Loaded Up My First Shells

[Big Matt]

Nothing exciting for those of you who have loaded tens of thousands of shells, but I just loaded my first 25 shells of .45 LC BP last night.  Can't wait to try them out this weekend.

Used 2.2 cc dipper of Goex FFG under a 250 grain big lube bullet. 

It seems to be the right amount of compression.  I haven't found a dependable way of measuring it, since anything I might put in the case as a measuring stick would displace the powder to some degree.

One question...I am using factory once fired shells.  I had both Magtech and PMC ammo.  The Magtech shells have a little neck 1/3 from the top and a strong taper.  The PMC shells are straight walls all the way from the base to the top.  Is one better suited for rifle over pistol?  I had read about blowback in the rifles due to the case not sealing completely.

BP 12 Guage shells are next.

[Cuts Crooked]

Howdy Bigmatt,

Iffin yer loadin BP .45s fer rifle guns you need to take a gander at this thread in the Dark Arts room: http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,6290.0.html The .45 was originally a BP round but it sumtimes needs a little tweaking in lever guns, nuthin too difficult but it's good to know sum of the tricks!

And since yer gonna move up to BP scattergun shells, here's the link to a great thread about them: http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,9733.0.html

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

2.2CC of FFg is exaclty what I use under the PRS 250 grain Big Lube bullet. The amount of compression is fine. If you level off the dipper full of powder (which is what you are supposed to do) you will probably get about 1/16" of compression. If you charge a case with powder, then hold a bullet alongside with the crimp groove even with the case mouth you can just eyeball and you will see that the top of the powder charge is slightly above the base of the bullet. Don't worry about displacing a couple of grains of powder with your measuring stick, this ain't rocket science. You should be able to get a pretty good indication. I use the enxtension at the base of my calipers when I want to do that. I measure the distance from base of the bullet to crimp groove. That pokes the extension out an equal amount. Then I rest the base of the caliper on the case mouth and see how far the extension sticks down into the powder. It will sink into the top of the charge a little bit.

45 Colt does not have a taper. It is a straight case. If you see a taper, something is wrong. If your Magtech shells say CBC on the headspace, I think what you are seeing is a cannelure about 1/3 of the way down the case. A cannelure is a groove that runs around the case. Actually, the proper name for the crimp groove on a bullet is also cannelure. Ammo companies used to put cannelures on the case as an indicator as to how deep the bullet should seat with Smokeless powder. A true cannelure was very deep and protruded into the case enough to actually act as a kind of shelf for the bullet to rest against. As far as I can tell, the cannelure that is on CBC headstamped brass is only decoration, it does not protrude into the case at all, and would not provide any sort of bullet stop.

Yes, 45 Colt ammo does tend to have blowby in a rifle. That's one reason I only own lever guns chambered for 44-40. No blowby with the thinner brass of 44-40. As far as which brand of brass will have less blowby in a rifle, I could not say, I only shoot 45 Colt in my pistols, where blowby is not as much of an issue. Soot gets everywhere because of the barrel/cylinder gap anyway. I use mostly Winchester brass, but I have a bag of all sorts of random brands. They all work fine in my pistols.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Good job, Big Matt!  Ya gotta start somewhere/sometime!

[Wills Point Pete]

 As long as you are using a full powder charge you should not have trouble with blowby in your rifle. The action got a little cruddy when I was loading that old US Cavalry load of 28 grains of BP . As soon as I started using a full charge the problem was solved.

[Dick Dastardly]

Welcome BigMat,

Plan on having even more fun shooting than you did before you got the BP bug.  Hang out here often.  You will find lots of answers to your questions.  Some of them will even help. . . .

Enjoy the smoke.

DD-DLoS

[Paladin UK]

Howdy `n welome to ya pard

Let those smokepoles ...
ROAR!!
Paladin (Whats sendin ya a welome from the other side of the pond  ) UK

[Adirondack Jack]

Gauging compression isn't rocket science.  I generally use an unsharpened pencil.  Stick the end of the pencil in the case until it gently rests on a level charge, and nick the pencil with a thumbnail to mark where the case mouth is.  Then hold the pencil alongside one of the bullets to see how much the bullet is gonna squish the powder when it is seated.  Adjust the charge (toss the charge back and throw another of a slightly different amount, adjusted by the "I guess maybe" method) until I got about 1/16" or a hair more compression by that eyeball method, and I'm good to go.  Just lock in the measuring device (either an adjustable BP spout or if ya have a safe one, a mechanical measure), and start charging cases.

[Dick Dastardly]

Ho AJ,

You've got a grasp.  I'm genuinely amazed about how many pards want exact, down to the skillionth of a bunchameter, data for bp loads.  Your words convey the message in their simplicity.

Thanks for easing the mystery of bp loading.

DD-DLoS

[Adirondack Jack]

Ho AJ,

You've got a grasp.  I'm genuinely amazed about how many pards want exact, down to the skillionth of a bunchameter, data for bp loads.  Your words convey the message in their simplicity.

Thanks for easing the mystery of bp loading.

DD-DLoS

I don't fault em for it DD.

Folks who cut their teeth with smokeless are a bit unsettled by the "crude" aspects of BP work.  I admit I was too when I first started with it until I realized illiterate farmers have been loading BP for centuries.  It can't be that hard.  The main thing is consistency.  Whatever charge ya toss, toss the same one the next time if ya want the bullets to follow a similar path.

[Arcey]

It's sad so many are afraid of Black Powder because of myths of corrosion, cleaning techniques and methods of loading.

Using a pencil or dowel to gauge powder level in a case for compression has been well known and publicized for years.  It's unfortunate people see such a mystery to it, preached by the myth sayers, they're afraid to try loading the true powder.  Perhaps the day the level headed will prevail is nearer.

Lots of fun being missed out on here.  For no real reason.