powder contamination

[bigted]

i had been studying on the thought that if a feller had a long tube to put down the barrel on a muzzleloader ... that the powder would be set in the same place every time shot to shot instead of maybe getting hung up on the fouling or contaminated with the wet surface of a freshly cleaned bore.

then i see on u-tube a video of a feller doing just that. had a long tube with a small funnel on top and when he reloaded ... he sent the powder down the barrel via the clean long tube ... sooo ...

was wondering if others had thought of this variance or maybe used it and if so ... to what good?

[wgr]

lot of target shooters do that. not sure it would make a diff. for hunting.

[Geraldo]

I have a drop tube I use in a fast twist .45 barrel, but that's the only one. In my most accurate RB barrels (Green Mountain .40 and Douglas .45) I just drop the powder down the fouled barrel and blast.

[Tatume]

I use a drop tube in a couple of my guns. The reasoning depends on the gun. For example, when using duplex loads you don't want your priming powder to mix.

[Lead Fred]

Folks have been pouring powder out of their hands for 100's of years.
Powder measures are an invention of the 1950s when muzzle stuffers came back into the shooting scene.
Not even the most accurate rifle made (Whitworth) did they ever use a drop tube.

Id say its just like blowing down the barrel. Most say its dumb, I do it cause I like to see the smoke come out of my flash hole.

FYI Pan Chargers have been around since the invent of flintlocks. Most in the day used their small horn.

[dondiego]

A lot of drop tubes are used for black powder cartridge reloading in order to get more powder to settle in the case.

[johnson1942]

when i pour my powder in the barrel i have always bounced the butt of the gun against the ground. if the ground is hard or rocky i alway carry an old towel with me and fold that a few times to buffer between ground and the butt plate. this settles the powder the same every timeand gets it back into the breech as it should. when i use blackhorn 209 powder i dont have to wipe between shots but if i use real black i use one damp patch and two dry patches between shots. also the poly wad i use between the powder and the bullet takes any powder grains down with it so their is none one the side of the barrel. if some one could explain why one would have to use a drop tube in a muzzle loader then i could see merit in it. i cant see how my groups could get any better but you never know.

[waksupi]

When you load a ML, you are already dropping it down a long tube!

[bigted]

interesting.

[oldracer]

A couple years ago when I finally bought my Pedersoli Gibbs, it came with a beautiful drop tube/funnel that was to be used to put the powder in the barrel. This was even if I wiped the bore between shots which I have been doing with my muzzle loaders all along. I talked to several experts, including Lee Shaver and a fellow that shows up on here named Roger Johnson and they all said it is a good idea. So I decided to see if it made any difference and hauled my Lead Sled out to the range on a day when it was calm (takes me out of the equation). I fired 10 shots with the tube and 10 shots without in both my 50 cal patched round ball gun and 10 each in my Gibbs. Both tests were shot at 100 yards and in the case of using the funnel/tube, the group size was about 50% of the group with no tube!

Sooooooo, now I use one all the time.

[OverMax]

Seems like allot of effort to gain so little in a typical muzzle loader. Besides I think that's what Pyrodex Triple777 pellets already remedy-ed.

[DIRT Farmer]

Most serious bullet shooters us a drop tube. It keeps the powder from sticking to the side of the barrel and damaging the paper patch for one point.

The Bevel brothers did a test with chunk guns a few years back and their results were inconclusive in a patched round ball gun.

[wgr]

wonder what the old buffalo hunters did?

[fouronesix]

wonder what the old buffalo hunters did?

Most of them shot cartridge guns. :|

[bigted]

just a thought ... been kickin the thought around for awhile and thought id post the question here to find others opinions/experience.

[M-Tecs]

bigted I am not sure I like you anymore :kidding:

Never thought of it so I never worried about it. Now I have one more thing to worry about!!!!!!!!!

[Geezer in NH]

All the TOP bench slug gun shooters use a drop tube, powder grains can mess up paper patches.

[Nobade]

Well, drop tubing your powder into cartridges reduces the velocity variations and makes for a more powerful charge. Seems the same would apply to muzzle loaders. I have never tried it, just rely on a tight wad to scrape the bore before I add the paper patched bullet. But it does make sense and if I ever build a real target rifle I will certainly be using a drop tube with it. Some day.......

-Nobade

[bigted]

bigted I am not sure I like you anymore :kidding:

Never thought of it so I never worried about it. Now I have one more thing to worry about!!!!!!!!!

LOL ... glad i could help.

naww just seen it on a youtube thing and began to wonder at the premise that the tube would settle the powder without grabbing onto the fouling or bare barrel or anything else on its way down the spout. if the powder wound up in the breech the same each time i cant figure out how it would not be better in shot to shot performance. that is if ultimate accuracy was the desired result. im not talkin bout hunting or even just messin round on an afternoon ... just the accuracy game.