weighing powder and ball

[mudd turtle]

if you are reloading matalic cartridges you use a scale to weigh bullets and powder. Is there anything to accurately measure powder and ball or shot for black powder. Mudd Tutle.

 

[Deadeye]

If you want to weight it, use the same scale that you would use for smokeless.

 

[mudd turtle]

Thanks for the reply. I thought it would be possable to weigh the powder and ball with my mordern scales. The next question I have is how did the folks of old accurately measure ball weight and powder? mudd turtle.

 

[mmahlock]

With very few exceptions I don't think they did. :surrender: Those that seam to have cared about accuracy used balls made from a specific mold that shot good and powder measured out with a measure that produced good groups and called it close enough. The size of the ball and weight of the powder was not important only the end result. If they measured at all. Many just used what fit and measured by hand full or the "glug" method directly from the horn. :surrender:

 

[tg]

Probably not a lot of over thinking went into the game in the past, some general rules of thumb were applied, later specialized target guns may have been a different story.

 

[paulvallandigham]

MT: Folks back then didn't have our fancy electronic scales. But they could use a balance scale, where you put one ball in one pan, in the place of a weight, to be your standard, and the other pan was where you put the balls you wanted to weigh. How close them came to that balance point determined if they were kept or melted back down. I don't believe scales were used to meaure much in the way of black powder. First, they did not have the fine, machine made, wire mesh screens to sort the powder. Second, most BP was much coarser, at least until the early 19th century. And finally, Until industry could do a better job of controlling the relative amount of the three incredients used to make BP, weighing the powder did not give you much of a standard. So, Volume measures were used. Pressure were low enough not to be a danger of blowing up the over-engineered muskets and early rifles. In muskets and military guns, the same powder that went down the barrel was what was used to prime the pan. That is what they had, and that is what they made do.

 

[bart_anastasi]

Wih BP the presure is low enough that measuring a charge with a scale is not usefull at all. Powder measures are made to reproduce a given volume of powder. Modern subs are made to give a similar level measure of performance (not exact) for a given volume already established for BP.

If you start to measure your charge with a scale and then go to some sub you need to find a conversion factor to apply for every sub you might run across. That is 100 grains of BP for a given volume might weigh only 64 grains for one sub and 108 for another.

What you are really looking for with a adjustable powder measure is the volume of powder that give you your most accurate load for a particular bullet/lube and that could be 91.2gr on your measure.

Also small differences in BP make very little difference in bullet velocity compared to smokless. One grain of BP is roughly equal to 10 feet per second smokless one grain equals 100fps.

Weighing a bullet is a different matter small differences in bullet weight may not make a big difference but large ones are telling you something.

If the bullet has no blemish and full size and is ten grains light a air pocket is in the bullet for example.

I have spoken to people before who have a gun which just seems to throw a round every once in awhile. They think it is them. Weigh those bullets and you sill start to find some that are light and the number of those that are off will tell you something.

OR mis-shapped and proper weight.

 

[jarrowood]

I weigh all my roundballs that i shoot in compatition. and measure my powder in volume. If you are off a few grains either way will not hurt accuracy at all. I use a digital scales to way my balls it goes alot faster than playing with a beam scale.