Ball powder

[kokomokid]

Any news on how the swiss ball powder shot? I saw some samples at Raton in July and it sure looked clean and like small birdshot. Story goes that Swiss set up to make this powder just as smokeless came about then mothballed the equipment.

[Nobade]

Never have heard of it. Is it the same thing as black powder but made differently? Or some other ingredients? Got any other info?

[kokomokid]

It was swiss black powder and they had sent a few samples out for trial. The sample I was looking at was Mike Venturinos , so we may see a mag article by and by. No way it could be used with any compression and not crush the pretty little round balls.

[cajun shooter]

That is very interesting for sure. I first used BP in 1970 and have never heard a thing about this type of Swiss.
I hope Mike does do some sort of article on it.

['74 sharps]

And the advantage to a ball black powder is............????

[Skipper]

I guess it has some truth to it. Here's an answer to the question that I posted over at the Shiloh forum:

Joe,

It is true as I have a can of Swiss 1.5 Fg C-4 powder that I am testing for James Kirkland. It is a "ball" powder of sorts and reliably meters through a powder measure. It has a little more volume than regular 1.5 as I had to reduce my load by 1 grain to get the same powder column and compression. I'll be shooting these loads this weekend.

Kenny T.

[montana_charlie]

And the advantage to a ball black powder is............????
That would probably be a consistent burning rate, which will lower ES and SD if your fouling management is adequate.

CM

[kokomokid]

Thanks Skipper, about to think this was a secret project! LB