Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

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AJMD429
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Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by AJMD429 »

.

I've used up to 120 grains in my muzzleloader.... :D

This muzzleloader used 3,150,000 grains.... :shock: :shock: :shock:

https://youtu.be/aKmi0PN7LxM

I wouldn't even want to be around 450 lbs of black powder... :?
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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by gamekeeper »

I live near Fort Nelson, it is a museum of Artillery with live firing of cannons, I used to exterminate the rodents there before it was turned into a museum.
Good place to go if you need a fix for BP smoke.. :lol:
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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by gamekeeper »

I can't remember what the powder load was but it was a lot more than I could stuff down my muzzle loader... :lol:
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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by piller »

That had to be a gigantic fireball at the muzzle when fired.
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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by piller »

I didn't pay close attention. Did the number of pounds of powder used as primer get mentioned?
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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by JimT »

I use anywhere from 1500 grains to near 4000 grains in my Thunder Mug.
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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by Bill in Oregon »

We need a video, Jim!
I used 150 grains of FFg under a 700-grain Fosbury-style conical in the Pedersoli Kodiak .72 double rifle. The weight in those barrels kept the recoil from getting beyond the "robust" descriptor. Miss that rifle.
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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by marlinman93 »

It really depends upon the caliber, ball or bullet weight, and weight of the gun also. What's comfortable in a 10 lb. rifle will hurt in a 7.5 lb. rifle. So I can't say it's this or that amount without prefacing it on which old gun I'm shooting.
I have been told by friends who shoot a lot of ML rifles that it's impossible to damage the guns from too much, as the ball exits the bore at some point and the excess just makes a big flash of fire. They're always telling me how safe BP is, and how I should use it in my old cartridge rifles. I've got one muzzleloader, a Vincent Half Stock in .38 caliber that's gorgeous, and extremely accurate. It only gets the real BP, and none of that substitute BP stuff. But I rarely ever even take it out to shoot, so my two lbs. of BP have been here for years.
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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by Shasta »

Biggest black powder load I'm comfortable with? In a shoulder-fired gun, my standard load for my custom made .62 caliber Hawken flintlock is 120 gr. FFg under a 342 gr. round ball. It's the top gun in this photo:

Image

As for uncomfortable, that would have been the 300 gr. of Fg that I touched off in my late brother's rifled 2 bore flintlock. Here is a link to a thread I posted about it:

https://www.levergunscommunity.org/view ... hilit=bore

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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by Blaine »

.54 RB with 120gr of Pyrodex P.....Stout, but ok. Book said I was getting 2000fps.
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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by piller »

I have an inline ML that is capable of using 150 grains. I use 95 grains of Pyrodex for best accuracy. 105 or more starts giving patterns instead of groups.
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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by Griff »

gamekeeper wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 7:33 am I live near Fort Nelson, it is a museum of Artillery with live firing of cannons, I used to exterminate the rodents there before it was turned into a museum.
Good place to go if you need a fix for BP smoke.. :lol:
ftnelsn2.jpg
Wait... now that it's a museum, they don't need their rodent exterminated??? :P :P
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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by hondo1892 »

The big guns on navel ships used black and still may. I know a guy that used to work for Hogden powder company and he told me that the U.S. military is the biggest black powder customer they had.
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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by Ray »

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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by Sixgun »

My cement soup can mortar takes 400 gr. of black and sends that baby so far up it goes outta sight and in the groove.
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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by gamekeeper »

Griff wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 10:13 pm
gamekeeper wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 7:33 am I live near Fort Nelson, it is a museum of Artillery with live firing of cannons, I used to exterminate the rodents there before it was turned into a museum.
Good place to go if you need a fix for BP smoke.. :lol:
ftnelsn2.jpg
Wait... now that it's a museum, they don't need their rodent exterminated??? :P :P
When I exterminate something they stay exterminated..... :D
No once they became part of a national museum chain they all use a national pest control company, we in the trade call " Rent a Rat "..... :lol:
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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by Ray »

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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by GunnyMack »

Used to use 3 or 4 ounces of cannon grade BP in my buddies dads cannon, tennis balls fit the bore nicely, as did beer cans frozen ( with water) . The tennis balls were like tracers, the fuzz burned off leaving a trail.
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Re: Biggest black-powder load you're comfortable with...?

Post by Oldncrusty »

The biggest BP cartridge I wanted to try was the .45-120 Sharps. It was a Win 1885 High Wall that I was trying to trade for in the 80's. First 1885 I had ever seen. I couldnt come up with enough boot, and I'm still dreaming about it.
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