What reloading equipment do you use to reload black powder cartridges? I have been told that the lyman 1200 or the RCBS chargemaster combo will not reload black powder. I only have the hand powder thrower from the lyman expert deluxe kit
Blackpowder sharps cartridges
- Thread starter mackillan
- Start date
What dont you understand. I would like a better thrower and dont know what thrower to use for black powder.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
You are correct, the powered measures should not be used to weight out black powder. You could get a set of Lee spoons, or make a measure from a cut off cartridge case with a nail soldered to it. The best answer is probably a normal mechanical powder measure from RCBS, Redding, Lyman, or Hornady and it sounds like the one you have will work fine.
vagrantviking
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- High River, Alberta
oh you will need at least $10k of very rare and specialized tools some of which you may have to excavate from the graves of long dead buffalo hunters yourself or fabricated by the dwarves under Mystic Mountain. 
Seriously, what are you refering to? Any measure that has enough capacity will work. Anything between a cut off case with a wire handle soldered on to the fanciest wizzy gizmo you find should work as long as it throws a charge that fills the case.
Seriously, what are you refering to? Any measure that has enough capacity will work. Anything between a cut off case with a wire handle soldered on to the fanciest wizzy gizmo you find should work as long as it throws a charge that fills the case.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Static electricity is bad news with black powder. Whenever a fireworks factory has exploded the cause, without fail, has been traced back to static. For this reason black powder should not be used in electric dispensing powder measures. If you have a static problem with the plastic reservoirs of a mechanical measure, or the plastic Lee spoons, they should be washed in warm soapy water and allowed to stand dry to get rid of the static, particularly in the dry air during the winter.
David....
a ot of the guys I talked to in Missoula, were using Lyman #55 powder measures, or the old Belding and Mull measures.
I am going to use a 45-70 case, weigh the charge, and use a 24" drop tube. Then add or subtract powder as the rifle and grouping calls for.
If you like, I can lend you my copy of Mike V's shooting the buffalo rifles. Has some good loads from some big name shooters. Even has some loads for that pipsqueek 40 of yours!
a ot of the guys I talked to in Missoula, were using Lyman #55 powder measures, or the old Belding and Mull measures.
I am going to use a 45-70 case, weigh the charge, and use a 24" drop tube. Then add or subtract powder as the rifle and grouping calls for.
If you like, I can lend you my copy of Mike V's shooting the buffalo rifles. Has some good loads from some big name shooters. Even has some loads for that pipsqueek 40 of yours!
vagrantviking
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- High River, Alberta
Thats the story we hear over and over so someone tested it out....
http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/sparks/sparks.html
He has me convinced. A fireworks factory has a huge array of different chemicals and it can be difficult to control some of the dusts which can be very explosive. I probably wouldn't use an electric measure but then I've never used one for anything else either.
If you are really concerned there are measures made specifically for black powder. :
ht tp://www.cal-graf.com/pour.html
Or you could attach a ground to your measure instead.
I need a hands on lesson Leroy. 
David....
a ot of the guys I talked to in Missoula, were using Lyman #55 powder measures, or the old Belding and Mull measures.
I am going to use a 45-70 case, weigh the charge, and use a 24" drop tube. Then add or subtract powder as the rifle and grouping calls for.
If you like, I can lend you my copy of Mike V's shooting the buffalo rifles. Has some good loads from some big name shooters. Even has some loads for that pipsqueek 40 of yours!
Most powder measures have metal components that could spark, some fear it could cause explosions. Lyman makes a version of the 55 meant for black powder and it's called exactly that, I use one. Hornady also makes a Black Powder model of it's powder measure. These measures use brass and aluminum in place of other metals. Some of the Belding and Mull and Harrel/Culver models are made for Black as well, the Lyman and Hornady have no plastic to cause static elec. as well. Mac...If you have the regular Lyman, maybe you could swap it at the store for the Black Powder one, which will do both, smokeless and Black.......Ben
That is not completely true. I suspect in most cases static is blamed because the real reason is not known and they need an explanation. There was an explosion leading to the total destruction of a fireworks factory in England on TV recently. The cause was a large mortar firing while the electrical fuse was being disabled. (it was surplus to a fireworks display and returned to the factory).
I would not use a powder thrower myself because I found that when I did I got fine powder dust in the seam or joint between the rotary drum and its housing and also found this dust lead to rusting of the steel drum. I use a shortened shell casing as the measure and a drop tube in loading.
I would strongly recommend "The Paper Jacket" by Paul Mathews for the ins and outs of loading black powder in cartridges.
cheers mooncoon
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
So what caused the mortar to fire? Electric caps are also sensitive to static charges, and must be shunted to protect against it.
Ben as usual makes a good point, any tools used for the measuring or loading of black powder should be made of non-sparking material.
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I can't remember the exact details. The fellow was cutting a pair of wires with wire cutters and completed a circuit somehow. If my memory is correct it was on that show "Destroyed in Seconds" or similar name about spectacular disasters and crashes and so forth.
cheers mooncoon
