Had the Itch...

[Captainkirk]

...to load up some BPCR last night. And I had the makin's to roll me another 50 rounds of .45 Colt, so I did just that.

After priming 50 new Starline .45 Colt cases...



...I stuffed 'em full of 35gr of Grafs 3F powder...



...which quickly turned into this, after topping with a 250gr Hunter's Supply lead bullet...



...and then tucked them in bed.



Good night, kiddies!

[Hawg]

Now you have to go shoot them and start all over again.

[Captainkirk]

Now you have to go shoot them and start all over again.

That's the whole idea...

[Zulch]

Them's purty Capt'  and you got a sense of accomplisment too. That's a good feeling.

[mazo kid]

One more thing about loading with black powder: there is a definite difference in recoil AND sound between smokeless and black powder, with the black powder giving a much more satisfying boom. The smokeless has a sharp "crack" in sound.

[AlaskanGuy]

Yo Cap!!!!

do you use a measure? or a scoop? home made scoop or a lee special?

[Captainkirk]

Yo Cap!!!!

do you use a measure? or a scoop? home made scoop or a lee special?

I'm using the Lee 2.2cc scoop. I bought the entire set, which comes with a dandy 'slide rule' type gauge that tells you how many cc's of which type of powder. Using the gauge tells me that the 2.2cc scoop full of 3F black powder = 35 grains. So easy a caveman can do it...

[mazo kid]

I have the Lee scoop set too, but I also use some cut off cartridges that hold a special amount of powder. But, you have to know the amount of powder and which cases to use.

[Captainkirk]

I have the Lee scoop set too, but I also use some cut off cartridges that hold a special amount of powder. But, you have to know the amount of powder and which cases to use.

The nice thing about reloading BPC is that you want to fill 'em full, so you get a compressed charge. One you figure that out there's no more figuring out how many grains...just stuff 'em full and seat the bullet. Tightly. That's it.

[Hawg]

I have the Lee scoop set too, but I also use some cut off cartridges that hold a special amount of powder. But, you have to know the amount of powder and which cases to use.

The nice thing about reloading BPC is that you want to fill 'em full, so you get a compressed charge. One you figure that out there's no more figuring out how many grains...just stuff 'em full and seat the bullet. Tightly. That's it.

He speaks the truth.

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hey Captain,

Those look "Store Bought", good job!

AntiqueSledMan.

[Captainkirk]

Hey Captain,
Those look "Store Bought", good job!
AntiqueSledMan.

He speaks the truth.

Thanks, guys!

In addition to Emery's statement about the "boom" versus "crack" sound, there is another bennie to BPC, which is the smell of loading BP is different than smokeless. Smells like sulfur...kinda...not necessarily a bad thing. Many times after reloading BPC I'll be in another room, hours later, and get a whiff of gen-ew-wine black powder. Sorta like Hoppes #9, the scent follows ya around like a hungry puppy. 

[mazo kid]

Capt'n, that is one more reason it is so enjoyable. Also, if shooting at a range and you touch off a black powder round,  it attracts attention.

[Hawg]

Shooting on an overcast day in a light drizzly rain when the powder smoke just kinda hangs in the air. The smell of damp earth, wet grass and powder smoke all blended together. Nothing better.

[Captainkirk]

Shooting on an overcast day in a light drizzly rain when the powder smoke just kinda hangs in the air. The smell of damp earth, wet grass and powder smoke all blended together. Nothing better.

Amen to that, Hawg!

Yet another reason to load BPCR; When I have a tray full of .44 mag in front of me, charged with 9.5gr of Unique powder out of the hopper (visually about half-full) ...I generally will weight check the first charge, then maybe halfway through the tray, then again at the end. If all is well, I'll use my Streamlight and examine each case to visually insure none are empty, none are double-charged, and all charges look roughly the same.
And therein lies the issue...I know darn well I can't "visually" see the difference between 9.5gr and 10.5gr of Unique, yet the error could be disastrous, especially when loading full house loads with a hot powder. I'm counting on the good behavior of my RCBS powder measure.
In the case of BPCR, not only can you readily see a difference because the case is nearly full, but also a 1 grain difference means practically nothing in terms of effect on the gun or shooter.