Powder Measure

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I'm planning to make a powder measure from an empty 45/70 cartrige shell. Is there an effective way to make or mark it so I can dispense 2 different charges like 60 grains and 75 grains.

One thought I had was to cut the shell at the 75 grain level and put a small hole on the cartgrige shell side at the 60 grain level. The small hole would indicate the level at 60 grains and when using 75 grains I'd cover the hole with a finger when filling the charger and loading the barrel.

Any other ideas would be appreciated.

 

[2172]

I made one from a piece of antler, that holds 50 gr's...I engraved the "50 gr" on the side so that the top of the "5" was at the 40 gr level...I just eyeball it. I read somewhere that a lot of the old time measures were fairly short, and that it was then the idea to use one measure for a low power shot, say at small game, and a double measure for bigger stuff...Hank

 

I have made antler measures where I scrimshawed a, say, 50 gr line inside below, say, a 70 gr rim full measure...maybe you could mark the inside of the casing with a scribe...? Or just make two by cutting down another .45-70 case.

 

You could make a 15gr. charger and give it 4 dumps for 60gr. charge and 5 for the 75 gr. charge :hmm:
or just make a different charger for the two different loads. :thumbsup:

 

[redwing]

Most of the original ones I have seen were the half chargers. For a .50 Cal. Rifle the charger may be cut to throw only .50Grs. 2 dips would be 100 Grs. for bigger game. I don't think they worried about getting their loads as close as we do today. :shake:

 

[Bob Riegl]

:v Hey your idea sounds real good, go for it and try it out. :thumbsup:

 

[mckutzy]

why not put a small dent or dimple with a pick punch or a nail, not enough to pierce the case but a marker on the inside when u look down it saying right here is xxgr powder with a pointer. :hmm:

 

[Bill Hall]

Now that's a good idea.

 

[Bill Hall]

Ok McKutzy, now you got the wheels in my head turning. What if you intalled a thin wire across the case at 60 grains, say a .035 mig wire or something like that? Solder or JB weld it in place. It may diffuse the powder as it pours out, but if you pour slowly, I think it will work. It would be easy to look into the case to see when the powder reaches the wire. Bill

 

[mckutzy]

atach an eye to the through wire and u have an attachment piont for a lanyard or a cork for a ready load, just pop, pour and shake. hehe

 

[sidelock]

Just make 2 of em. That al solve the prob. I have bunches I made from spent cart. :thumbsup: Have a good day.

 

[windwalker_au]

i just make mine out of 1/2 inch copper tube as per pic,this one is 70 grn.
bernie :thumbsup:

 

[colmoultrie]

One problem that nobody has pointed out yet is that I'm not sure you're going to get 75gr. of BP into a modern .45-70 case without compressing it or using a drop tube. True, you won't have to leave space for the bullet, but the modern brass has a smaller capacity than the 19th cent. stuff. :hmm:

Btw., I like the tubing measure. Looks nice. :thumbsup: