mmb617
Member
I've been making my own black powder for a few months now and I'm quite happy with the results. I get mainly 3f size granules which is what I shoot in all my .50 caliber flintlocks, but I've also been getting more 4f size than I'll ever need if I only use it for priming.
I'd been thinking that when the supply of 4f gets too high I would reprocess the excess which is doable, but then I thought why not just shoot it?
I guess this is another of those things that cause arguments as some people say it's a definite no-no, but why? The only point I see that makes any sense is that since we usually measure our loads by volume instead of weight if we switch to 4f which is denser than 3f and use the same volume, and if we were at the max load with 3f a similar volume of 4f would exceed the recommended max.
But I'm using loads that are well below max so I thought I'd give it a try. Yesterday I took two of my rifles to the range and used 4f as the charge, taking 16 shots with each. No problems were encountered, and in fact I think it gave me slightly more reliable ignition.
So now I've abandoned any plans to reprocess my excess 4f, I'll just shoot it instead.
Has anybody else used 4f as charge?
I'd been thinking that when the supply of 4f gets too high I would reprocess the excess which is doable, but then I thought why not just shoot it?
I guess this is another of those things that cause arguments as some people say it's a definite no-no, but why? The only point I see that makes any sense is that since we usually measure our loads by volume instead of weight if we switch to 4f which is denser than 3f and use the same volume, and if we were at the max load with 3f a similar volume of 4f would exceed the recommended max.
But I'm using loads that are well below max so I thought I'd give it a try. Yesterday I took two of my rifles to the range and used 4f as the charge, taking 16 shots with each. No problems were encountered, and in fact I think it gave me slightly more reliable ignition.
So now I've abandoned any plans to reprocess my excess 4f, I'll just shoot it instead.
Has anybody else used 4f as charge?