My homemade black powder

[Vettepilot]

One more thing. If I ever decide to load up some BP 45-70 cartridges, or buy a conversion cylinder for 45 Colt for my 1858 Remington, then maybe I'll go to pucked powder. I have the die, a good press, grain mills, etc. But for the front stuffers I shoot now, I'm with Greyhawk. Screened powder works great, and I have very, very little "fines".

Just my .02 cents...

Vettepilot

[Vettepilot]

Sorry for multiple posts, but I just remembered something I wanted to share about presses. If your press is groaning and/or bending with the amount of forces you want to use, try just using some 5/16" or 3/8" threaded rods to tie the top and bottom of your press together just outside the jack.

Drill through the top beam on either side of the jack. Drill corresponding holes in the press surfaces of the bottom beams. Run the 4 threaded rods through those holes, with nuts adjusted tight, to connect the 3 beams together vertically.

This will add tremendous strength to your press. You will NEVER pull the four 5/16" threaded rods apart. Each one has a tensile strength of at least 60,000 psi. (We only use four to keep everything square.)

Worth a try if your press is "tweaking" on you...

Vettepilot