black powder cartridge reloading?

Tombstone Kid

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Can anyone recommend a decent book on the ins and outs of black powder cartridge reloading (ya know for all those old timey antique cartridge guns)? :)

thanks
 
I think Paul Mathews has some and Fat Mike (Venturino) I think has some. Main thing is to weigh or scoop your powder charges--do not use a rotary powder measure. Also make sure there is no air-space in the cases--no space between base of bullet and powder charge--powder should be slightly compressed for best results. Thre fired cases should be deprimed by hand and washed in hot soapy water to remove the powder residue from inside the case and the primer pockets.

Have fun, 44Bore
 
I've never tried this, but I have done some research. From what I gather, there is only one charge - fill the case right up & compress the powder. So as far as load data goes - there is none.


Where I'm confused is around smokeless cartridges, like the 30-30. How/can you load this with BP? How does the bottlenecking affect?
 
How much do you compress the powder? Compress how? What alloy? Size? Crimp, no crimp? How much? Indexing cases, bullets to chamber. What lube for cold, warm or dry conditions? Wads? It can on and on and on if you really get into it.

Otherwise, you can just keep it simple and enjoy plinking accuracy.
 
Why?

I would imagine that a lee loader, or a cheap starter press mounted to a 2x4 & a few c-clamps would be feasable
 
I've heard that schutzen shooters reuse the same piece of brass and reload it between shots. I was curious to know what they use to reload at the range.

I've also been told that you should de-prime your brass if you're shooting BP and tossing the brass into soapy water.

I suppose a Lee Loader would work.
 
Mike Venturino and Steve Garby wrote and excellent book on the subject - don't know where I got it tho - try Amazon?
Paul Mathews books are available thru Wolfe Publishing (Rifle magazine)
 
Where I'm confused is around smokeless cartridges, like the 30-30. How/can you load this with BP? How does the bottlenecking affect?

The 30-30 was designed to use smokeless powder, whereas the .32 Winchester Special was intended to be used with black powder.

My understanding is that the .32 Win Spec. had rifling that was more appropriate for BP (deeper maybe?).

If you want to use BP in your 30-30, I would think you just need to fill the case with black powder (FFFG or FFG?), clean the barrel once in a while (between shots) and thoroughly after you're done. I'd expect it to be pretty dirty.
 
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