Blackhorn actual weight in grains vs. volume

[sandhillhunter]

New to muzzleloading but I’ve reloaded for Center Fire for decades.

Shot my new CVA Acura with Blackhorn 209 powder.

I shot 80, then 90, 100, and up to 110 grains by volume using the charge tubes.

I have weighed the charges that I measured in the tubes and they are weighing more than the Blackhorn chart says they should.

They recommend the actual weight should be 70% of the weight by volume.

So, 80 gr by volume = 56 grains on a scale

100 gr = 70 On scale

120= 84

When I use my charge tubes I get the following:

80 gr by volume = 64 actual grains
100 gr by volume = 79 actual grains
120 gr by volume = 94 actual grains

Based on their info,
80 grains should = 56
100 = 70
120 = 84

Does any of this matter if I find a load that is accurate and I stick with it?

Should I just measure it by volume and be happy with the good groups?

Why would it be off by so much compared to what Blackhorn says?


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[peddler]

Ive used Blackhorn 209 for years. I use it in a TC G2 .45 and they don’t even have a chart for shooting .45’s. I use 90 grains by volume with 195 grain .357 bullets. I wouldn’t even consider using anything else. Groups great cleans up like a charm.

 

[ENCORE]

The charge tubes are well known to not throw a correct charge. IMO a good volume measure is much better. The see through measure made by TC seems to be accurate. Some of the older brass volume measures can be considerably off.
BH seems to have a huge following of shooters who actually prefer to weigh it using Western's conversion data. Even though many weigh it, some have found that different lots of BH can vary. When I was shooting BH, I preferred to weigh it.
I myself would find the charge that grouped the best and stick with it.

 

[efnm]

Find what's working and then weigh it. Weigh out a bunch of loads and you're good to go for a shooting session or a hunt. I bought these little vial tubes on eBay and am set for life. I have a Uber of powder and a tube with a bullet and primer for each round I want to launch.

I wouldn't trust a volumetric method due to the inconsistency, but would mark my tubes for it in case I somehow found myself in a situation where I could only eyeball.

But ask yourself, would you eyeball a centerfire load?

 

[sandhillhunter]

But ask yourself, would you eyeball a centerfire load?

Only if I was going to let someone I didn’t like shoot it!

Thanks for the advice. This is all consistent with what I was thinking.

I’ll weigh charges and try different loads vs using the tubes. So far I have been impressed with the accuracy potential.


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[sandhillhunter]

I weighed out loads on my scale at 77, 80.5, and 84 grains which should be 110, 115, and 120 gr by volume.

When I poured them in the BH209 tubes they showed around 85, 93, and 100 gr by volume. I noticed if I shake the tubes to loosen up the charges they would appear more true to volume.

So, I’ll definitely weigh them ahead of time and even bring my small scale to the range going forward.

Interestingly, when I shot my muzzy the first time, I just poured the powder in the tubes and eyeballed it. I started at 80, then 90, 100, and finally 110 grains by volume. Now I know I was probably exceeding the 84 grain by weight maximum charge.

Just typing this for reference for others going forward.




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