Shooting over snow ?

[deerstalkert]

Ok after setting up the most scientific format possible,(got the TC .45 flint lock and needed sundries to shoot) and my shooting glasses, yellow tinted so i couldn't see the yellow spots in the snow from previous sessions, i fired the Tc 30 shots. all my boney old shoulder could stand ramming. plus i ran out of powder in my flask.
i fired 5 loadings of 45g fffg. patched with .007 lubed patch. loose in the bore with that patch. followed the line of shot patches. NO unburned powder in the yellow snow.
5 loadings of 50g fffg with the same patch. no unburned powder
5 loadings of 60g fffg with the same patch. no unburned powder.
5 loadings of 65g fffg same same. no unburned powder.
5 loadings of 70g fffg and doubled up the patches. bugger all getting them seated. no unburned powder.
switched back to single patch for the last 5. no unburned powder.
this powder is my homemade stuff. if any powder was not going to burn up it should be the homemade stuff so many claim is inferior.
had a long line of scorched patches but no unburned powder anywhere.
forgot to put color in the powder so i guess the scientific conclusion is void. guess i will have to do it all over tomorrow!

 

[Omahkapi'si]

I like shooting over the snow cuz I can collect my patches and use them again.

 

[deerstalkert]

i have to dig them out after they melt a few inches into the crust!
i have work to do with the .45
it tends to shred the thin patches. does better with double. somewhere between is the thickness needed.
i have come to the conclusion i need to thin my herd. then concentrate on one or two.

 

[necchi]

Is this true ?,

No.

 

[user 34300]

I went with my dad many years ago to sight in his inline. He was using pyrodex pellets and believed those 150 grain (3-50 grain pellet) hyped up advertisements. Against my advisement he shot those and with every shot that last pellet shot down range like a smoldering smoke bomb. It would land about forty yards from the muzzle and continue to smoke. By last pellet I assume it was the one last loaded and directly behind the bullet. It didn’t have time to ignite fully before the other two blew it down range. Different situation than what the post is about but I to share that pyrodex pellet witchery.

That sounds like a sure fire way to start a wildfire. I'd bet Hogdon would have liability.

 

[deerstalkert]

i'd bet Hogdon has enough lawyers that could baffle the jury's with BS to where their liability would be minimal. i can think of half a dozen defenses of the top of my head and i haven't practiced in 30 years.

 

[waksupi]

I think it's just an interesting thing to observe. Once you observe, work up a load for your rifle and see if your best accuracy matches your observation.

 

[DuncNZ]

I have just finished re reading "The Muzzle Loading Caplock Rifle " by Ned Roberts , he says the best gunmakers used to test for un burnt powder by shooting over white paper or snow . This was to find the maximum load for the rifle .

 

[Frontier's]

Shoot what's most accurate, and dont worry about what's not being burnt.

 

[necchi]

"The Muzzle Loading Caplock Rifle " by Ned Roberts , he says the best gunmakers used to test for,,

Yeah well,, there's a lot of "he say's" out there.
The inherent flaw of the snow/white paper test is that most of us common folks can't tell the difference between an UN-burnt single granule of powder vs a burnt piece of carbon eject.
Who, in their right mind,, is going to crawl over a 40 foot sheet of paper on their hands-n-knees with a magnifying glass attempting to find un-burnt powder?

If accuracy is the goal,,the max charge for any gun is too easy to find with basic paper target results. In today's world we call it "the point of diminishing returns".
Some people forgo the accuracy and want/or look for terminal ballistic results instead.
In that case, unburnt powder is mute

 

[deerstalkert]

i have shot hundreds of loads over snow and couldn't tell the burned from the unburned from the fly crap.

 

[oldwood]

Very important is how much blood is on the snow in hunting season.

 

[hanshi]

Any powder that doesn't burn in the bore burns in the fireball in front of the muzzle. Just look at a night time firing of a muzzleloader if you ever want to see a big a$$ fireball. Nothing much can escape that blast. So unburned powder on the snow?

 

[yonderin]

Pretty sure that any powder not burned up in the barrel will do so before it falls to the ground. If it doesn't, personally I'd be looking for better powder.

 

[DuncNZ]

The gunsmiths who did this made what were the most accurate muzzle loaders in their time . They used every possible thing to help make these rifles super accurate . Read the book .

 

[deerstalkert]

The gunsmiths who did this made what were the most accurate muzzle loaders in their time . They used every possible thing to help make these rifles super accurate . Read the book .

don't get me wrong DuncNZ, but there are more than a few things in Ned's book that may not apply to today. powder manufacture is one of the things that if you compare to powder in Neds time is like comparing apples and oranges.
Mostly i agree with Ned, and i am on my second copy so i have read it a few times.
i do a ton of shooting my BP in the winter. one year we had 156 inches of snow on the ground so i have burned a few pounds over snow.
if there is anything on the snow i would just bet it is fouling blown out. powder in open air just burns completely.
maybe this winter i will test it on camera.
so far i have never seen it.