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sniper205
Starting Member
USA
2 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 11 2009 : 02:30:40
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Hi everyone,
First post here but I have had this site in my favorites list for awhile now. I have a question that may seem a bit silly to some of the more experienced reloaders. I recently decided to venture into the world of handloading, and bought lots of nice equipment to do so. Right before muzzleloading season opened here I was measuring my charges(Hodgdon 777, loose powder) with one of the typical measuring tools that is graduated in five grain increments. Being the curious type, I decided to check my charge to see what it weighed on my digital scale. To my surprise, the charge that measured out to 100 grains in the black powder measurer, only weighed 75 grains on the digital scale. My rifle is rated for a magnum load(150 grains), is that to be measured in volume or weight? |
This is my rifle, there are many like it, but this one is mine. |
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Brawny James
Junior Member
USA
59 Posts |
Posted - Nov 11 2009 : 05:27:11
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Howdy Sniper,
It's my understanding that Black powder and it's substitutes are meausured by volume not weight. But I defer to Wolfgang on this as He has forgoten more than I know in this area.
James |
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HGHunter
Advanced Member
USA
838 Posts |
Posted - Nov 11 2009 : 06:16:28
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| BP and substitutes are always measured by volume. Wolfgang can tell you more and more of the why, but the discrepancy in your volume vs. weight test should let you know they are two entirely different animals. I'll take a stab at the why and say that BP granules are coarser than smokeless powder and have more air space between them, even after settling. |
"I am not here to judge you, only God can judge you, I am here merely to arrange the meeting."
"A 9mm HP may expand upon impact, a .40 cal. HP may expand upon impact, but a .45 will never shrink" |
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sniper205
Starting Member
USA
2 Posts |
Posted - Nov 12 2009 : 02:28:13
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Brawny James and HGHunter, thank you for your replies.
I kind of figured that was the case, just needed a little reasurrance. Of course, I had enough sense not to go by the scales weight measurement and to load my charges with the black powder measurer. I shoot a CVA Optima Pro(leopold 3-9x40 scope), with 95 grains of 777, Remington 209 primers, and 295 grain Aerotip Powerbelts. I get 1 MOA groups at 100 yards with this combo, which, in my opinion, is fairly decent for a blackpowder rifle. |
This is my rifle, there are many like it, but this one is mine. |
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Wolfgang
Advanced Member
1842 Posts |
Posted - Nov 12 2009 : 22:19:09
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Sniper,
Black powder and fake powders (T-7, Pyrodex, ect...) are ALWAYS measured by volume unless specifically stated by the powder mfg to go by weight. This has nothing to do with grain size, it's primarily a hold-over method from real black powder (BP). Real BP is hyrgoscopic meaning it'll pick-up moisture from the air, also the methods of making the BP vary somewhat and the mass of a given volume can vary considerably from lot to lot. Also, volumetric measuring is absolutely required when loading BP/sub's in cartridges as you cannot have any air space between the powder and bullet or the bullet acts as a bore obstruction.
How you dispense the powder into the measure will also change the volume of the measured charge. Pouring slowly and consistently into the measure will produce the most consistent results, if you dump the powder into the measure, you'll find a lot of variation from charge to charge. This is the only time I suggest using the mass of the powder and that's to check your consistency measuring by volume. Measure out 10 charges from the same can of powder and weigh each one, it doesn't matter what the mass is in relation to the volume setting on the measure, what you're looking for is consistency of mass among the charges you measured. Thus, if you measure say 100gr volumetrically, the mass of all ten charges should not vary more than ± 1.5 grains.
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 Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don't ever apologize for anything."
Harry S. Truman
mark@fire-iron.biz
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lanenebraska
Junior Member
USA
56 Posts |
Posted - Nov 13 2009 : 14:09:23
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Sniper205,
Many of us throw 3 of the Volume loads, and then weigh each one on the reloading scales, take the average weight-let's say 75gW...and then weigh out 10-40 loads and store them in some water/air tite tubes, for range work and hunting.
We make sure to designate our weighing procedures when discussing on forums, like Volume Loads= 100gV and Weighed loads= 75gW
You can find alot of good data on Modernmuzzleloader.com as well
Hope this helps. |
In His service
Lane
http://www.thegoodnews.org/CD/tide/tide.html
Got Black Powder Storage Tubes?
http://frontiermuzzleloadin.powerguild.net/lanes-powder-tubes-f6/lane-s-powder-tubes-t395.htm |
Edited by - lanenebraska on Nov 13 2009 14:12:15 |
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Muzzleloader propellant weight
