Old Ironsights
40 Cal.
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2006
- Messages
- 454
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To begin, I am not an "expert". (“Ex” is an unknown quantity, and "spert" is a drip under pressure.)
Since I am not an unknown drip under pressure :grin: , I claim no knowledge or preconceived notions about modern commercial Black Powder (except in the case of Elephant, which I will not discuss).
That said, I have undertaken an experiment to evaluate five common varieties of powder for several criteria.
NOTE: "accuracy" is not among the criteria I am evaluating.
I recently ordered mixed powder from Powder Inc. I received one pound each of Goex, Goex Express, Swiss and KIK in 3F. (I also will be receiving one lb of Graf 3F, which will be added to the test as soon as I get it.)
My first question was: “How consistent is the granulation in a pound of powder?”
To analyze this, I sifted each pound of 3F with a 3F Master Screen from CalGraf (http://www.cal-graf.com/screen.html) (yes, I know they are BP cartridge guys).
Before screening, I tumbled each can lightly and poured off 1 oz of powder for later velocity testing. I then double-sifted each pound and weighed the results on a standard Palouze Spring-type postal scale. All 4 brands of powder had more than 16oz net wt of powder in the can.
SWISS powder yielded 11.3 oz of 3F and 4.0 oz of 4F & Fines. (11.3+4.0+1 = 16.3oz)
Goex Express yielded 9.3 oz of 3F, 7.3 oz of 4F/ Fines. (9.3+7.3+1 = 17.5oz !!!)
KIK yielded 7.3 oz 3F, 9.0 oz 4F/Fines (7.3+9.0+1 = 17.3oz !!!)
Goex (Red can) yielded 4.9 oz 3F and 10.7 oz 4F/Fines !!! (4.9+10.7+1 = 16.6oz)
All I can say is”¦ wow. No wonder consistency can be a bugger when ½ or more of your powder may or may not be 4F. Obviously Swiss came out “best” here. (Until I test the Graf)
(BTW: Now I have nearly 2 lbs of 4F/Fines. Yay”¦ Set for life I suppose.)
Other Observations:
Swiss & Express have a “shiny” appearance to the granules. Goex and KIK are not shiny, and KIK actually produced a micro-fine dust that had to be wiped off the catch-bin in the sifter. No other powder did this.
Link to slideshow of Pics (FLASH-based, click on individual pic to expand):
Next up, Sifting Graf and shooting 3F for Velocity and Fouling. Hopefully this weekend. :thumbsup:
Since I am not an unknown drip under pressure :grin: , I claim no knowledge or preconceived notions about modern commercial Black Powder (except in the case of Elephant, which I will not discuss).
That said, I have undertaken an experiment to evaluate five common varieties of powder for several criteria.
NOTE: "accuracy" is not among the criteria I am evaluating.
I recently ordered mixed powder from Powder Inc. I received one pound each of Goex, Goex Express, Swiss and KIK in 3F. (I also will be receiving one lb of Graf 3F, which will be added to the test as soon as I get it.)
My first question was: “How consistent is the granulation in a pound of powder?”
To analyze this, I sifted each pound of 3F with a 3F Master Screen from CalGraf (http://www.cal-graf.com/screen.html) (yes, I know they are BP cartridge guys).
Before screening, I tumbled each can lightly and poured off 1 oz of powder for later velocity testing. I then double-sifted each pound and weighed the results on a standard Palouze Spring-type postal scale. All 4 brands of powder had more than 16oz net wt of powder in the can.
SWISS powder yielded 11.3 oz of 3F and 4.0 oz of 4F & Fines. (11.3+4.0+1 = 16.3oz)
Goex Express yielded 9.3 oz of 3F, 7.3 oz of 4F/ Fines. (9.3+7.3+1 = 17.5oz !!!)
KIK yielded 7.3 oz 3F, 9.0 oz 4F/Fines (7.3+9.0+1 = 17.3oz !!!)
Goex (Red can) yielded 4.9 oz 3F and 10.7 oz 4F/Fines !!! (4.9+10.7+1 = 16.6oz)
All I can say is”¦ wow. No wonder consistency can be a bugger when ½ or more of your powder may or may not be 4F. Obviously Swiss came out “best” here. (Until I test the Graf)
(BTW: Now I have nearly 2 lbs of 4F/Fines. Yay”¦ Set for life I suppose.)
Other Observations:
Swiss & Express have a “shiny” appearance to the granules. Goex and KIK are not shiny, and KIK actually produced a micro-fine dust that had to be wiped off the catch-bin in the sifter. No other powder did this.
Link to slideshow of Pics (FLASH-based, click on individual pic to expand):
Next up, Sifting Graf and shooting 3F for Velocity and Fouling. Hopefully this weekend. :thumbsup: