Shooting a European hunting rifle from 1780...

[TFoley]

converted to percussion in the 1850s, from capandball - almost 40 minutes of BP-lovers' bliss -

 

[Rokon]

What is the filler he is using on top of the powder charge?

 

[TFoley]

40gr of semolina.

 

[Rokon]

How did you come up with 40-grs? Let's say, not 20, not 30 but 40?

 

[TFoley]

Huh? It's the words he used to say it at 4:01.

At 3:55 he says - 'a 15,9mm round ball, then 75gr of one-and-a-half Swiss powder and then 40gr of semolina........'

 

[Rokon]

Ask a serious question--get a "Huh" answer.

 

[Grenadier1758]

How did you come up with 40-grs? Let's say, not 20, not 30 but 40?

The following is pure speculation on my part.

To start, semolina is coarsely ground Durham wheat. Durham wheat is a hard grain and coarsely ground would be similar to Cream of Wheat. I am speculating that the quantity chosen was to have a layer of the coarsely ground filler material about equal to an over powder wad yet not have the air entrapment issues inherent in some cardboard or felt wads.. The semolina will compact down to provide a reasonable buffer between powder an ball. Then when the smoke cleared and the results observed on target were satisfactory there wasn't any real need to use a different quantity (and weight) to conduct other testing.

 

[Rokon]

Thanks, Grenadier1758. Sounds very logical and it is a neat trick for protecting a patch with the deep rifling forms found in Germanic Jaegers that are susceptible to blow-by..