Black powder vs blasting powder

[zimmerstutzen]

I have a bronze cannon with a 1.25 bore. The breech is 5 inches across and there is at least 2 inches of metal behind the breech. At the narrowest the barrel wall is equal to the bore.

I used up the last of my Goex 1 f in it. I was planning a road trip down to Winchester to get some powder anyway. For my signal cannon, would I be better off with cannon powder or blasting powder? Which is lower pressure?

 

[Treestalker]

The blasting powder is going to be larger than Fg granulation, and thus should reduce pressure if loaded by volume equal to your present charge. Blasting powder will be either 1FA or 2FA. One is larger than the other. You want the smaller. In artillery reenactment we used blasting powder in our guns from 2" bore Mountain howitzer up to 5" bore Napoleon. A 6pdr used 1/2 pound BLANK charge. The 5" used 1 1/2 pounds blank load per shot. The rule of thumb is up to 2 oz per inch of bore with wall thickness equal to the bore and proper breeching. I cannot, of course,recommend a charge for your piece, but you should be OK with the above info and common sense. I would start with the same Volume of blasting powder as your Fg load, and carefully work up. We bought 25 lb. bags of powder from a licenced dealer for about 2/3rds the price of cannister, IIRC. Sounds like you have a beautiful piece; be safe and we'll see you on the high ground. George.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I was only loading 200 grains of 1fg and a couple waxed leather wads and got a terrific report.

 

[hawkeye2]

Ask Jackie when you get there. He can tell you which is the most economical for the volume you want and what most are using.