Cowboy Powder

[zzmoore]

Hello -
I have been reloading smokeless powders for many years. I would like to try my hand at black powder. What I would be loading for are Winchester 1892 & 1894. Marlin 1894 & 336. And of course the Rossi replicas. My revolvers are Colt SAA clones and Ruger Vaqueros. My oldest gun was made in 1908 if that is any help. I am wondering if black powder is better suited for muzzle loaders and cap and ball revolvers? I just don't know anything about the stuff. Would I be smarter to use something like the Clear Shot and Tripple7 substitutes? Perhaps a Lyman black powder measure? I am not sure about how much fouling goes on with black powder in my "modern day guns". Guess I should get a book. Any and all advice is welcome, feel free to email.
Thanks For Your Time

 

[TaxPhd]

Check out the Cowboy Action Shooting Wire. Do a search on Black Powder, and all of your questions will be answered.

http://sassnet.com/forums/




Scott

 

[Father Knows Best]

I load black powder cartridges for cowboy shooting, and I load a LOT of them -- about 7,000 per year.

Black powder is perfectly suited for cartridges, so long as they're the right kind of cartridge. If the cartridge was invented before 1894, it was originally designed for black powder. Many later cartridges, but not all, do just fine with it.

The key with black powder loads in cartridges is that you need a fairly large volume. Thus, the large volume .45 Colt (1873) is a suitable black powder round, but the small volume .45 ACP (1911?) is not. There just isn't enough space in the .45 ACP cartridge to fit a minimally acceptable charge of black powder.

When loading black powder into cartridges, keep in mind that YOU MUST NEVER LEAVE ANY AIR SPACE! I can't stress that point enough. With smokeless (nitro) powders, you can leave air space inside the cartridge. With black powder, that's a good way to blow up your gun. The easiest way to load black powder is to just fill the case, leaving just enough room to seat the bullet and compress the powder slightly (1/8" is fine for most pistol cartridges). Use ffg, aka "2f", granulation to start. If you find you're not getting enough "oomph", try using fffg (3f). 3f is ground more finely than 2f and will be a little hotter. The general rule is to use 2f in .40 caliber and larger, and 3f in anything under .40 caliber. Never use 4f (priming powder) in cartridges. In some really large rifle cases (.45-70, .50-90, etc.) you may want to use 1-1/2fg instead of 2f.

Always use magnum primers. Black powder needs a hot spark to get it burning consistently.

Do NOT use wax-lubed bullets. Various vendors offer bullets with special black powder lube, which is much softer than smokeless lubes. Smokeless wax lubes will combine with the black powder soot and create hard deposits that are difficult to remove. Good black powder lube keeps the fouling soft, making it easy for later bullets to push it out, and easy for you to clean. You can also make your own black powder lube pretty easily with things like Crisco and beeswax.

There are also various modern "black powder substitutes" available, like Hodgdon Triple Seven, Pyrodex and American Pioneer Powder. Like black powder, they must be loaded with no air space. Unlike black powder, you can generally use regular wax-lubed bullets. They don't have that wonderful black powder smell, though, so I prefer the real thing.

PM me if you want more details. Tell me what calibers you're loading, and for what purposes.

 

[zzmoore]

Thanks Father. I did send you a PM. Realy appreciate it. Thanks Again!

 

[Father Knows Best]

Sent you a response!

 

[Chuck R.]

There’s some new/old ideas that are taking hold in black powder cartridge shooting these days.

For instance, most of the guys I compete with are using the softest primers available to include pistol primers. I myself use CCI benchrest primers in my silhouette rifle with pretty good results. I never have managed to make the new Swiss powder to work with magnum primers.

As for leaving an airspace, yup done that too. My last “favorite” load had a small airspace. In fact lots of Schuetzen shooters using BP and breach seating leave an airspace. If you ever get the chance, check out Black Powder Cartridge News written/edited by Steve Garbe (couple or 3 times national BPCS champion) he’s advocated and debated the use of an airspace a couple times in the magazine. BTW, he also advocates and uses pistol primers to the point of having custom brass made for using small pistol primers. Quite a few guys believe that at BP pressures an airspace will do no harm.

As for lube, yup get bullets lubed with a suitable BP lube. Shooting BP with a smokeless lube just won’t work.

Chuck

PS: I wrote an article on BP loading a few years back that was published in the Single Shot Exchange. If you PM me with an Email address, I'd be more than happy to Email you a copy.

 

[Father Knows Best]

Leaving a small airspace may be safe. Then again, it may not. Leaving no air space is always safe. Unless you are very experienced, and loading for max accuracy at extreme ranges, there is no reason to even try it. Guns have indeed been blown up with black powder cartridges that were improperly loaded. I would never suggest to a first-timer that it is o.k. to leave an airspace.