petroleum-based oils and standard gun-cleaning solvents with black powder. Smokeless wants the gun oils and solvents that are common now; BP wants "natural" oils for lubrication, tallow for grease, soap and water for cleaning.

I haven't seen anything to say that it's a safety issue, though, or that it will damage the gun. From what I've read it's just a matter of a mess. Might be a little worse to clean up.

Myself, I used "regular" gun oil with black powder guns, not knowing there was supposed to be any difference. I didn't have any problems with it. Perhaps if I had been shooting hundreds of loads all day it might have made a difference.
 
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Model-P

New member
Supposedly, petroleum products are fine if not exposed to direct black powder combustion (as for cleaning and such). Also, petroleum products exposed to black powder combustion is fine if they are high distillates, like vaseline or mineral oil.

Just try to be sure the lubricant used on all your bullets is black powder compatible. Heck, duplex loads were used for years, so shooting black powder is fine with smokeless powders.
 
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andrewstorm

Moderator
duplex loads were used for years

were did you aquire that info,id like to see any data if it exsists,the only thing ive heard,is that they are dangerous in any gun.:confused:
 
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Hawg

New member
THe thing is the lubes. Shooting smokeless loads with smokeless lubes isnt going to mix well with bp. It wont hurt anything but will make cleaning a harder chore since smokeless cleaners won't work on bp fouling and water wont work on smokeless lubes.
 
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Model-P

New member
were did you aquire that info,id like to see any data if it exsists,the only thing ive heard,is that they are dangerous in any gun
Click to expand...

To be honest with you, I really don't remember. I'm pretty sure that most of the "danger" stories relate to shooting duplex loads through arms designed for black powder use only. I just mentioned it to help answer if black powder and smokeless can be fired through the same gun between cleanings. The answer is, "Yes, it has been done quite frequently." If you do your own loading, use black powder lube on all the bullets.
 
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