how is powder measured?

[nico]

sorry for asking such a simple question, but i searched and couldn't think about how to narrow it enough to get less than a few hundred hits. I was under the impression that powder was measured in grains for metallic cartridges and dram eq. for shotgun shells. But, in a gun discussion on another board a guy said that powder is only measured in dram eq. so I'd like one of the wiser-than-me people on THR to set the record straight for me. Thanks

 

[esheato]

Smokeless powder is measured by weight and there are 7,000 grains to the pound.

Blackpowder or it's equivalents are measured by volume.

Except.....when shotgun shells were loaded with blackpowder it was measured in drams. A dram is normally a tad over 27 grains. The dram equivalent basically translates expected velocity if you were using the equivalent amount of blackpowder.

Since shotgun shells are now loaded with smokeless powder, the dram equivalent listed on shotgun boxes is pretty useless. A velocity listing would be more appropriate and more ammo manufacturers are starting to list it.

HTH.

Ed

 

[Mal H]

The guy could have been right in a certain context if he was talking about the BP era. Modern cartridge and shotshell powder data is almost always given in grains.

 

[nico]

thanks for clearing that up for me guys. The other thread was pretty amusing (I'd post a link, but you have to join the site to see it). One guy posted about how he got a great deal on 115gr 9mm ammo and couldn't pass it up even though he usually uses 147gr. One guy commented that he only uses 185gr (edit) rounds (are there bullets that heavy in 9mm?) and somebody else asked what grains are. He got responses like:

the higher the gr(grain) number the less friction the "round" has with the air???

grain is the amt of gunpowder in the ammo casing. more grain, more boom

and

higher grain rounds have more penetration power and the gunpowder burns more efficiently...I only use 115 gr for the shooting range since its only paper and use 147 gr hollow points for home protection

 

[Mal H]

Good Lord! What forum was that?

 

[P95Carry]

You got your answers nico but hey ....

"the higher the gr(grain) number the less friction the "round" has with the air???" ...... Bwhahahahahah!


"grain is the amt of gunpowder in the ammo casing. more grain, more boom" A simplistic answer which fails to take into account the fact the too much ''Grains'' ... instead equates to KAboom!


"higher grain rounds have more penetration power and the gunpowder burns more efficiently...I only use 115 gr for the shooting range since its only paper and use 147 gr hollow points for home protection " Another over simplification! More powder does indeed equate to higher pressures and velocities ... as a generalization ..... but as for ''efficient burn'' .... there is more to that than meets most eyes.



Oh and near forgot - the 187 grain 9mm bullet ..... well, I have yet to discover that monster ..... let alone find a way to load it over an adequate powder charge and still meet OAL ... and safety!!

 

[nico]

haha it was OutThere on ClubSi. The funny part is a lot of the people who post there (in outthere) don't know much more about cars than they do about guns.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Geez louise!

I'd join to set some people straight, but somehow I think it would be lost on them.

 

[nico]

it probably would mike. Aside from the big egos that a lot of them have about anything (regardless of how misinformed they may be), as a newbie you'd have no credibility.

 

[BluesBear]

I've loaded 158gr LSWC in a .38 Super. But there's not way in Heck I'd try a 185 in 9mm. You'd probably get more velocity out of a .22short NAA mini revolver.

Now if the guy is saying he's using 185gr of powder, then he's shooting .50BMG.

 

[Rico567]

There is one more -possibly- confusing issue about powder that needs to be clarified. When we talk about "how powder is measured," we really mean "-weighed" when talking about smokeless propellants. Black powder is normally measured volumetrically, and can be done with complete safety.

Most reloaders have a device called a powder measure, which, to be more specific, should probably be called a "powder volumeter," since it actually measures smokeless powder by volume! (Note: such smokeless powder measures should never be used to measure black powder)

The powder measure is adjusted, and gains its reference to weight in two ways. Some measure manufacturers provide charges by weight relative to a measure cavity of a certain volume, which they include on a chart packed in with the measure. Lee is best known for this, and while I have always found their charts good approximations to the claimed weights, they are seldom exact. The second method, and the only certain one, is the use of a good quality, calibrated powder scale. With all the discussions I read about powder charges "+/- .1 gr." we must remember that that amound is only 1/70,000 th of a pound, which ain't much. Therefore, having a scale and knowing how to use it is a near requirement.

 

[45crittergitter]

FYI: There is no such thing as measuring a weight of something by volume, i.e., 100 grains (of blackpowder) by volume. Sorry, can’t be done. If you are measuring volume, it is volume, not weight or mass. If it is a substance with a more or less consistent density, such as water, one may easily convert volume and weight, but not with powder.

 

[P95Carry]

45 .. surely here we need to differentiate regarding ''EQUIVALENT'' ... and then we have a known (and tested) weight of powder, equating to a particular volumetric bushing .. just that one powder and one load .... after all, this is the way we reload for most part.

Likewise .. a given volume throw will equate - with a given powder - to a specific weight . +/- whatever tolerance. So we are not ''measuring'' wieght by volume or vice versa . we are ''equating to'' .. one with the other.

Not rrying to be pedantic but your statement is very dogmatic!

 

[45crittergitter]

Ah, but we engineers are very dogmatic about getting things right!