Reloading noob.

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AK Hunter said:
I had a friend that had only done pistol reloading, walk me through the process. I had to learn the rifle reloading on my own & just recently showed the same friend how to load rifle.
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I started with rifle but then did pistol snd big bore. I’m relearning rifle and it’s not the same as pistol. Way more complex and precise.

might do a 7mm STW Ruger #1 journey soon
 
GeoDudeFlorida said:
all BP is metered by volume
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Well, not all. Maybe that is ok if you are playing Davy Crockett, my neighbor the gunsmith used an 8mm case as powder measure for his Dixie project gun. But We Breechloaders usually do as the Sharps Rifle Co. recommended: "For fine shooting, powder should be weighed on a scale."

GeoDudeFlorida said:
If someone stupidly puts smokeless powder in a black powder can,
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The closest I have seen to that was the friend who loaned his TC to his shiftless brother. After he had the barrel replaced due to the bulge caused by said brother shooting out a ball stuck halfway down a fouled bore, he found his powder horn now contained a mixture of black and Pyrodex. Waste not, want not, he shook it up and shot with it. It shot like a dream; accurate and when we chronographed it, the spread was 9 fps.
 
Jim Watson said:
Well, not all. Maybe that is ok if you are playing Davy Crockett, my neighbor the gunsmith used an 8mm case as powder measure for his Dixie project gun. But We Breechloaders usually do as the Sharps Rifle Co. recommended: "For fine shooting, powder should be weighed on a scale."



The closest I have seen to that was the friend who loaned his TC to his shiftless brother. After he had the barrel replaced due to the bulge caused by said brother shooting out a ball stuck halfway down a fouled bore, he found his powder horn now contained a mixture of black and Pyrodex. Waste not, want not, he shook it up and shot with it. It shot like a dream; accurate and when we chronographed it, the spread was 9 fps.
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I use this volumetric chart put out by Goex when loading for my BP handguns.
 

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Jim Watson said:
Well, not all. Maybe that is ok if you are playing Davy Crockett, my neighbor the gunsmith used an 8mm case as powder measure for his Dixie project gun. But We Breechloaders usually do as the Sharps Rifle Co. recommended: "For fine shooting, powder should be weighed on a scale."



The closest I have seen to that was the friend who loaned his TC to his shiftless brother. After he had the barrel replaced due to the bulge caused by said brother shooting out a ball stuck halfway down a fouled bore, he found his powder horn now contained a mixture of black and Pyrodex. Waste not, want not, he shook it up and shot with it. It shot like a dream; accurate and when we chronographed it, the spread was 9 fps.
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The Lee Dipper chart also shows volume by CC -> grains:
upload_2021-3-31_16-41-54.png
 
Plus or minus what? I load .38-55 and .40-65 to -0, +.1 grain and get single digit extreme spreads in velocity, a must for cast bullets at 600 yards.

Good enough for a muzzleloading hunting rifle or CAS, but not target shooting.
 
Jim Watson said:
Plus or minus what? I load .38-55 and .40-65 to -0, +.1 grain and get single digit extreme spreads in velocity, a must for cast bullets at 600 yards.

Good enough for a muzzleloading hunting rifle or CAS, but not target shooting.
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Well, considering I’m lucky to see the front sight and the target at the same time, obviously good enough for a poor old swamp critter like me. Sorry to have disagreed with one of the worlds greatest target shooters. Won’t happen again. :)
 
Briefly mentioned sort of,
If it was me I would pull down any ammo that I could not convince myself was fairly new factory stuff. (and to be safe I would probably pull it all down anyway)
Yes you loose the powder, and powder is pricey and hard to come by at the moment, but trips to the ER are not cheap, and somethings can't be replaced. (eyes are a good example).
I would be really tempted to toss any open powder as well, but that might be tempered a bit by what it was supposed to be.
If it was a pistol/shotgun powder you could always work up assuming it was a really fast powder, gets trickier with powder for rifle however.

As an example these two look fairly close

H110-BLC2.JPG
Not exactly the same but if the load called for BLC(2) and you used H110 BAD things would happen.

Congrats on the score, if there are primers major find, finding primers now is about as easy as finding gold nugets:)
 
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Dudedog said:
Not exactly the same but if the load called for BLC(2) and you used H110 BAD things would happen.

Congrats on the score, if there are primers major find, finding primers now is about as easy as finding gold nugets:)
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Those two also look a lot like H1000, and the three are definitely not interchangeable. It's real tough to tell some powders apart by sight.
 
http://www.ilrc.ucf.edu/powders/sample_detail.php?powder_id=246

and select the powder from the drop down

Heres another that looks a lot like the above.
upload_2021-4-1_12-52-0.png

Don't want to post endless pictures but for example AA#2 and AA#9 look close,
Lots of the stick powders look pretty close as well.
Even with powders that are say both rifle powders and sort of close burn speed wise using H335 when the load called for BLC(2) would not work out well (but you might get away with out a blown up gun but then you might not)

I sure would not want to guess a powder by looking at it......call me chicken but I still have 2 eyes, 10 fingers, and no blown up guns (yet)-(note sadly I am missing a few brain cells, called old age;))
If the jar was a flake/ball/stick powder and what was in it did not match the general shape it should be you would know it was wrong but knowing it is right is what is needed.


Edit-(after first two likes)
While it's not likely a powder ended up in the wrong jar this is one of those it's not the odds it's the stakes things.
 
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Dudedog said:
http://www.ilrc.ucf.edu/powders/sample_detail.php?powder_id=246

and select the powder from the drop down

Heres another that looks a lot like the above.
View attachment 988922

Don't want to post endless pictures but for example AA#2 and AA#9 look close,
Lots of the stick powders look pretty close as well.
Even with powders that are say both rifle powders and sort of close burn speed wise using H335 when the load called for BLC(2) would not work out well (but you might get away with out a blown up gun but then you might not)

I sure would not want to guess a powder by looking at it......call me chicken but I still have 2 eyes, 10 fingers, and no blown up guns (yet)-(note sadly I am missing a few brain cells, called old age;))
If the jar was a flake/ball/stick powder and what was in it did not match the general shape it should be you would know it was wrong but knowing it is right is what is needed.
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That was my point with comparing smokeless and black powder being mixed before it got derailed: IF we were talking about black powder - 2F and 3F being mixed by accident or on purpose, for example - then it would not be ideal but would also not be a dangerous situation; but we're talking about smokeless - nitrocellulose, possibly nitroglycerine if it's a double-base or triple-base powder - where pressures can rise exponentially. Mixing two smokeless powders, even if very similar in characteristics, is a bad, BAD idea! Using powders you don't know anything about - no knowledge of the integrity of the powder - is worse than gambling, it's betting against a loaded deck. In my opinion which, obviously, is just based on my own experiences. Worth every penny paid.
 
I think we pretty much all can agree that trying to identify powder based on visual inspection is a fools game.

Looking at the original posted images of the powder cans I went with the dump it. That said I offered that as my suggestion. The reality here is I would likely sniff test the powder and likely use it. However, I would never suggest that to someone else. Then too if the cans were real light I would maybe likely trash the stuff. Anyway if I manage to blow myself up I am only accountable to me. Also the average person is not going to be looking at powder under 10X magnification. :)

Ron
 
rfwobbly said:
If you set up a little stand over on the side of this forum, you could make a mint selling hot coffee and biscuits.

Just an idea. o_O
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I was going back to bed.... but you said coffee and biscuits! got my stomach growling

it’s 4:44 am
 
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