i just ordered my first black powder gun from Cabelas, One of these:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/content/Item/21/00/82/i210082sn03.jpg

I haven't bought the powder yet, and there are so many options these days I'm not sure what to get. I'm mainly going to use the gun for targeting, and as a firearms history lesson for my son who is homeschooled. If any of you can recommend a good, affordable black powder or BP substitute I would appreciate the advice!

What caliber is it? It looks like their 1858 New Army .44. Actually, any of the subs as well as the Holy Black will work. I like the real stuff. Don't use a .44 so I cannot recommend a load. I have used Pyrodex, Swiss and Goex in my .36. I have also used both ffg and fffg granulations. I prefer fffg as I find that the fouling is less.
Get a BP reloading manual and you'll be set.
Pete

Thanks, Pete. It is indeed the 1858 NA .44. How much difference is there between true BP and the subs? Are the subs just easier to clean after use? I see some claims about superior velocity and accuracy. Neither is very important in my case as this will be a just for fun gun for my son and I as a way of "getting our feet wet" in BP. Later on I will probably get a BP rifle to use for hunting.

Get some Pinnacle 3f or American Pioneer Powder 3f powder, a tin of #10 caps, some .44 caliber bore buttons, a tube of bore buttter, and some .451 ball.

Dump 30 grains of Pinnacle in the chamber, then a bore button on top of the powder, then a ball and finally coat the end of the cylinder with some bore butter so you do not get a chain fire. I have that exact revolver but with target sights. Also a cylinder loader is a big help with these revolver.

The reason I recommend Pinnacle or American Pioneer powder is..
good power
good ignition
easy to clean
does not fowl the cylinder up
more shots without cleaning the revolver frame

I used to shoot Pyrodex P or Goex 3f and it is just too dirty. After two rounds of shooting you have to break the revolver down, wipe out the frame, the cylinder off, the cylinder locking pin, etc. While you should still do that with the other powders, take a bottle of Windex and some patches to the range and you can wipe it all out with that.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/cayugad/blackpowderrevolver.jpg

Thanks for the detailed response cayugad! I read some very good reviews on the American Pioneer powder. According to their website, they have a distributor in Anchorage. I'll be there on Friday, so I plan to pick some up. I'll grab some bore buttons and bore butter as well. I bought the starter kit, and the balls in the kit should keep me supplied for at least a few weeks. I don't plan to put hundereds of balls through the gun at first.

AK: I haven't tried the Amer. Pioneer but it has gotten good talk in various fora. I'll have to give it a go.
I use fffg black powder mostly. IMHO, real BP is no more difficult to clean up than the subs. I have used Pyrodex as stated earlier. I have also used 777. I noticed no difference in the clean up. Soap and water and a bore brush/cylinder brush. I clean it in the kichen sink. Dry it and oil it. The gun is a few years old now and shows no corrosion.
Pete

What I found when shooting black powder and Pyrodex P out of the revolver, like Pete said, it shot great and is not all that hard to clean. BUT all of a sudden the cylinder lock pin you have to pull out to remove the cylinder for loading gets really hard to near impossible to move. So I was constantly breaking the gun down after each shot and wipe out the inside of the frame and the cylinder lock pin and the outside face of the cylinder to make the revolver function smoothly.

Then a while back, I was at a small Civil War reenactor thing. Where they dressed as soldiers, marched in formation, and shot firearms. And I was watching the revolver people and noticed the guy loading it was using American Pioneer Power 3f. So after they were done shooting I talked to him and he told me it just made loading a lot easier, the power was good, and clean up was a breeze.

So back home I had some Pinnacle 3f made by Goex and APP and tried that. Well it worked so good I shot off sixty rounds that day. And ran out of the Pinnacle I had left. So the store had no more Pinnacle but they had APP 3f. So I got a pound of that and shot that off. Now the store don't have no more APP 3f. I am thinking of trying some Triple Se7en 3f, but that is a real hot powder. 30 grains of that would be very near the max for that revolver, and I hate to shoot near the max of any gun.

AK, I would be sure to wear shooting glasses if I were you. These revolvers are known to spit pieces of the percussion caps back in your face when you fire them.

I've been using APP since it was called Cleanshot, incidentally, I was in Alaska when I started using it! The fellow that was the original distributer gave me a lb and said "try this out". I used it in a pair of 1862 Police .36s and a pair of 1860 Armys. Sold them but still use in my Cowboy Action cartridges and my 2 (.50 & .54) muzzleloaders

Cleanshot had to "reorganize" after a lawsuit filed by Hogdon. Cleanshot was producing pellets and it apparently infringed the pellet patent the parent powder company first used. Now THAT's a mouthful!

Once reorganized, the company became American Pioneer Powder (APP). No more pellets, instead, loose powder and "sticks" were made.

After a while, folks used the APP so much, that Goex bought licensing rights and began producing it under the name Pinnacle.

I use both, in addition to real BP and Pyrodex RS. I don't use Triple 7, that was designed to be used in modern, inline muzzleloaders. It is approximately 15% hotter than anything else. Please don't use it in your Remmy!

Also, when using the APP or Pinnacle, don't use any lube. It will create a sticky gummy mess. You may also find that gently shaking the bottle before using helps mix up the dust with the larger granules, so you don't get down to the bottom of the bottle and find all dust!

I think Great Northern Guns, off Tudor in Anchorage carries it now.

Next thing you'll want to do is replace the stock nipples with Treso nipples, much more consistent sizing and flash hole sizes, and get extra cylinders for quick change-outs a la Josey Wales!

Thanks for the info, Belle. Incidentally, I was just at the range today finishing up the balls and wads that came with the starter kit. I did use the Hodgdon's 777 in FFFG and had no problems. I use 25 grains, with the round balls ignited by CCI #11 caps. The caps are a bit big, so I pinch them before putting them on the nipples. I couldn't find #10's. The Hodgdon's 777 is the only brand I could find locally. I don't get into Anchorage very often, but next time I do I'll make a stop at Great Northern and see what they've got.

My revolver is not very accurate yet, but I'm sure with some more experimenting and load development it should turn out to be a great shooter. It's a blast to shoot anyway! (pun intended)

I had so much fun with it the first time (Friday) I took it out, that I went and bought a Traditions Tracker .50 cal Muzzle loader to round out the BP stable. That one is also lots of fun. I'm using Knight 240 grain jacketed sabots with 120 grains of pyrodex pellets and 209 shotgun primers. It makes a big boom and brings everyone else at the range over to see what it is. :-)

Then of course I had to pull out the .300 win mag..... LOL, too much fun. Tomorrow I'm taking my son rabbit hunting. Don't worry - I won't use the .50 on the bunnies. I'll be using the Mossy 500 12 gauge. My son will have his Mossy 505 youth 410.

I have a Euroarms Remington 1858 my wife bought for me on Father's Day, from Dixie. My first shot was dead center of the X-ring at 25 yards. I was using a .454 ball and 27 grains of Goex FFFg. Should have stopped with that first shot, but they are so much fun. These revolvers are a lot stronger and have better sights than the Colt models. I've been using #11 caps, but getting tired of pinching them. Still looking for some #10 caps. If you get into casting, try the Lee .45 caliber 200 grain conicals. They are made for the Remington type revolvers. They are a blast with 30 grains of Goex FFFg. I gave my old 1860 Colt to my nephew and we would take our revolvers out rabbit hunting. Now that is fun!