Silly as it might seem, the world of muzzleloaders is constantly upgrading and changing to new technologies (similar to the world of bowhunting—try to figure that one out). But one thing has stayed constant over the past five decades. Pyrodex, the black powder substitute that many front-stuffer shooters prefer for its convenience, is celebrating 50 years on the market.
Muzzleloaders @ TFB:
The Pyrodex origin story
Pyrodex was originally developed in the Great Muzzleloader Boom of the 1970s. Mountain-man movies and Westerns were all the rage. Shooters wanted a rifle just like Liver-Eatin’ Johnson, but when it came time to load the thing, black powder had some drawbacks. It was messy and sensitive; a mistake could easily set your powder alight when you didn’t want to. So chemist Dan Pawlak developed Pyrodex, and the Hodgdon Powder Company first offered it for sale in 1976.
“Pyrodex exists because my father, Bob Hodgdon, recognized the potential of Dan Pawlak’s innovation early on and worked closely with him to bring it to market,” said Chris Hodgdon. “Their partnership combined technical ingenuity with a deep understanding of the shooting community—resulting in the most successful and revolutionary black powder substitute ever produced, and a product that has stood the test of time for 50 years.”
Shooters liked the cleaner-burning propellant, and they found it more reliable than fussy black powder, with consistent and dependable ignition. In the decades since, Pyrodex has become available in pellet form as well as powder form, which makes it easier for shooters to measure out a load when they’re in the field.
And because Pyrodex works for rifles, shotguns and handguns too, it’s useful to shooters across the entire world of blackpowder shooting, not just a specific genre—although Hodgdon does sell Pyrodex specifically formulated for either long guns or handguns. See more details at Hodgdon’s website here.
