Black powder by weight ?

R

rebs

New member
Is there a formula for converting volume to weight in black powder ?
Is there an importance in weighing every load for consistency and accuracy ?
 
Black powder by weight and grain are close. I just use a volume measure for commercially made powder, but I weigh my home made powder because it's never the same density after corning from batch to batch.
 
Is there an importance in weighing every load for consistency and accuracy ?
 
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No.
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:rolleyes:


Of course it is important...in measuring every load if you are wanting the most accuracy....do ya really think just dumping a guestimate load of BP will be consistant??

just get a simple brass powder measure....

http://www.cabelas.com/product/CVA-MUZZLELOADER-ADJUSTABLE-POWDER-MEASURE/1978100.uts

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/prod....z_btnclk=YMAL-1978103&WT.z_pg_ref=prd1978100
 
Of course it is important...in measuring every load if you are wanting the most accuracy....do ya really think just dumping a guestimate load of BP will be consistant??

just get a simple brass powder measure....
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A powder measure isn't going to throw the same charge every time. 2 or 3 grains either way isn't going to make any difference.

I was asking about weighing on a scale, not just dumping a guesstimate load down the barrel.
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Most of us understood the question.
 
Of course it is important...in measuring every load if you are wanting the most accuracy....do ya really think just dumping a guestimate load of BP will be consistant??
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Yes. With commercial black powder it's not that big a deal. I don't notice much of a difference a few grains off either way. For black powder, volume measures are plenty consistent.
 
Again, your call !!!

A powder measure isn't going to throw the same charge every time. 2 or 3 grains either way isn't going to make any difference.
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That really is the bottom line but hardly the end of this thread. If it makes you feel better, then by all means, weigh it !!! .... :)

Be Safe !!!
 
Black powders don't all weigh the same:
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It's well known the subs don't but black between black is close enough to not make any difference. It's not like with smokeless where a couple of grains makes a lot of difference.
 
From a competitive stand point that could easily be applied to a hunting scenario granted perhaps not in a strictly "traditional" sense - I have a fixture I bought at a shoot where it holds a powder can upside down. This fixture mounts to my shooting box. There's a spring loaded gate or stopper that just slides in a grove. The edge of it is beveled to accept a powder measure by volume. I push the measure in causing the gate to open and the powder pours out filling the measure flush. Removing the measure lets the gate close off the flow of powder. With the measure full no powder can go anywhere either. It waists the least amount of powder, no spillage, and is the most consistent way that I have found so far for filling a powder measure.

I tried for some time weighing charges with a reloading powder drop/measure. It's not as consistent. Using my current system you can fill plastic tubes or vials with pre measured charges and carry them for hunting.
 
Is there a formula for converting volume to weight in black powder ?
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Black powder is usually measured in "grains". Grains is a unit of weight measurement. 1 grain = 1/7000th of a pound. Conversely, 1 pound contains 7000 grains.

Powder can be approximately measured out by volume. The trick to using a volumetric measure is to use it the same way every time, so that you end up with the same amount every time. For example, if you fill a brass cartridge case with powder and then tap it on the table, it will settle and you can fit a little more powder in it. Thus you will get different amounts of powder if sometimes you let it settle and other times you do not.

If you want the ultimate in precision, such as in competition shooting, then you will want to control all variables that you can. This means weighing out your bullets and eliminating any that fall outside of an acceptable range, and weighing out your charges.

I use a Lee Precision powder measure - it is a volumetric measure. I will adjust it until it throws the charge I want - say 45 grains of 3F powder, as verified with my Chargemaster 1500 scale. Once I get the Lee Precision powder measure dropping what I want, it will generally drop within .2 grains.

So what I do is set a little flat-bottom plastic tube on my scale and zero the scale. Then I drop the charge from the Lee Precision powder measure into the tube and set it on the scale to confirm the weight dropped. In this way I drop powder by volume but check each charge by weight. The Lee Precision is so precise that I really don't need to do this but every once and a while I will get a charge that varies by .4 grains or so so I dump it back in the hopper and dispense again.

These things may be overkill but like I said for competition shooting I try to eliminate all variables. I have taken home medals at every regional skirmish I have ever been to in the 7 years I have been shooting N-SSA competition.

Steve
 
At our club we have a group of muzzle loaders who have a dedicated shooting range. Talking to the ones who are the best shooters can result in some very good information. They work very hard to find a load that gives them the best accuracy just like us cartridge loaders. They find the ball diameter, wad thickness, powder charge, and compression of the charge that works best and then they use devices that keep it all the same for each load. Most use a powder measure where the barrel of the measure is smaller than the bore it is fired from. That keeps the charge more consistent. Ball size and patch thickness is a major part of consistently accurate shooting so they buy the patch material in bulk and cut their own patches. Most cast their own balls and sort the good from the bad recycling the bad ones in the next casting. The ram rods have a stop on them so the load is compressed to the same extent each time. The effort they put into the process reminds me of the same process that I go through to find a good load for my guns and duplicating that load when I reload. The results are groups under an inch at 50 yards from the bench. They also shoot off hand at times and do a very good job of it. They do some trick shooting in their matches. Splitting a card on edge or breaking two balloons with one shot at an axe blade. A couple of these guys also shoot small bore silhouette with us.They are "better than average" shooters.

If you are serious about shooting, your loads are of great concern so, you work at getting a load that is consistently accurate in the gun you are using. You put in the effort to ensure that you do everything to shoot as well as you can.
 
I found an under $10 electronic scale at Harbor Freight that agrees with my RCBS scale to less than 1/10 of a grain. So anyone can get such a cheap scale and verify their volume measures.

The Lee loader measures box set slider has a different window slot for fG ffG fffG ffffG because the same measure throws different weights of each type.

If you have a nominal 40 grain measure and a weight scale, then you can mark it with an engraving pencil as 41.3 fffG or whatever.
 
I found an under $10 electronic scale at Harbor Freight that agrees with my RCBS scale to less than 1/10 of a grain. So anyone can get such a cheap scale and verify their volume measures.
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I started out with a $25 Frankford Arsenal digital scale. It worked ok for several months, but would no longer return to zero when unloaded. This made me question whether it was being consistent when loaded. I broke down and bought an RCBS Chargemaster. I am skeptical of low-cost digital scales.

Steve
 
A guy on another board blew up a Sig pistol when his electronic scale malfunctioned and lost zero. He checked it out afterwards, and found that after about 10 weighs, it would start losing weight, so that as he progressed, he kept adding more and more powder to get the "correct" weight.
 
I use a cheap electronic scale but I set the weight up on a balance beam and check every fifth load or so on a balance beam. I've used the same scale for about five years now and it's never failed.
 
There's nothing wrong with measuring real black powder by weight using a reloading scale that is displays grains. It's when using the substitutes where you have to understand that when they say "50 grains" they don't mean it literally. They mean the amount measured by a "50 grain" black powder scoop. One particular substitute, BH-209, gives volume loads for muzzle loaders and weight loads for cartridges in their loading data, but because it does not have the same density as black powder, 50 grains volume does not equal 50 grains weight.

Powder can be measured quite accurately by volume. Most people who reload with smokeless powder measure their powder by volume. I have shot one hole 100 yard groups with a .22 Hornet using reloads from a Dillon 550 progressive press using the presses' powder measure adjusted to throw 13 grains of Hodgdon Li'l Gun powder. Testing the powder throw on a scale, it was so consistent that you could think the scale was stuck.
 
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