Re: Homemade BP for shooting

"John Reilly" <johnr@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:1146401107.829130.139280@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yuv,

It sounds like your own BP is well made and if your 4 hour milling is
done with an efficient and properly charged ball mill, it will be as
fast if not faster than the GOEX or Elephant brands commercially
available. I shoot a .50 cal. Hawken replica and a .45 cal replica
"Pennsylvania" style pistol often with home "brewed" powders and have
good results on a one to one charge compared with GOEX. According to
the charts, Elephant brand is a bit slower.
You didn't say whether your pistol is a modern replica or an antique.
Do you have load charts for the calibre? Is it rifled and if so, do
you have the recommended ball and patch thickness? These questions are
not as important for a flintlock or percussion piece as they would for
cartridge arms made near the change to "nitro" powders.


Some years ago I shot black powder rifles in competition. I bought my powder back then but I bought in quantity and then blended 50 pounds at a time in a large rubber tumbling "can" and then repackaged the powder in 1 pound cans. Powder was consistent. Then it was on to the patch and ball size. I shot .54 caliber so started with a .530 ball and matress ticking lubricated with rendered Bear fat oil. Varied powder charge trying for the one ragged hole on the target. No luck. Switched patch lube to a product called "spit patch" and started over. Still no luck. Switched to pillow ticking and Bear oil. No luck. Pillow ticking and "spit patch". No luck. Switched to .535 ball, pillow ticking, and Bear oil. Better and better. .535 ball, pillow ticking, and "spit patch". One ragged hole, bench rested, sandbagged, 100 yards. Now I had a load I could trust for offhand, crossed stick, post, and other "primitive" games. I kept a dry patch in my mouth soaking up saliva during each shot and after each shot I would run that spit soaked patch down the bore to clear any residue and make sure the nipple was clear. Won a lot of shooting matches. So. To say that ball and patch are not critical to accuracy, even with excellent powder, isn't quite the case.

To Yuv. One starting load for your pistol would be 3fg equivalent size grains poured over the ball in your open palm to the point the powder -just covers- the ball. Weigh this charge. Shoot this charge weight a couple of times to check accuracy. This will be a light load and you can increase it 2-5 grains at a time until you find unburned powder grains on the ground in front of the muzzle after the pistol is fired. Then back down 5 grains. This will be -max load- for your pistol. Someplace in between will be the most accurate load.

--

Don Thompson

There is nothing more frightening than active ignorance.
~Goethe

It is a worthy thing to fight for one's freedom;
it is another sight finer to fight for another man's.
~Mark Twain





If you have
the recommended load for your pistol, I would start with that and
deduct 20% for your first shot. Others would suggest you "proof" the
pisto by loading double or even triple the normal load and firing the
gun (barricaded) via a string. If no damage is noted, (there should
not be as much of the excess BP would be consumed outside the muzzle of
a pistol, I would feel comfortable shooting "normal loads" with it.
Ask others as well. There are BP shooters on this newsgroup who will
have other suggestions. Happy shooting.

PS your charcoal if properly cooked, is as good or better than the
commercial stuff.

John


.

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