Goex in the Lee Loadall

[leverboy]

Guys, I am looking to load some 12 gauge black powder shells, and I am wondering if anyone is doing this with a Lee Loadall setup... I have seen a Youtube video of a guy metering Pyrodex through his Loadall. Is anyone running real black through one? There are always debates about bp powder measures with regards to static and whatnot... It's no big deal to charge them with a dipper, but if I can safely run it through the press I would rather go that route.

Also, does anyone here use plastic wads with black powder, or is the traditional overpowder cards and fibre wads the way to go. I'm wondering about getting the powder pressed down firm enough with the (newfangled) one piece wad systems... I'm hoping to use regular AA plastic hulls, and as simple a recipe as possible! Lightish loads for Cowboy shooting with an old double gun.

All knowledge and experience greatly appreciated!

Leverboy


...now to go get started on that shotmaker project...

 

[sunray]

BP is loaded by volume, not weight. Seems to me the Lyman BO Handbook and Reloading Guide has shotgun loads. Start there. And don't get your loading info from Bubba's favourite site.

 

[leverboy]

BP is loaded by volume, not weight. Seems to me the Lyman BO Handbook and Reloading Guide has shotgun loads. Start there. And don't get your loading info from Bubba's favourite site.

Thanks for the helpful reply. I have done plenty of reloading, and I am well aware of how black powder is metered and measured. You may or may not know that most if not all powder measures on shotgun presses and cartridge presses measure by volume... I also have (and have read) Lyman's black powder manual. I was not aware that they had one out on BO as well!

Bubba has real world experience, which is what I am after in terms of my questions here.

 

[saskbooknut]

I do not use the powder chamber on the Lee Loadall for black powder. I use my brass measure and charge shells in a tray of 50. I also measure out the shot with the same adjustable brass measure.
I use the Lee Loadall for sizing and depriming, seating wads and for crimping. Plastic hulls work just fine for black powder loads - I find Federal hulls make nice crimps and there a lots of them available for free.
I cut down 3 inch hulls to 2.5 inch, which I roll crimp, when I need short hulls for vintage guns.
Modern plastic wads make the stickiest, stringiest fouling layer on the bore of your gun. Don't even think of it. Black powder burns hot and melts the plastic. I have not found that shotcups over the cushion wads to be helpful either, though they don't seem to be a problem with melting in the bore.Use an over powder wad and fibre cushion wad. For cowboy action shooting you probably want to use a lubed cushion wad with a thin overshot wad on top before loading your shot. The lube keeps the fouling soft so that cleaning is less of a chore. Ten rounds of BP shotshells with no lube sets the fouling up about like iron.
For BP trap we use unlubed cushion wads and put a dab of lube on top of the shells, just before our relay. The shells for a round are held upright in a shotshell block.

 

[leverboy]

Thanks saskbooknut! I make my own felt wads for percussion revolver lubed with my 50/50 beeswax-animal fat lube... I was wondering if I should cut some 12 ga. ones... Lyman speaks of the melted plastic wad issue, so maybe it is only with very reduced loads that some guys use these. Thanks very much for the helpful reply

 

[Suputin]

I do not use the powder chamber on the Lee Loadall for black powder. I use my brass measure and charge shells in a tray of 50. I also measure out the shot with the same adjustable brass measure.
I use the Lee Loadall for sizing and depriming, seating wads and for crimping. Plastic hulls work just fine for black powder loads - I find Federal hulls make nice crimps and there a lots of them available for free.
I cut down 3 inch hulls to 2.5 inch, which I roll crimp, when I need short hulls for vintage guns.
Modern plastic wads make the stickiest, stringiest fouling layer on the bore of your gun. Don't even think of it. Black powder burns hot and melts the plastic. I have not found that shotcups over the cushion wads to be helpful either, though they don't seem to be a problem with melting in the bore.Use an over powder wad and fibre cushion wad. For cowboy action shooting you probably want to use a lubed cushion wad with a thin overshot wad on top before loading your shot. The lube keeps the fouling soft so that cleaning is less of a chore. Ten rounds of BP shotshells with no lube sets the fouling up about like iron.
For BP trap we use unlubed cushion wads and put a dab of lube on top of the shells, just before our relay. The shells for a round are held upright in a shotshell block.

Pretty much all what he said. No plastic wads. No plastic powder measuring equipment.