How much BP to a pound?

B

berkmberk1

New member
There are 7000 grains to a pound by weight. Is there an equivalent measurement by volume? A general figure? I realize it probably depends on the granulation. :confused:

I'm trying to figure the economics of using BP vs smokeless......
 
I think you need to judge it based on weight, charge by charge.

How many grains of BP you'll need is going to vary, since you don't actually weigh it; you "fill the case." (There are detailed instructions elsewhere.) But let's consider the .45 Colt, originally loaded with a nominal 40 grains of black gunpowder. In modern cases you won't get that much, but as an arm-waving approximation it isn't too far off. Substitutes go by equivalent volume, not weight, so if you're talking about a BP substitute it won't be exactly the same weight either. But it will be somewhere in that ballpark.

According to my reloading manual, a fairly normal .45 Colt smokeless load would be about 8 grains of Unique. This is an example only, as the charge weight will be different for each smokeless powder you might choose.

So at 7000 grains per pound, BP will give you something more than 175 .45 Colt loads. Unique will give you around 875. Those are general approximations only. The actual data is going to vary depending on the volume of the case you're filling, what caliber you're loading, and which smokeless powder you choose for your comparison.
 
So...........Theoretically..............at least........shooting BP or a sub. could very well be four to five times more expensive than shooting smokeless in an equivalent loading.:eek: There isn't much you can do about it with a cap and ball! :(

Primers and caps seem to be comparable. Bullets and balls about the same.

But to paraphrase a famous credit card commercial........"The experience!? Priceless!!! :D
 
Whats really priceless is to load up a few .45ACP's with BP and slip one in someones 1911 when they are shooting for score. The look on their face when the smoke and fire comes outta that thunder wagon is really the definition of priceless.

Ya need to be out to the edge, so ya can step outside the line of sight to bust yer gut laughin.

I'd do that to you Hawg..........
 
Now then................as for making your own BP..........I know some of you do that (or was it another online forum?). How much do YOU pay for a pound? :rolleyes:

My girlfriend has a nice big Willow in her pasture........I wonder if she would miss a limb or four? ;)
 
We've been discussing it over at THR. I've made my own for a few years now. It's around $4-6 a pound depending on where you get your chems and how much you buy at once. You can buy lab grade KNO3 in bulk on ebay real cheap. I always make my charcoal from Willow, so that's free.
I wish making BP became common practice so it wouldn't people would be more comfortable with the idea of it. It's easy and you can make BP that's better than commercial BP.
I've surpassed the point to recover the start up costs, between all the powder I use and the powder I give to others, it's saved tons of money, but it's kind of like reloading, you start doing it to save money, but then you just end up shooting more.
 
The last time I helped make Black Powder was when my Grand Father was still alive back almost 30 years ago, I would have to look into the cob webs to try to remember the recipe "well the ammounts of each ingrediant that is" for me to try again.

One day maybe.
 
*75% KNO3 15% Charcoal 10% Sulfur
*For a 500 gram batch, that's 375g KNO3 75g Charcoal 50g Sulfur
*Mill all ingredient in ball mill for 3-6 hrs
*Wet enough to clump powder, rub through screen and dry in open air
 
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