Question for home loaders?

[Tartar Horde]

As a primer please forgive me if this sounds mental. When you reload ammunition you normally use modern propellants: can you use Gunpowder instead?

[Midnitemo]

yes you can , a lot of metallic cartridges came into being before modern propellants were invented .45 long colt(colt) 45/70 government , 44/40 and many more all still around and being loaded with nitro but were originally black powder.

[CharlesHarris]

While old fashioned black powder, which could be home made, works well in revolvers, shotguns and manually operated hunting rifles, able to use cast lead bullets, t does not work well in modern semi-automatic pistols or military type rifles, AK, SKS, M1911, Glock, etc.

You can do very well with modern smokeless shotgun powders in loading for a variety of modern handguns and rifles, using home cast bullets. If you want to load your own and cast your own bullets which will operate semi-automatically in an AK, FAL or Garand, or even an M4, this can be done using gaschecked bullets and by water dropping the hot as-cast bullets from wheelweight metal, to harden them.

You could do the whole job with just two types of powder, one being a fine-grained, easily measured pistol or shotgun powder of a type optimized for 12-ga. Target or field loads, with 32 grams of shot at 325-350 m/s. The other would be an extruded tubular military rifle powder optimized for full-charge hunting loads in a cartridge such as the .303, 7.62 NATO or similar.

Extruded tubular rifle powders are preferred over Ball types commonly used
In the 5.56mm, because they are more versatile for.use in different calibers, andcharges may safely be reduced 1/3 below a full service charge, so that they are suitable for reduced powder cast bullet loads. For instance, I use the same rifle powder in the .30-30, .303, 7.62 NATO and .30-06, for both full charge hunting ammunition, or cast bullet practice ammunition. The minimum cast bullet, gascheck load which reliably cycles my Garand, has about the same power as a full charge load in the .30-30 and uses 40 grains of military rifle powder, vs. 52 grains in a full charge load with jacketed bullet.

A subsonic small game load in the .30-06 uses the same 155-grain cast bullet, without quench hardening, and no gascheck, and instead uses about the same amount of shotgun powder contained in a .45 ACP pistol cartridge. These small game loads do not cycle the M1, but can be fed manually, and have energy similar to a .38 Special revolver cartridge, being mild, quiet and accurate within 100 yards.

[CharlesHarris]

This web site has an archive of my articles on shooting and handloading. While much of the information is of a more advanced level, you could glean useful basics, and I am always available to answer questions and am happy to do so.

http://www.hensleygibbs.com/edharris/backcreekdiary.htm

[Mortblanc]

I shoot a LOT of black powder in both cartridge and Muzzle loading guns.

There are a couple of things you have to keep in mind if using black powder.

1. BP can not have an air space in the load. Every cartridge case must be full to capacity. Air space might cause a blow up.

2. BP works best when slightly compressed. Fill the case to the top, sit the bullet on the powder and compress the load as you seat the bullet.

As for use in gas operated firearms, it can be done but fouling will occur rapidly, as Charles stated. Which does not mean the firearm will not work, it means that one would have to operate the firearm manually, just like a bolt action weapon.

If you are using a pump, single or double shotgun you will never know the difference. Bolt action rifle will suffer a decrease in power level, but still be usable and deadly.

Your famed .303 started life as a BP cartridge! Also your .380 revolver cartridges in the Enfield and Webly pistols, so one might say GB started off WW2 using BP era cartridges.

The great big cases like the .303/30-06/7.62x54 will maintain good power levels with BP. Right at 2,000fps with a heavy 175 grain slug. Plenty for defense or non-dangerous big game.

Some cases, such as the .38 special, simply duplicate the original black powder loading as factory standard load! Almost any 38 special revolver will shoot to the sights with either standard factory load or a case full of BP and a 158 grain lead bullet squished on top.

Reloaded BP rounds are also excellent fodder for improvised firearms, since their power curve is slower and the weaker steels will endure longer. No dramatic fear of blowing oneself up with a BP zip-gun.

BP also has a lower flash point than modern smokeless powders and is better to use if one is using rebuilt or improvised primers. Any weak pop will ignite the charge.

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BP also works well as a primer for larger charges of less volatile substances of nitrate ad other bases if one finds it necessary to blow a stump out of the ground or other such prepper type activity.

It is good stuff to keep on hand.