The Straight Poop on Black Powder News, Information and Helpful Hints from Stewart Dawge & Assoc.

Everything that matters, and even more that doesn’t.

Volume 1 Number 1 April 8, 2005

Dawge Poop

Having fun with Goex Pinnacle faux Black Powder

Let’s start off by establishing why we have Substitute Black Powder.

Traditional Black Powder is classified as a low explosive. Hence, Black Powder is covered by all types of Federal and Local regulations. Local bureaucrats who have very little knowledge establish many of these regulations.

Substitute or Replica Black Powders are classified as Flammable Solids, just like Smokeless Powder. We should not confuse the Replica Black Powders with Smokeless Powders. The Replicas need to be loaded much like Traditional Black. All of the Replicas need some degree of compression and must not be loaded with air space in the cases.

With all that said, let’s talk about Goex Pinnacle. Pinnacle is a true non-corrosive propellant. It is based on a fuel that is derived from Ascorbic Acid, using chemical oxidizers to replace the Potassium Nitrate and chemical binders to replace the Sulfur. As you can see, Pinnacle is a true replacement for Black. Some of the other Replicas on the market still use some of the ingredients from black powder, like Charcoal and Potassium Nitrate. Most of the Replicas, including Pinnacle, use Potassium Perchlorate as an oxidizer. Caution should be used when shooting…the smoke can be hard on the lungs.

Loading Pinnacle for Cowboy Action Shooting. Pinnacle can be used as a direct replacement for Traditional Black Powder. You will find that in some of the larger capacity cases like 45 Colt etc., you can achieve some real heavy recoil. Hence, I recommend that a full load of 35grains of 2fg Pinnacle be reduced by 25%, to 26 grains by weight. The basic rule would be to load as much as you can stand. With Pinnacle you get much more recoil than you do performance. 45 Colt 25 grains with a good filler like the Goex Black Dawge case filler will give you around 800 fps with a 250 grain lead RNFP bullet. 35 grains with the same bullet will give you around 875 fps. It is not worth the pain.

I have found that using Pinnacle with standard smokeless lubed bullets in 38 Special creates a great CAS load that is fairly inexpensive and easy on the body.

If you want to load Pinnacle in a Long Range cartridge like a 45-70, you can load it just like you would Traditional Black Powder. Use a minimum of compression. Your compression should not exceed 1/16 of an inch. You may use smokeless powder lubed bullets.

The accuracy that can be achieved with Pinnacle is acceptable for Cowboy Action Shooting. In other words, if you want to hit a Bull in the Ass with ammo loaded with Pinnacle, you will need to get real close.

Pinnacle does work very well in Cap and Ball Pistols. You need not worry about lubing your bullets or using grease wads. Just load them cylinders and blast away.

All in all, Goex Pinnacle gives us an option to real Black Powder. Pinnacle is easy to buy and store without violating all sorts of Federal and local regs. It is easy to load and, considering you can use cheap bullets, the $20.00 to $25.00 per lb. price is not too bad.

So Pards, go out and get some Pinnacle, loadum up and blast away. Have fun and be safe.