I do reenactment shooting and want to have the look/feel of a full powder charge without actually creating so much noise and stress in my gun. Old gunpowder was not as powerful as it is today, and 1600s powder charges were made to hold more than 200 grains. On top of that, my gun has a space between the breech face and the touch hole, so if I load less than 40 grains at the shooting range then the ball obstructs the touch hole and the gun can misfire. Given that, is there some type of low energy combustible powder that I can mix with blackpowder to make it weaker? (Hopefully without creating any horrible kind of residue/fouling)
Cutting powder to make it weaker
- Thread starter Janissary
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
Interesting, would the powder burn slower if mixed with a filler ? Such as cream of wheat or something similar. It would take up more space.
How about 20 grains of powder and dump 20 grains of corn meal or cream of wheat on top? Revolver shooter do this to keep the chamber full.
Unfortunately, this won't be helpful in my application, since I want to dump a single charge and not worry about where the ignition starts.
Mess with Powder at your own risk! After thinking about it I came back and removed the vid I posted.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2020
- Messages
- 7,547
- Reaction score
- 21,190
- Location
- On the Border in Idaho looking at BC
take your powder, dampen it slightly. add 25% by weight graphite and tumble for 2 hours.
or use old pyrodex.
I'm thinking why not use 50g charge and load ??g of flour on top of it. Your idea of a mixture might have the problem of smaller filler grains settling to the bottom and not being a consistent mix.
We're not really allowed to go into detail here, but another option would be to make your own. Surprisingly easy and cheap to make low grade 1f.
Unless you know quite a bit about powders and reloading.
NEVER EVER MIX POWDER,,,ANY POWDER - WITH ANYTHING!
SMH
NEVER EVER MIX POWDER,,,ANY POWDER - WITH ANYTHING!
SMH
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2020
- Messages
- 7,547
- Reaction score
- 21,190
- Location
- On the Border in Idaho looking at BC
hmmmmm!
What is your source for this bit of information?
How about 1F
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2019
- Messages
- 6,287
- Reaction score
- 9,624
Why not find a qualified gunsmith , and have him install the proper thickness spacer on the nose of the breech plug to make up the spaceing , so the touch hole is at the proper place in regard to the front of the breech plugs?? Much safer than pissing around trying to reformulate black powder. .... 
Here in the first paragraph. https://goingbang.com/product/full-bandolier-with-oil-bottle/ Also, balls analyzed from an Ottoman battlefield in southeastern Europe showed deformation consistent with modest or slightly slow velocities by modern muzzleloading standards... there was a study, but I can't find it anymore.
I guess theoretically that would help, but considering that the difference in performance between 2F and 3F is pretty marginal, I don't know if going to 1F will matter much?
If cutting blackpowder with an inert is unsafe then I'll just shelve the whole idea. It's not worth spending $300 on a minor improvement to a $600 gun.Why not find a qualified gunsmith , and have him install the proper thickness spacer on the nose of the breech plug to make up the spaceing , so the touch hole is at the proper place in regard to the front of the breech plugs?? Much safer than pissing around trying to reformulate black powder. ....
Last edited:
Do you charge from a measure, or with paper cartridges?
If paper cartridges: if one can make a "chamber" for the ball and separate it from the powder "chamber" with a tie of twine, then it seems logical one could make a third chamber of inert filler the same way. Better still, get some fiber wads and use those instead of grits in the filler chamber of the paper cartridge - unlikely to mix with the powder!
It would be similar to loading a BP shotshell.
Loading procedure would be tear the paper, dump the powder, then ram the filler (still inside the remaining paper) & ball. When fired, the filler would be pushed out with the ball.
Edit: wait. I reread and realize the issue is the distance btw the bottom of the chamber and the touch hole. So if you have anything noncombustible separate from the powder at the breech, then it would remain there and cause problems.
Hm. I'm not quite at the "never mind!" stage, but close.
If paper cartridges: if one can make a "chamber" for the ball and separate it from the powder "chamber" with a tie of twine, then it seems logical one could make a third chamber of inert filler the same way. Better still, get some fiber wads and use those instead of grits in the filler chamber of the paper cartridge - unlikely to mix with the powder!
It would be similar to loading a BP shotshell.
Loading procedure would be tear the paper, dump the powder, then ram the filler (still inside the remaining paper) & ball. When fired, the filler would be pushed out with the ball.
Edit: wait. I reread and realize the issue is the distance btw the bottom of the chamber and the touch hole. So if you have anything noncombustible separate from the powder at the breech, then it would remain there and cause problems.
Hm. I'm not quite at the "never mind!" stage, but close.
In reenactment I use bottles on a bandolier, for now. In the future, I'd like to try paper cartridges. Yeah, I see what you mean - it would let me "load" more than 40 grains, but I would still need at least 40 grains of BP.
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2020
- Messages
- 7,547
- Reaction score
- 21,190
- Location
- On the Border in Idaho looking at BC
I missed it earlier but if your barrel has a touch hole rather than a vent liner, a vent liner could be installed tighter to the breech face by a good mechanic.
Put false bottoms in the bottles. They will *look* like "full" charges but only contain the amount you wish to use.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 3,285
- Reaction score
- 7,341
There is your answer! No muss no fuss and the gun will also have a ugly issue corrected.Why not find a qualified gunsmith , and have him install the proper thickness spacer on the nose of the breech plug to make up the spaceing , so the touch hole is at the proper place in regard to the front of the breech plugs?? Much safer than pissing around trying to reformulate black powder. ....
Larry
Banjoman
Hillbilly
What caliber gun are you shooting? Is it an old antique or a modern reproduction?
