Black Powder gurus?

[SIGP2101]

Black powder gurus?

Why is that BP has to be loaded only by volume? Can somebody explain that to me?

Why can’t I take desired volume, weight it, and continue to load by weight to get uniformity of loads. Why?


THANKS

 

[ben hunchak]

That is a falsehood, muzzleloaders that are loaded in the field are usually loaded by volume for convenience......Black Powder cartridge rifles are reloaded like other cartridges and one should weigh charges, weighing and dropping charges is more complicated than with smokeless and the procedure has been covered elsewhere on this site.....not weighing charges in an accurate Cartridge Rifle(BP) will lead to vertical stringing of shots.

 

[mooncoon]

I think what you are being misled by is that black powder should not be measured using a rotary powder thrower like the RCBS one. You get a fine dust in the seam which the steel rotary part turns in and that ultimately leads to rust.
There is nothing wrong with weighing out your charges with a powder scale, it just takes longer. My own experience has been that verticle stringing is from not lightly compressing your power or not using a drop tube. Over compressing the powder will lead to lower velocities.

cheers mooncoon

 

[Sluice]

In The field I use simple brass chargers that are made to throw a specific charge of powder, usually in even numbers like 40 or 60 grains. However I always weigh ten sample charges to see what they actually throw. This is usually close to the advertised charge for hunting purposes.

I noted that 3F powder and 2F powder throw different charges from the same measure.

sluice

 

[Suputin]

I noted that 3F powder and 2F powder throw different charges from the same measure.

YEAH. Thats cause they have different kernal sizes and thus more or less will fit into the same space. This is why a muzzle loader should be loaded by volume.

Loading by weight is OK as long as you don't change powder. If you change anything about the powder then the charge will change.