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Glass vials for individual BP charges
- Thread starter Easyrider
- Start date
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Thanks for the input, guys. I have made a deal with a CGN'er for some used little glass bottles, that will get me started. There are some suppliers out there with decent deals. This one, suggested by timankimandshea is pretty good http://hemkund.com/product_info.php?cPath=4_12&products_id=94 I measured out 85 grains of 1.5f Swiss, and it equalled just over 6 ml, more or less. A 2 dram bottle is about 7.5 ml, so the 2 dram bottles should be close.
I have given serious thought to the paper cartridge thing. Pretty good idea, I'm sure, in some applications. My concern is that when it comes time to dump the powder into the funnel/drop tube, some of it will hang up in the folds of paper where you "twist the tail". The whole idea of weighing out BP charges instead of using a powder measure, is accuracy. If even a small amount is hung up, or leaks out before hand, the whole purpose is defeated. It is a documented fact that one of the biggest variables in LRML is accuracy of the powder charge. As for dumping the zig-zag in on top of the charge, and using that for an over-power wad, LRML shooters are like bench rest shooters, we are pretty anal about every tiny little thing being perfectly consistent.
As for the plastic vials, once again, my concern is static electricity causing the powder to stick to the inside of the container. I promise you that this is real, in fact, it happened while I was doing the above measurement. I dumped the powder out of the plastic syringe that I used to measure, and there was a significant amount of powder still stuck to the inside of it. I tapped it firmly, and most, but not all, came out. I finally gave up, and tossed it. There is almost zero risk of static setting off the black powder, but there is almost 100% chance that a small amount of powder will be stuck inside the plastic vial. Very bad for accuracy. Really!
Thanks again for the responses, and PM's.
Glen
I have given serious thought to the paper cartridge thing. Pretty good idea, I'm sure, in some applications. My concern is that when it comes time to dump the powder into the funnel/drop tube, some of it will hang up in the folds of paper where you "twist the tail". The whole idea of weighing out BP charges instead of using a powder measure, is accuracy. If even a small amount is hung up, or leaks out before hand, the whole purpose is defeated. It is a documented fact that one of the biggest variables in LRML is accuracy of the powder charge. As for dumping the zig-zag in on top of the charge, and using that for an over-power wad, LRML shooters are like bench rest shooters, we are pretty anal about every tiny little thing being perfectly consistent.
As for the plastic vials, once again, my concern is static electricity causing the powder to stick to the inside of the container. I promise you that this is real, in fact, it happened while I was doing the above measurement. I dumped the powder out of the plastic syringe that I used to measure, and there was a significant amount of powder still stuck to the inside of it. I tapped it firmly, and most, but not all, came out. I finally gave up, and tossed it. There is almost zero risk of static setting off the black powder, but there is almost 100% chance that a small amount of powder will be stuck inside the plastic vial. Very bad for accuracy. Really!
Thanks again for the responses, and PM's.
Glen
#1bcshooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- North Of The DMZ (US border)
OK so dumb question here . What's wrong with a powder flask ?
I have several BP pistols & one rifle . All I ever use is a flask with what ever charge tube attached for what I'm shooting.
I have several BP pistols & one rifle . All I ever use is a flask with what ever charge tube attached for what I'm shooting.
#1bcshooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- North Of The DMZ (US border)
Muskyhunter1
CGN Regular
- Location
- Near the tree with the crooked limb.
As for static in the plastic containers issue - if you wash them in water with lots and lots of dish soap and then let them air dry, do not rinse. They lose their static tendency. Works great
In ALL BP competitions held internationally under the MLAIC rules [and that includes the American and British NRA and MLAGB], ALL BP charges must be loaded from a vial/phial or other clear container into the muzzle of the firearm. Use of a flask or any other form of bulk container to load the charge directly into the muzzle is expressly forbidden. Glass or some form of plastic material is fine, AND compulsory if you want to take part, rather than watch. I don't like glass - too fragile - so I use a hundred or so acrylic plastic medical supplies vial/phials that I got for nothing. Never had a problem with static electricity either.
No powder flask/container used on the range may contain more than 250gr of BP [MLAIC rules]. Most, if not all, national BP shooting organisations like the CMLA and MLAGB and N-SSSA conform to this rule.
A vial/phial of 50ca.gr of BP going bang for some reason is sure going to leave a mark, but is pure chicken#### compared to what happens when a flask-full goes ka-boom.
You ARE holding this thing, remember?
tac
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#1bcshooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- North Of The DMZ (US border)
Well there you go then . I don't shoot BP competition so that answers my question.
I've been shooting BP for 30+ years only hunting & for fun . Always used a flask .
Never had BP go off unless I wanted it to .
I've been shooting BP for 30+ years only hunting & for fun . Always used a flask .
Never had BP go off unless I wanted it to .
Dumb rules that apply to dumb people in my opinion. Back in the day an Infantry man had a cartridge box full of powder and paper, and they shot as compressed together as possible (volley firing) with flintlocks! I've never heard of one instance where a cartridge box went up in flames while worn. Prior to the cartridge box was the horn that held what...at least a pound? I've never heard of a horn going up in flames accidentally either.
I hear the argument of consistency and differing loads effecting accuracy, (I shoot to the same at + or - 10 grains of powder, so for me it doesn't make a difference, but I hear the argument all the same.) but all this nonsense of no flask, horn, or above charge weight measurements is to ensure some idiot doesn't let his nature shine while on the line. For anyone with an IQ above 80 it's a non-issue.
I hear the argument of consistency and differing loads effecting accuracy, (I shoot to the same at + or - 10 grains of powder, so for me it doesn't make a difference, but I hear the argument all the same.) but all this nonsense of no flask, horn, or above charge weight measurements is to ensure some idiot doesn't let his nature shine while on the line. For anyone with an IQ above 80 it's a non-issue.
Call me a traditionalist, it just makes sense. I use my BP for hunting and carrying a pocket full of glass tubes seems foolhardy. What other paper is designed specifically to burn?
I don't need the water proofing, I'm not that hard core of a hunter. If it's raining out...I'll wait.
Keeping them in the crushproof case designed for that particular size also just makes sense.
And plastic accessories for a BP...no thanks. If I wanted that I'd get a Mattel in-line with 209 caps; again...just not my thing.
I agree that glass vials would be foolish for hunting. Bu they are quite good for certain types of shooting, particularly rifle matches where you want pre-weighed powder charges. I think it's especially good when using coarse powders like Fg ( as they do not drop as consistently as FFg or FFFg from a measure ). By bringing pre-weighed charges I can use a single case in my schuetzen rifles. I know that some of the schuetzen riflemen in the late 1800's transported their powder charges to matches in glass vials so for certain types of shooting it is quite "period correct".
Chris.
Chris.
Hey, don't shoot the messenger. All I know it that in order to shoot competitive BP here in Yoorup and Scandinavia you have to abide by the rules, since we don't generally hunt with BP firearms. Shotgunning is a different matter, since nobody has laid down a set of muzzle velocity and muzzle energy minima to ensure a humane kill as they have with deer/feral hog/feral goat/chamois/elk and so on. The rules might be facile, but we have to do it that way or not at all. What you do out in the back of beyond in Canada is not the same as standing along with a bunch of others on a shooting line here.
I guess that some of you setting fire to my ass didn't actually read what I wrote in Post#32, so I've edited it to emphasise the point I'm making.
I guess that in a country that actively promotes BP hunting you should go right on ahead doing what you like.
tac
I guess that some of you setting fire to my ass didn't actually read what I wrote in Post#32, so I've edited it to emphasise the point I'm making.
I guess that in a country that actively promotes BP hunting you should go right on ahead doing what you like.
tac
Whoa, nothing personal Tac. Rules and myself have never seen eye to eye as it were, that's all. We compete in line as well, and when competing even "I" have to follow the rules (no matter how moronic "I" think they are.)
Having said that, I don't believe I'm alone {here} in enjoying doing what I like, when I like, with whatever I like {within legal reasoning...more absurdity.}.
Having said that, I don't believe I'm alone {here} in enjoying doing what I like, when I like, with whatever I like {within legal reasoning...more absurdity.}.
Yep. I don't/won't own one of those in-line eyesores either. (powder pellets...don't touch, load with a cord, laughable.)
