Goex Express

[rifle]

Anyone have experience or info about using Goex Express Powder in the cap&ball revolvers?  FFg or FFFg ? Velocities? Too much pressure fer the cap&ballers? Really burn clean? Really have soft fouling?  Price?  Thank You

[Fox Creek Kid]

I've shot about two lbs. of Express FFg in a big Sharps bottleneck and it gives light fouling & burns moist, BUT I still get better accuracy with Swiss (so far). Is it worth it for any other BP shooting? No. It's too expensive & quite frankly for CAS (especially with Big Lube bullets) (don't sue me for using this TM Dick!  ) it's a waste of your money. It was developed for serious BP long range shooting and that is where it seems to work best.

[44caliberkid]

Black Powder Cartridge News had two different authors write up Goex Express a couple months ago.  Visually it was unimpressive, they were expecting more polish and it really didn't differ from regular Goex.
   It performed acceptably in compressed loads but didn't make them want to change from their favorite Swiss loading.
  A great powder for C&B pistols is Graf Brothers, half the price of Express and a better powder.
  You really don't have to worry about any real BP having too much pressure for modern produced firearms.

[Fox Creek Kid]

I'll second the Graf's BP (made by WANO in Germany) for all around usage as it's great. However, since I use Big Lube bullets for CAS any BP works great at CAS distances.

[TAkaho kid]

The big issue I have with GOEX express is the the cost. Yes, the Swiss I use for long range is expensive but then again I don't mind paying for truly premium products. GOEX Express uses the same components as the rest of the GOEX black powder line.
They simply altered the milling time.

To have a moist burning powder (i.e. one that actually adds moisture to the fouling) the charcoal is all important. The species is very important. For instance, the Swiss use Buckthorn Alder that is carefully aged and selected for consistency. Alder is listed as being essential to producing a true sporting grade powder. On the other hand Goex uses maple which we know will never produce a powder quality above musket or rifle grade.

To produce a powder that actually produces moisture, close attention must be paid to the charring process and the tempreture of the retort. Solid carbon does not produce moisture when burned. However, if the carbon contains creosote (a phenolic-structured liquid hydro carbon) then moisture will be produced. If the retort tempreture is allowed to exceed 320 degrees the creosote will begin to flash-off. At 350 degrees it is all gone. In addition the moisture contant of the wood going into the retort must be taken into account and the charr time varied accordingly.

GOEX does not manufacture its own charcoal as the Swiss do. Like their other components they buy it from an outside source. Needless to say the charcoal in that can of GOEX Express sitting in your powder magazine could very well have come from the same batch of charcoal your going to burn your steak on tonight. So much for quality!

So, how does GOEX justify the cost? I guess they go by the theory that if you put a Ferrari price on a Yugo folks will think its has Ferrari quality.

That dog won't hunt.