Is Elk brand measuring tubes accurate? I use PRB and Triple 7 loose powder in a 45 cal pedersoli rifle.
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Powder charge measuring tube
- Thread starter Desert Dawg
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Are they glass or plastic? I found some very cheap plastic tubes on Amazon.
They are test tubes. My question would be: are test tubes anti-static?
Scheels sells some plastic single shot charge tubes in their muzzle loader section, so I presume they're OK for that use. I haven't opened the package yet, so I can't say how accurate their scale divisions are. I'll check that out with my brass adjustable loading thingie that I've been using all along so far.
Thanks. I'll check it out.
I had five nondescript adjustable powder measures. I was suprised at how inaccurate the marked delineations were for different amounts of black powder. I weighed and remarked the graduations according to a rifle powder scale. One of the measures was even 6 gr. off. All five are accurate now. I've been using thinwall brass tubing , and making non adjustable dedicated powder measures , I can attach to a lanyard on my shot pouch.
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They are volume measurers not weight? I have an Ohous scale but it is of no use with black powder.
I wonder too. Bought one when i bought the gun and never thought about it untill I’ve read that different manufacters are different. I have a scale but from what I read "they" say load by volumn not mass. Guess I should weigh a load from my measure to see how much 777 weighs.
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I weighed a load and then poured the powder into my volume measure to see how close the pre-marked graduations were (or weren't).
I have a scale but from what I read "they" say load by volumn not mass. Guess I should weigh a load from my measure to see how much 777 weighs.
At that point I could correct the graduated markings for my load range if need be.
Black powder is measured by volume, true, but using the weighed charge to correct volume markings on my measures has helped in my personal case. I know now where to set my measure to throw 70 grains of a specific powder and not 65 or 75, as an example. We don't need to get too much into the weeds about this. Just do what gives you the best results. Sorry for being so wordy with this. Hope it is somewhat understandable.
Good luck and good shooting.
That's my next step. To weigh and see how much 777 I am really shooting.
Real black powder will measure fairly close volume to weight. The substitute powders are less dense than black powder but were designed to perform fairly close to the volume measure of black.
A long time ago, I measured the black powder loads of several brands of black powder using about eight volume measures on a balance scale. 3Fg powder was about 1 to 2 grains heavier than 2Fg using a 100 grain volume setting. I did not weigh any substitute powders as I was being very black powder only snobbish and the substitute powder (that I was quite unhappy with the performance) was several years old.
The upshot was while I had slight differences from measure to measure, the differences would not have been significant with respect to performance. When developing loads use only one volume measure. Once that optimal load has been developed, then that volume charge can be weighed for future reference.
Some substitute powders can be more energetic than black powder, so do not use the black powder grain weight to weigh a charge of substitute powders as that may overcharge the gun.
A search for measures using my name will return several charts. These are interesting if not necessarily represtative of the current batches of black powder.
A long time ago, I measured the black powder loads of several brands of black powder using about eight volume measures on a balance scale. 3Fg powder was about 1 to 2 grains heavier than 2Fg using a 100 grain volume setting. I did not weigh any substitute powders as I was being very black powder only snobbish and the substitute powder (that I was quite unhappy with the performance) was several years old.
The upshot was while I had slight differences from measure to measure, the differences would not have been significant with respect to performance. When developing loads use only one volume measure. Once that optimal load has been developed, then that volume charge can be weighed for future reference.
Some substitute powders can be more energetic than black powder, so do not use the black powder grain weight to weigh a charge of substitute powders as that may overcharge the gun.
A search for measures using my name will return several charts. These are interesting if not necessarily represtative of the current batches of black powder.
Lee dippers will get you as close as you need to be.
