BP Granulation ?

[kmeyer]

Will 3f work for both main charge and priming in a .76 smoothbore, .62 smoothbore, .50 rifle and .32 rifled flintlocks? Or would 2f or 4f be better? For ease I want to use the same size for all if possible. Thanks all.

 

[Gary]

I'd stay with 2F for both the main charge and the pan. Lower pressure too.

 

[ol vern]

3 f will do fine for priming powder, I have even used 2F when it was all I had.

I would use 2F in the 50 cal & up for my load and prime with 3F

 

[rschissler]

I was wondering the same thing. I just got my .75 Brown Bess and was planning to use 75gr. of 3f for the main charge and 3f for the prime as well. Now I'm wondering if it would be better to use 2f for the main and 4f for the prime.

 

[kmeyer]

My goal though is to use one for all 4 calibers if possible. I thought 2f would be to big for a .32, but maybe that is what I should try.

 

[Birddog6]

The general idea is to get the powder that shoots the Best in each caliber, not what will work or what is easiest.. About anything will work but How Well it will work is a whole different story.

Generally :

3F in 50 caliber & under
2F in .54 and larger.

Now some guys shoot 3F in the .54, .58., .62 but I don't do that much because I think eventually it will gas cut the barrel & especially if ya are trying for high velocity. I want the barrels to last my lifetime & many nore. Thus I use less chamber pressure with the 2F & find loads that work with the powder I feel comfortable with & go on.
Now in 2 rifles I shoot 3F in a .54 when deer hunting, but there are very few shots fired with this. I target with 2F and the dif is 1" highr at 75 yards on the 3F.

And 3F Swiss is superb in .40 cal & under also, however you need to cut your charge volume by 15-20% as it is a Sporting Grade powder & very hot.

:thumbsup:

 

[Gary]

The soldiers of the Revolution used cartridges and primed from their cartridges. The first time I'm aware of a different priming powder was by the Germans of the 5/60 Royal Americans who carried a small priming horn during the Napoleonic Wars. If we're trying to keep things simple, stick with one powder: 2F.

 

[Birddog6]

Well...... You can most likely work on your truck, lawn mower, weedeater, tractor, chainsaw & gas grill & make them all run off diesel fuel too if that is all ya have..... However, that don't meant the will work the best, it means they may run.
Fortunately we have more resources today than they did in the 17,18,19th centuries & thus can refine our shooting a little more than lobbing bullets in mass quantities & hopeing that someone is in the way of them........ :thumbsup:

 

[roundball]

Well...... You can most likely work on your truck, lawn mower, weedeater, tractor, chainsaw & gas grill & make them all run off diesel fuel too if that is all ya have..... However, that don't meant the will work the best, it means they may run.
Fortunately we have more resources today than they did in the 17,18,19th centuries & thus can refine our shooting a little more than lobbing bullets in mass quantities & hopeing that someone is in the way of them........ :thumbsup:

I mainly use Goex 3F in .45/.50/.54, and Goex 2F in .58/.62

 

[Maestro]

I've generally followed the conventional "rules" and shot 2F in my .62/20ga. fowler (priming with 4F). This subject has come up before on the forum (probably in the Smoothbore section) and I remember a lot more members espousing the use of 3F up to .62 cal. (and priming with the same). On many of their recommendations, I've recently gotten some 3F Swiss and am going to give it a try in my smoothbore.

It's been referenced before, but take a look at Bob Spencer's site and the loads he uses with 3F in his 20 ga. fowler: Bob's Black Powder Notebook - Smoothbore Loads

 

[Blivetmaker]

Hi Birddog6,
Swiss powder comes in 3 flavors over here. No.1 for pistols is very fine and highly aggressive. No.2 is generally used for rifles and, as you say, burns hot in heavier calibers. There is also No.3 which has a coarser grain, burns slower but retains the lower fouling qualities you expect from Swiss. See if you can't get some of the stuff and give it a try.

 

[Birddog6]

Now that is strange.... Our Swiss powder is granulated just the opposite. 1F being the coarse & 4f being the finest.

:hmm:

 

[roundball]

Hi Birddog6,
Swiss powder comes in 3 flavors over here. No.1 for pistols is very fine and highly aggressive. No.2 is generally used for rifles and, as you say, burns hot in heavier calibers. There is also No.3 which has a coarser grain, burns slower but retains the lower fouling qualities you expect from Swiss. See if you can't get some of the stuff and give it a try.

That's surprising...BP granulation #'s run just the opposite here, with #1 being coarse, and successivly larger #'s representing finer and finer granulations...ie: priming powder is usually 4F, etc...given world-wide distribution by manufacturers like Goex, Swiss, etc, I think the numbering conventions are the same

 

[Blivetmaker]

Got a bottle of the stuff right here. Schweizer Schwarzpulver, Jagdschwarzpulver Nr.2, Poudrerie d Aubonne S.A., CH-1170 Aubonne.

Here's a website:
http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cacheVQod...bonne&hl=de

I use around 17gr. No.1 for my Lepage .45 flint pistol
I bought the No.2 to see if the fouling is less in my new Mortimer .54 flint rifle. I only shoot target with relatively light loads. If I get the feeling it's too aggressive despite a very tight fitting load at low charge; I'll get some No.3

The labeling for the Americas might be different but over here a 100+gr. load of No.1 in a Bess would be something to tell your grandkids about... :shocking:

By all means check the granulation carefully!!

 

[roundball]

Got a bottle of the stuff right here. Schweizer Schwarzpulver, Jagdschwarzpulver Nr.2, Poudrerie d Aubonne S.A., CH-1170 Aubonne.

Here's a website:
http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cacheVQod...bonne&hl=de

I use around 17gr. No.1 for my Lepage .45 flint pistol
I bought the No.2 to see if the fouling is less in my new Mortimer .54 flint rifle. I only shoot target with relatively light loads. If I get the feeling it's too aggressive despite a very tight fitting load at low charge; I'll get some No.3

The labeling for the Americas might be different but over here a 100+gr. load of No.1 in a Bess would be something to tell your grandkids about... :shocking:

By all means check the granulation carefully!!

So the Swiss black powder company granulation scheme is reversed in it's distribution at least within Germany, possibly within Europe, possibly everywhere else but the U.S....that is very surprising in this day and age given ISO standards, etc...learn something new everyday
:shocking:

 

[Blivetmaker]

Yep, here's another site:
http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:bfwKO...owder&hl=de

 

[musketman]

I burn holes in patches with FFFg in my bess, it really likes Fg, but it's dirty, so FFg if is...

I think Swiss makes a 1 1/2 Fg...

I also prime with either FFg or FFFFg, depending on the weather, FFFFg grabs moisture from the air easier than FFg...

 

For the fellow who asked about using 2F in a .32 cal, mine likes 20gr of 2F with a PRB. I patch a 90gr .314" pistol bullet and drive them with 40gr of 2F and it's quite impressive @ 100 yds (wad is required between bullet & powder).

My .50 rifled, .58 smooth & .62 rifled all like 1F a little better than 2F with heavy charges. For normal charges (IE: target work) any of them will take 2F or 3F but 2F seems to shoot the cleanest for me.

 

[Rat]

Something else to consider is the "dribble out the touch hole" factor.

In my Brown Bess, fg will smoke the patches where fffg wont', but fffg really pours out the touch hole when loading. So, ffg worked out the best, does not dribble out the touch hole and ignites fast, and easy on patches.

In my .61" I just started with ffg Swiss from the get-go. No dribble, probably same energy grain for grain as fffg Goex, and no heavy fouling as with fg.

For .32 to .76 you may not be able to have a one powder fits all, unless the .32 will shoot ffg ok. And maybe it would, I have a .375" pistol that works fine with ffg Swiss.

Rat

 

[rschissler]

So it sounds like 2F Goex would be best for a Bess. How many grains for a charge? And I assume 4F Goex for the prime?

The one argument I heard that I liked about using 3F for both, was the reduced fouling, but I guess that's not the most important consideration.