Another BP question

[mattbowen]

First off; "Hello to all";
The question that I have is I want to load the black and may pick some up this Sat. but don't have a drop tube or a compression die as yet (I do plan to get them when I get a little extra) but for now is it feasible to take a wooden dow to compress the powder into the case?

Matt

[67bear]

Hi Matt,
I made a drop tube out of a 2 foot piece of 3/8" copper tubing from the hardware store with both ends flared. I've been using it for ten years. It was cheap and it works fine. Just pour your powder real slow through it. I don't have any experience making a compression die, so can't help you with that. But if you use Swiss BP, you may not need to compress it. My current 45-70 load is compressed .005" when I seat the bullet.

[mattbowen]

67bear;

Thanks for the reply, I will have to try that with the copper tube. The only powder that I found locally is Pyrodex and black horn, so I will try the black horn.

Thanks again

Matt

[Don McDowell]

WHY? would anybody want to mess with that blackhorn **** at 40$ a pound:groner:Good lord you can order 1 lb of black at a time from Grafs for less than that.

You can just use your funnel and a slow pour and achieve about as much good as a drop tube when charging 45-70 cases.

[John Boy]

Matt, I find the drop tube to be a PITA. I vibrate my powder to settle it. And not with the kind of vibratory one finds in their wife's dresser drawer [smilie=1:
Why? Because vibrating the powder is darn near the same as settling it with a drop tube. There was an article on the subject in an old Black Powder Cartridge News magazine. The difference is a very small fraction of a 1/10 of an inch

OK, my vibrators are a hand massager that I found on the Internet and an old Sonic Care tooth brush. Both have high and low speeds. I use the low speed

[SharpsShooter]

WHY? would anybody want to mess with that blackhorn **** at 40$ a pound:groner:Good lord you can order 1 lb of black at a time from Grafs for less than that.

.

AMEN! My thoughts exactly. Plus, I seem to recall reading somewhere that compressing that stuff was not wise. Something about crazy pressures or the like.

"Not able to find Black Powder" is the most easily debunked myth I know of.......

http://www.powderinc.com/

http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/5453

http://www.blackpowderva.com/

http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/2,392.html

..........ought to get ya started


SS

[Seth Hawkins]

When I saw the light - or the Dark Side, actually - I did lots of shopping around, comparing prices. I found Powder Inc. to have the best prices once you factor in the shipping and HazMat fees. A close second was Grafs. I still buy Graf's own brand of Fg powder for my CAS shot shell loadings.

Of course, buying in quantity brings the cost per pound down.

[kokomokid]

Great folks at Powder inc. We picked up powder while in the area but you will have to pay state tax, so shipping a case is not much higher.

[wills]

Another recommendation for Powder Inc.

[mattbowen]

Thanks again for the reply, I am headed to Columbia in the morning and I will see what else Sportsman's Warehouse has beside pyrodex and black horn. I am new to the dark side so please overlook my ignorance, I know that pyro is a substitute but I have never heard of black horn. I don't want to use any substitutes I want to use the real black.

Thanks again

Matt

[montana_charlie]

I want to use the real black.
Then it must say 'black powder' and specify a granulation on the container.
Anything else is a substitute.

CM

[mattbowen]

Thanks for the reply,

I went to Sportsman's warehouse and they had the black horn, pyrodex, and triple seven but nothing else so I didn't get anything but some cases. I have learned to read the container closely.

Thanks again

Matt

[Crash_Corrigan]

We formed a small group and bought 50 one lb containers of various grades of Swiss powder from Powder Inc and it was a good deal for all. Instead of paying $23.95 a lb plus the haz mat fee of $25 we Paid:

$18.85 a lb and one $25 haz mat fee to cover the entire shipment. Everybody was happy except the UPS guy who brought it.

[mattbowen]

Crash;

I would love to do that but so far (that I know) I am the only one around here that wants to shoot the black. The buddy that I went to Columbia with Sat. even commented that he didn't understand why anyone would want to shoot black powder in a modern rifle when you can get modern powder but he can understand in a muzzle loader. Some of my friends think I am backwards thinking and maybe I am but I LOVE the OLD ways. I even tell them that I was born about 180 years to late. If I can't find it locally I will bite the bullet and buy it off line.

Thanks again

Matt