Blackpowder by volume?

I'm new to this Muzzle Loading also.

I went to Cabalas and got a bunch of those little plastic tubes with scales for "grains of BP". On my TC Omega I use right at 100 grs. but by volume.

I took one of those plastic tubes and filled it with BP to the 100 gr mark. Then I filled one with Pyrdex, the with Triple 7, all to the 100 grn mark.

Then I weighed them. It took different weights to make up the same volume.

BUT when I ran them through the crony, they all had about the same velocity and impacted about the same place on target.

Then when I tried loading by weight instead of volume, I got all kinds of variations.

(That wont work with smokeless powder).

Anyway I decided to stick with volume. I just pre-measure a bunch of load in those plastic tubes (mentioned above) and I'm all set.

But like I said, I'm new to ML, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Go see what your own experiments come up with.
 
The learning curve !!

Anyway I decided to stick with volume. I just pre-measure a bunch of load in those plastic tubes (mentioned above) and I'm all set.
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You may be new to M/L's but already have proved to yourself, what most of us took a long time to learn. I started out as a BuckSkinner and none ever carried a scale in their possible's bag. ..... :rolleyes:

I'm excluding, loading of BP cartidges but everything else, I load by volume. . :)

Be Safe !!!
 
I think some folk work up a load by increasing the charge in 5 grain increments until shooting the gun sets off car alarms in the parking lot and then back off 5 grains.:D
 
I think some folk work up a load by increasing the charge in 5 grain increments until shooting the gun sets off car alarms in the parking lot and then back off 5 grains
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Hey thats my strategy! I see you heard my next to last shot...:p
 
I like the Pedersoli brass adjustable measure. My Great Grandad told me to load up a rifle until it shredded the patch, then back down the charge until the recovered patch was intact.

On a pistol, Great Grandad said, "The cylinder won't hold more black powder than the gun can handle, so just fill it and shoot..."

I shot my 1858 Remington that way for 20 years with BP and never had an issue with excellent accuracy.

Pietta recommends 22 grains BP maximum on my new '62 Police, so I was thinking 15 grains of Triple 7 FFFg would be a good place to start....Thoughts????
 
I've understood that it is most critical to use volume when reloading cartridges with traditional BP? A 45-70 or 44-40 with less than 70 or 40 grains of volume in it means loose charge moving around..... static happens....

As far as basic ML, I just don't think it matters enough to justify carrying a scale into the woods.
 
Sounds like that is reasonable. But as a new guy, I'm measuring stuff first at my reloading bench before I go out to the National Forest. Hence my question.

I've been out shooting my new ML rifles twice.

Thanks to all of the interesting suggestions here, I now have a firmer idea of how much to measure and how to do it. Also, how to store pre-measured powder for "the field".

I would not be likely to be carrying a scale in my pack in the woods. :)
 
This is from my maternal grandfather. Now, mind you, I'm 72+++ years old, so this goes back to when BP arms were the common arm.

Hold you hand out, palm up. Don't force you hand "stiff-flat" and don't cup it. Just relaxed flat.

Place the ball in your palm. Carefully pour powder over the ball until it is just covered. Pick out the ball and pour the powder into your measure. Adjust your measure to just full. This is your standard load for that ball.

Now, to work up the maximum load for that gun:

Lay a white sheet out in front of you. Shoot a round. Inspect the sheet. Then increase the load by about 5 grains volume. Shoot that round. Inspect the sheet. Repeat this until you see unburned powder on the sheet. Decrease your load by 5 grains volume and call that your maximum load.

The hardest part of this task is getting that sheet past Grandma without her noticing how dirty it is. :eek:

Pops
 
There is a point of decreasing returns but just because you're getting unburned powder is no reason to decrease a charge.
 
Not necessarily. My 44 revolvers shoot well with 30-35 grains. A rifle has two sweet spots. My .54 likes 90 grains but then accuracy falls off til it gets to 120 grains.
 
You would really be surprise at the charges in rifles they shoot at Friendship.
I would tell you but you wouldn't believe me.
 
There are problems in using a scale to measure black powder at home. Not the least of which is the possibility of a static electric spark setting it off.
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Completely incorrect. :eek:
BP can be weighed and often is. The standard measures do give an approximation of stated weights and are used for convenience.
Static sparks will not set off bp. Proven time and again in scientific controlled tests.
 
Still take care !!

Static sparks will not set off bp. Proven time and again in scientific controlled tests.
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True, as they are small and clean but a small dirty ignition, will. .... ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
Shooting BP in my flinter is by volume. When loading into cartridges its by weight. Remeber that the amount of bang you get for a charge depends on what powder your using and it's grain size (FF vs FFF). My .50 loves 70 gr of FFF but to get the same POI using FF I need to up it to 80. The FF is larger grains and burns slower then the FFF. When using real BP a good place to start with a rifle is to use the volume equal to the caliber and go from there. I found my .25 flint shoots ok with 25 grains but great at 30. Take the time at the range to see what yours likes...that is half the fun.

sent from my S III using TapaTalk
 
With my 2 remmies I tried several loads and found that each likes it very different.
My best and most accurate load is 35 gr in each revolver but where tou load it is the trick! My 5 1/2" likes filler to keep the ball within 33/8" of the forcing cone, My 8" dosen;t like qny filler and likes a deep set ball for accuracy.
They truely are different, every one of em!
I also tried a cartrige cylinder in the 8" and found it liked the Russian cartrige best for accuracy! Sure felt like a good shot too!
ZVP
 
yep. I've been using a brass adjustable measure for 27 years. I also found I can use a 20ga shell holder on my stock for my .58 and .62 cal speed loaders. Magnum rifle holders work great for my .32/.36's. Great for practicing rapid fire( rapid fire :D ). I will admit I've never needed one hunting though.
 
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