Perfecting powder charge.

[Wigamajig]

An old timer was telling me the way he determined his max load was to shoot over a white bed sheet. Then he would check for unburned powder on the sheet between shots. When he found the load that would burn the most powder with out any unburned powder, that was the max load of his gun.

Just wondering if anybody has done this before. What other methods have people used to find the best load for their gun? I know it takes alot of shooting for one, but just wondering what others have done.

 

[Headhunter]

I have heard similar, sept it was shootin over snow.

Nowdays, I speculate most guys look at their patches and determine their max load by patch tearing and such.

Headhunter

 

[45flint]

max load and best load are not the same ! I don't think there is any other way to find the "best load" than trial and error, at least you get alot of shooting that way

 

[Headhunter]

I agree with you. But the topic was Max Load not best load. There is a LOT of trial and error and testing that goes into best load. Lots of Tricks too.

I would say in my Bill Large 50 that 50 grains is my best load for accuracy out to 50 yards.

HH

 

[paulvallandigham]

You can use a formula to calculate the maximum amount of powder your barrel can burn. It is 11.5 ( grains) per square inch of barrel bore. To run the calulation, take the bore diameter, say .50, for a 50 cal. rifle, then divide that number by 2 to get the radius.

.50 divided by 2= .25

Square the radius, .25 x .25 = .0625

Now multiply that times Pi, or 3.1416

,0625 x 3.1416 = .19635.

Muliply this times 11.5 grains per cubic inch:

.19635 x 11.5 = 2.258

If your barrel is 36 inches long, multiple the length of the barrel - 36 inches - times the number above.

36 x 2.258 = 81.3 grains approx. ( 81.288).

Now, that is the maximum amount of black powder you can burn with a Patched Round Ball. But rarely is this the best or most accurate load you can use in your gun.

All this really means is that once you pass this point in the amount of the powder you put in the gun, you will begin seeing the velocity flatten out( using a chronograph ), and if you do shoot your gun over a white sheet, snow, newspaper, etc. you will find more and more unburned powder leaving the muzzle. Unburned powder contributes nothing to velocity, but it does add to the recoil of the gun.

So, just as a basic measure for your gun, run the formula and see what your maximum powder charge of BLACK POWDER is for a PRB in your barrel. You can pack in more, and maybe even burn more if you really compact the powder, using 3Fg instead of 2Fg powder, etc. If you use conicals the formula above will not give you a proper reading. It is for round ball, Only. Your most accurate load will usually be several grains of powder LESS than the maximum load your barrel will burn efficiently.

And, of course, this formula has nothing to do with any of the substitute powders now on the market. Many have much higher ignition Temperatures( that is how they get their " non-explosive " rating so that they can be shipped and stored like smokeless powder), and therefore burn at much hotter temperatures. These substitute powders are truly apples to oranges when compared to Black Powder.

 

[bpbrs]

yep been their done that..and after shooting over snow ...I then realised how stupid an idea it was.
How am I suppose to tell the difference between burnt and un burnt in the snow?
Heck even over a clean white sheet... :rotf:

Work a load up for accuracy is the best thing going.