Best powder for a .32?

[Mk42gunner]

I recently stumbled over a looks new never fired Traditions Crockett rifle in .32. I know it isn't a T/C or real high quality, but it should be fun to play with.

After getting it home, I found that the only FFFg I have is about a half a Colt flask that I used for my Navies. I have plenty of FFg, which seems to slow; and most of a pound of 4F for my flintlock, which sounds awful fast for a main charge.

Real BP isn't all that easy to find anymore unless you want to buy twenty five pounds at a time. I don't need nearly that much, a pound or two would suit me fine.

I can find Pyrodex P locally, but I didn't really like it forty years ago.

I have both .310 and .315" balls and suitable patch material. Even some single O buckshot (too big).

I'm thinking start at 10 grains and stop as soon as I get squirrel head sized groups. Sound reasonable?

Robert

[mooman76]

Sounds good. You'll probably end up somewhere around 15-20gr give or take a little. If you have plenty of FF give it a try. It might work well enough to get you by.

[hithard]

I can't get my 32 to do anything with ffg.

Going to go with fffg.

Good luck.

[alfadan]

I use a 9mm case full of 3f.

[LAGS]

If you need Finer powder like 3 f or 4f , you can always crush up the powder a little and run it thru a screen.
You should be able to find info needed in the Home made black powder thread.

[Czech_too]

I use 3F in both of mine. Started at 30 grains, went down to 25 grains with no change in point of impact (50 yards). The Lee .310 RB mould drops at .313

[Edward]

I"d use 4F ,start low and go for group/Ed

[sharps4590]

Get you a mortar and pestle and grind your 2F down to approximately 3f. It ain't rocket science.

[freakonaleash]

Black powder is easy to find and you don't need to buy a case, there are several companies that mail it to your door.. You can buy as little as 5lbs. You'll want 3fff.

[Mk42gunner]

Thanks for the advice. Now if I could only find one of the Lee RB molds in stock.

Oh well, by the time I run out of the balls I do have, I might be able to find a mold. At $10-11 per hundred it won't take long for a Lee DC to pay for itself.

Robert

[mooman76]

If you want to stretch your fff you could mix it with ff and see how that goes. I have some F powder I got by mistake. By the time I realized it, it had been at least 6 months so there was no taking it back. I'm gonna mix that with FF and shoot in my 58.

[rodwha]

2F fouls too much for a small bore id think. I often read of people complaining using 3F about fouling too quickly. Likely using a more dirty powder to begin with though.

4F can and is used as a safe powder charge when things are kept in perspective. A 10% reduction of 3F is the general rule of thumb for a comparable charge of 2F. I’d think it prudent to stick with that logic.

I’d use Triple 7 before I used Pyrodex.

[mooman76]

I've never really had issues with Pyrodex. Not sure why some do and some don't.

[rfd]

3F Swiss or OE. That's all I use for .32 to .62 cap/flint muzzleloaders and centerfire cartridges.

Right now it's not at all hard to get black powder delivered to your door, it's the way most of us get it. Yes, not cheap. Welcome to the 21st century. Stock up if you can because black powder will become increasing difficult to find online let alone purchase. Signs of the times as black powder will get regulated out of vendor stocking, as is already happening and why it's hard if not impossible to find at local gun and sporting goods stores.

[hporter]

Mk42gunner,

One of my saved fleabay searches this morning popped up a Lee 2-Cavity Round Ball 311 Diameter Bullet Mold Md: 90406. He has two of them in stock, with a buy it now price of $33.74. His seller name is wholesale hunter.

Not sure if that is one you are looking for, but having read this thread yesterday, it rang a bell when I saw it.

Hope this is helpful.

Regards,

Harold

[bedbugbilly]

#1 1/2 buckshot measures .310 according to the chart - so if you can't find a mold, maybe someone has some #1 1/2 buckshot that would work. When I was a kid, I came up with a .32 percussion rifle and I ordered a 5# bag of 1 1/2 buckshot, IIRC, from Dixie Gun Works and it lasted a long time - worked fine on squirrels, rabbits, etc. If you don't have or can't find a mold, maybe a shotgunner who has the right buckshot mold could run you some.

Enjoy and have fun with that rifle - cheap to shoot and lot's of fun for plinking, killing cans and taking tree rats!

[rodwha]

I've never really had issues with Pyrodex. Not sure why some do and some don't.

My father had given me some P and RS. It shot just fine through my rifle and that’s what I broke it in with, but I greatly disliked the sticky fouling through my revolvers. It also doesn’t achieve the higher velocities I require from my pistols to be worthy sidearms on hunts. Some data shows it to be as strong, but others show that it’s not energetic, along with data seeming to show problems with shelf life or humidity or something as it degrades. The powder I had wasn’t weak at all and it was old stuff.

Another thing that turned me off, and it’s my fault for taking the advice that I could clean the rifle the next morning. It was an absolute wreck and in testing shows it can corrode faster than BP.

If I’m to use a substitute it’s Triple 7, otherwise it’s Olde Eynsford.

[mooman76]

It does corrode quick. I have found that if you use Bore Butter ( Wonder Lube or T/C 1000) it kinda of delays the corrosion a little. I often use those lubes for last shot just in case but I usually like good ol spit. I'm switching to the real stuff but being the cheap sob I am, cant just throw away the old Pyrodex as long as it's good.

[Mk42gunner]

Harold, thanks for the info on the molds, but I quit the ebay insanity when they started requiring you to use paypal. I'll wait until I find one for a normal price. I have two boxes of Hornady swaged balls to get through before I have to really worry about it.

I may just bite the bullet and order some BP. I'll still try to find some locally though.

If it comes down to it, I can use my single O buck (.320") with a felt wad under it as a patchless projectile. I still have probably four and a half pounds left in the five pound box.

I've got two different diameter balls to try, maybe three, and three different thicknesses of patch material along with the powder choices. I already know I am going to need a new cone, caps fit loosely on the stock one.

Robert

[rodwha]

It does corrode quick. I have found that if you use Bore Butter ( Wonder Lube or T/C 1000) it kinda of delays the corrosion a little. I often use those lubes for last shot just in case but I usually like good ol spit. I'm switching to the real stuff but being the cheap sob I am, cant just throw away the old Pyrodex as long as it's good.

Yeah, I still have some RS. It works, nothing “wrong” with it ��

After my horrible corrosion incident I was told if you can’t clean your guns when you get home to run an oily patch of everywhere you can, that the fouling will absorb that and keep it protected. So I tested this with both of my pistols during a hot and humid summer and indeed they were protected. I have Ballistol so that’s what I use.