Using 3F or 4F black powder

[cynthialee]

yeah, he has been on this grits thing for about a year now I think

 

[robinsroost]

I like grits. Around here, several young ladies wear T-shirts with the acronym : GRITS = Girls Raised In The South, LOL. KYPD......Robin :stir:

 

[Billnpatti]

I know that data is available for the use of 4f as the main charge in handguns. I use only 3f in my handguns but that is because all of my handguns are .44 caliber and larger. My largest handgun caliber is a sweet .54 single shot flintlock. I just don't feel safe using 4f in anything that large. I won't say that you can't use 4f in them, I will just say that I choose not to. On the other hand, I use 3f in all of my rifles from my .36 up to and including my .54 caliber rifles. They all peform quite well with 3f. In fact, 3f is the only powder that I buy. I do have one can of 4f and one of Null B and I use them as priming powder. I think that I have enough of those two powders to last the rest of my life and to pass some along to my heirs.

4f in pistols? Well, there is enough evidence to say that 4f makes a good pistol powder but will I use it? Nope, I have enough 3f to last a long long time and I find that it works quite well in both my handgund and in all my rifles. I'll reserve my 4f and/or Null B for use in my pans. I'm not advocating that for everyone, it's just what I do. :hatsoff:

 

[rodwha]

Neither would I use 4F in a pistol unless it were maybe a .31 caliber or some such.

IIRC from the research done the military had done so only with the larger conicals as they took up too much powder capacity to make them useful anymore, and so the charges of 4F were somewhat small, which was enough to get the penetration they were after.

As I have no way of knowing when too much might be I'd not venture down that path, and I get more than enough oomph from the 3F powders I do use.

 

yeah, he has been on this grits thing for about a year now I think

It was only funny the first hundred times. :dead:

 

[coloradoclyde]

One reason for not using 3f and 4f in a modern unmentionable is that the powder can migrate though the inline flash hole filling the 209 primer hole. When you pull the trigger you get one heck of a blast right in the face.

Just one more reason to hate those infernal contraptions.

 

[BandonBo]

Walker I use 40 grains of 3F topped with 10 grains 4f. Works amazing. Many many times