question on black powder reloading

[crossdraw]

I didn't want to hijack the Reloading equipment thread so I started this post.

Can you tell me more about loading with black powder. I shoot .45 Ruger NV and have RCBS and Hornady single stage presses.

What is different with BP, any special tooling or requirements?

How and why do you anneal the case neck?

Where do you find load data?

Thanks for the help

[Camille Eonich]

You'll get more replies on this in the Darksiders Den.


*waves her magic wand and the thread magically reappears in the Darksiders den*

[Dick Dastardly]

Good wand Camille.  You could save a lot on gas with that rig.

Many of the questions are on the Child Board up above.  http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/board,82.0.html

Cuts set it up and there's a lot of good stuff stored in there.

I load that caliber with Holy Black and use a LEE Pro 1000 Progressive with no alteration.  You could do things on your single stage presses very safely.  Don't smoke in your reloading area.

Welcome to the Darkside.  This is where a LOT of great pards hang out and we always welcome newbies.  You won't get a lot of sass here, just a lot of SASS shooters.

DD-DLoS

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[Ranch 13]

The only "special" equipment you need for black powder reloading is a bp measure such as the Lyman 55 with the drop tube or the Hornady bp measure.
 Main thing to remember is not to allow any air space between the powder charge and the base of the bullet.
 You will need to get ahold of some over powder wads, .030 fiber wads are a good place to start.
 Make sure your bullets are lubed with a good black powder bullet lube.
 
 Loading for the cartridges you mentioned, annealling , really isn't necessarry.

[Cyrille]

The .45 LC brass case, depending on the brand, and the powder granulation 1 F [F] 2 F [FF] or 3 F [FFF] holds approxemately 40 grains of BP. I usually load 38 grs of 2 F by weight although 3 F seems to the preferred granulation particularly in calibers below .45 caliber. the .45 caliber is considered by many to be the 'cut off' for 3 F granulation.
 Which means that either 3F or 2F may be used, shooter's choice. 2 F being the larger of the two in size will generally produce less pressure and probably lower velocity.
 as mentioned, never leave any air space between powder and projectile when useing Black Powder!
 

[Jefro]

Welcome Crossdraw, DD, Ranch and Cryille give good advice, fill up case enough for about a 1/16'' of compression and use a good bullet that will carry plenty of lube. Dick Dastardly sells the molds and lube, Springfield Slim sells the Big Lube bullets and lube. Use the ''search'' feature for specifics, you'll find hours of good reading. The pinned thread at the top ''Dark Arts'' has some great info, like how to seat a bullet with the right amount of compression, Driftwood even included pictures. Lots of good pards here with straight answers. Good luck.
http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,18257.0.html

      Jefro,  Relax-Enjoy

[River City John]

The only "special" equipment you need for black powder reloading is a bp measure such as the Lyman 55 with the drop tube or the Hornady bp measure.
 Main thing to remember is not to allow any air space between the powder charge and the base of the bullet.
 You will need to get ahold of some over powder wads, .030 fiber wads are a good place to start.
 Make sure your bullets are lubed with a good black powder bullet lube.
 
 Loading for the cartridges you mentioned, annealling , really isn't necessarry.

Unless you are loading for competition in long range calibers the drop tube is not needed for typical CAS.
I load .45lc, .38lc and .38sp using the powder measure that came in my Lee Anniversary kit. Just keep a record of the setting you settle on for each bullet/case combination you experiment with.
Easiest method is to make a best guess setting, drop a load in your case and then insert a dowel into the case until it rests against the powder and measure using your thumbnail at the case rim. Keeping your thumbnail in position lift the dowel out and place the flat bottom of your bullet against the thumbnail alongside the dowel length and try for about 1/8th inch difference between the dowel end and the crimping groove of your bullet of choice. Set your die to seat to the crimp groove, of course. You'll hear the subtle crunch when you seat the bullet.

In a revolver you can use just about any of the bullet designs as long as you use a lube designed for BP. (Essentially some combination of Crisco and wax.) You can melt the 'crayon'-type lube out of bullets intended for smokeless powder and relube with a BP mixture if that is all you can find.
If using in a rifle, then you must choose a bullet with the huge lube grooves designed into them, such as the Big Lube, in order to make sure there is enough lube being carried to the end of the bore.

For most cartridge loading 2F should do fine. Use a fairly solid crimp. On pistol calibers the brand of primer makes no difference, really, so buy what you can find. If loading for long range in the rifle calibers there may be some merit to picking one of the 'magnum' primers as there is a taller column of powder being ignited.



 

[Black Powder]

Crossdraw - I'm glad you piped up cuz that's where I was wanting to go.

Don't smoke in your reloading area.

  No harm starting at square one, Dick!

I use Bore Butter in my c&b; any reason not to use this to lube the Big Lube bullets?

Forgot about the wad.  Would've occured to me, I swear.   

BP

[Roosterman]

I don't use any wads in my pistol calibered ammo. SASS shooting  has all the targets so close , accuracy is not an issue. Just fill the cases and blast away.

[Ranch 13]

Actually using the 24 inch drop tube on the Lyman 55 , you can drop 37 grs of Goex 3f into ww 45 colt cases and have room enough to place a .030 fiber wad, and seat the 250 gr+  bullet of your choice, without further diddlin around. 

[crossdraw]

Thanks for all the help, now you have my interest up and I am going to have to research this BP thing further 

Standby for more questions once I get through some of the post's on this subject.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I don't use a drop tube or wads for my CAS rifle and pistol ammo. I do use Big Lube bullets lubed with SPG. I seat the bullet directly on top of the powder, compressing the powder around 1/16"-1/8".

[litl rooster]

Howdy

I don't use a drop tube or wads for my CAS rifle and pistol ammo. I do use Big Lube bullets lubed with SPG. I seat the bullet directly on top of the powder, compressing the powder around 1/16"-1/8".

ditto...  and still 34 to 36 grain of powder

bought the lyman drop powder measure moek than it was worth.