Powder Trickler for Blackpowder?

[Loyalist Dave]

Complete waste of time with. Just my opinion.
With black powder or substitutes a large portion of the charge is smoke or soot. A few grains, + or -, let alone a few kernels of powder ain’t going to make much difference.
I’ve run enough black powder loads over a chronograph to arrive at that conclusion.

AGREED

The low pressure requirements of BP substitutes means that unlike something like IMR3031 or Win 231 smokeless powder in a metallic cartridge, where one grain of powder makes a noticed difference..., Black powder doesn't show much if any difference until five or even 10 grain increments, depending on the weight of the projectile and the length of the barrel. As mentioned fellows shooting out to 200 yards, or to 220 yards [40 rods in the previous century] used volume measures. They concentrated on consistent use of the measure and on testing each "lot" of powder as it was purchased.

LD

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Loyalist dave You are absolutely right about black powder not being so sensative with 5-10 grains. But i should have mentioned in the begining that my tests were done using revolvers....36 cal navies...and 5 grains makes a huge difference in such a small caliber with a smaller charge. Speed and accuracy are affected when i go from 15 to 20 grains of black powder when i shoot my .36 cal revolvers. But with most rifles?...probably not. Just depends on gun and the shooters talent i suppose.

 

[.38 Special]

Well to totally throw a monkey wrench into the mix: how many of you actually weigh the bullet/ball? Had a friend that was a certified sniper, that was OCD about his ammo, he weighed all his match grade bullets, that would deviate as much as 5 grains, he only allowed 2 grain deviation and would place bullets in marked groups of such. I have found even my finest cast bullets to deviate as much as 10 grains. For competition or long range I weigh and group the bullets in 2 grain increments.

I use a Pedersoli Gibbs at longer ranges - 600 yards or so. I weigh the charges to one tenth of a grain (100 grains per charge) and I weigh the bullets to +/- .3 grains (bullets of about 530 grains). When I don't do those things, the accuracy gets slightly worse, but so slightly that it may be my imagination. I will occasionally get a big old flyer, though, which probably indicates a defective bullet that would have been culled had I weighed it.

This is the only BP gun for which I weigh charges and bullets. If nothing else, it has taught me that it takes a very accurate gun to show even a hint of difference between weighing and throwing charges even at very long range. At standard ranges with my flintlocks or percussion revolvers I can't imagine any possible improvement could be had by weighing charges instead of throwing them from the measure.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

volume measure which not supposed to be as accurate as it changes when the powder settles.

Howdy

I'm guessing you are fairly new to Black Powder or the substitutes. Measuring Black Powder by volume can be very accurate. You just have to be consistent in your method. I have been shooting Black Powder since 1968, and have been loading it in cartridges for about 20 years now. You just have to be consistent with your method. When I dip BP for some of my cartridges, I pour about 1/2 pound of powder into a coffee cup. Here is my setup for loading 38-40 cartridges.






I either use Lee dippers, or homemade dippers.






I scoop the dipper through the powder exactly as if I was scooping ice cream out of a container. A nice steady stroke. Then I use a piece of card to level off the scoop, allowing the excess to fall back into the cup. That's all there is to it, as with all aspects of reloading you just need to be consistent. Scoop the powder with the exact same stroke every time and you will be amazed how consistent your loads are.

I bought a trickler (yes, they are designed for Smokeless powder, not BP), a bazillion years ago when I started loading smokeless cartridges.

Never used it, a complete waste of money. Modern Smokeless power measures are consistent enough that they throw a consistent charge every time, within .2 grains in my experience. Plenty accurate enough for my shooting.

Now here is a hint: Just like everything else in reloading, consistency is very important. I have found I can vary the amount of Smokeless from a powder measure by how I rotate the arm. If I am gentle, I will get one charge. If I slam it I will get another charge.

Consistency is the key to all things reloading, whether Smokeless or BP or the subs.

 

[jmorris]

But i should have mentioned in the begining that my tests were done using revolvers....36 cal navies...and 5 grains makes a huge difference in such a small caliber with a smaller charge.

Being extremely focused on an exact powder charge weight makes even less sense with pistols/revolvers. Only a few like the XP’s and such are accurate and can shoot long enough ranges where the difference can be seen, it’s not going to be inside most common handgun ranges.

That said, I think I could eyeball better than +/- 5 grains.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Speed and accuracy are affected when i go from 15 to 20 grains of black powder when i shoot my .36 cal revolvers

Interesting, as I found with my .44's that the only difference between say 18 grains and 25 grains was that with 20-25 grains my caps got shredded though my groups were quite good, but the caps fell into the mechanism on a regular basis. Yet with 15-18 grains with two Wonder Wad felt wads between the powder and the ball, I got great groups, and the caps stayed put. I just filed down the volume measure tip on my flask until the caps stopped getting shredded (from the back pressure), and went from there. One day I was curious, and when measured what the spout was actually "throwing", found the load to be 18 grains. I used the same spout to load my .36 Sheriff's model revolver too. Very good results.

LD

 

[whughett]

OP. Check out the thread “Poor mans Powder Trickler” in the hand loading forum.

Substitute copper pipe for the body for a non-static material.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Loyalist Dave...thanks for sharing your fix on the cap issue. Were they stock or aftermarket nipples? I know some aftermarket nipples, like treso, have smaller nipple flash holes to help reduce blowback pressure. That may have solved your issue BUT ur fix was innexpensive and very resourceful in using items already on hand. Very cool. I too find that 17-18 grains is very accurate when it comes to my navy revolvers shooting round ball. Conicals take 20-22

 

[BCRider]

Use a powder measure set to slightly less weight than you want ( a couple grains). Pour that powder into the scale pan. Put the pan on the scale then trickle the powder into the scale pan until you reach the desired weight.

SC45-70

That's what I do even with my smaller smokeless loads.