Blackpowder Storage
It occurred to me that the 1960 Curtis & Harvy Fg powder I've been using might have suffered storage problems. My 1960's copy of the NRA Reloading Handbook states that B/P does not deteriorate...
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BP made as it should be is not hygroscopic - but there are some cobrand available that are. and the MV's? Pretty much OK - don't forget that modern cases have a bigger internal volume, which will...
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When I qualified as an Ammunition Technician in 1965 we still then carried out moisture tests on bulk stocks of gunpowder held for the manufacture of Artillery blanks like the 13pr used by the Kings...
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tried my martini with 80 gns of bp and foam as a filler with a .480gn rcbs bullet. i reckon the speed would be around the 1200 fps mark but not chronoed it to be precise. i reckon your loads shot...
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Gert, I overlooked the air space effect; your quite correct and my chrono readings verified this. Kapok filler over 85 gr Fg increased the MV by about 50 fps (to 1200 fps), still quite low compared...
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Geoff, If your powder was stored in the original containers, no problem can arise from absorbing moisture. I have C&H that came in those ugly plastic containers, and it is still good. I also have...
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Interesting topic. For years i was misled in thinking black powder was hydroscopic. I then learned that it is only the burned residue that attracts moisture. A fellow club member a while back...
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Jock, I read somewhere, (Maybe Greener?) that the doors used to be left open in the powder magazine to test new batches of loose powder. When re-weighed,(was it after a week??) if they had absorbed...
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While not as old as Britrifles powder, I recently purchased a partial (17lbs) keg of Gearhart-Owen 2Fg from a guy at the club. The keg is stamped with a production date of Febraury 1974, & the...
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PommyB:The powder is in it's original container, a wood box and powder tied in a cloth bag. Not air tight at all, and would absorb moisture. I don't have the NRA loading manual with me, but as I...
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No - some BP's would absorb moisture and turn bad (Goex had that reputation). I do remember someone doing a test with Swiss, letting it sit on a flat surface in humid environment, witohut it gaining...
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Isn't adding water to the mix then drying it a part of the manufacturing process of BP anyway?
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Poms, Yes, a powder wheel runs wet. Afterwards pressed and dried, then broken up and graded. Re old powder,An old pal once had some very old black powder cartridges,(12 bore) so old the powder he said...
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A web search turned up this from Randy Wakeman on "The Problems of Black Powder": A problem associated with black powder is its hygroscopicity. Black powder absorbs about 1.5 weight percent moisture...
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BP made with sodium nitrate is for blasting, not for sporting purposes. (At least in the US, that's the case.) I had some rolled musket cartridges that got "thrown in" with a repro Brown Bess I...
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