View attachment 104471
Synopsis as I understand it* :
Figure there are 7000 grains in the pound of powder that you have bought. Divide 7000 by the grains of powder that you are using for your main charge, and you get an estimate of how many shots you will get from that pound of powder. Understand that the number of actual shots will vary due to a host of variables. For most of us, the variables do not make sufficient significance to be worried about the results. Just use the same size powder and the same amount of powder shot per shot, and the black powder shooter should get acceptable results.
Long Answer:
OK guys..., there are as numerous posts have written...., 7000 grains in a pound of powder...these days....,
Correct, but because we have agreed upon a
standard unit of measurement.
But they are not absolute terms. They are arbitrary and agreed upon.
Today we have standardized a lot of units of measure, units that go back to Elizabethan times if not farther, but as time progressed, folks settled on arbitrary amounts, gave them names, and we use these as a "standard" of measure today. World wide trade, and cooperation in engineering, has fostered this now World Wide agreement on a host of standards. BUT sometimes we run across odd units of measurement used in some places but not others, and this would be a discussion for a different thread...
For example, if we had adopted what is known as the "troy ounce" as our "ounce" today (the troy is still used in precious metals) then our pound of 16 ounces would contain 7630 grains, because what we call the troy ounce is 9% heavier than the "ounce" that we use today....
The problem...
on paper..., is that the volumetric measure
Might be accurate for weight, or it might not. The problem is not created simply going from weight to volume.
I can't find my notes, but on another forum a shooter measured out several different brands of adjustable measures, and none were "accurate" and they didn't even come close to each other.....
To illustrate:
X brand powder is measured out, and when 16 ounces is reached, it is packaged and sold. Along comes the shooter, who measures out the powder
by weight of grains (the "grain" is a weight unit of measure that was first dry, but was standardized with a volume of water, a liquid, and then calibrated and finally standardized...). When the shooter reaches 100 grains of powder by weight, he stops. He then fashions a container that when
a level measure of powder is made with that container, it weighs 100 grains..., or so close he doesn't care. He now has a 100 grain measure
by volume that is equal in weight to 100 grains as well. Life is Good...
Our shooter after some time and some successful shooting buys another pound of powder...but that powder is Y brand.
Y brand is made with a slightly different set of ingredients and mix ratio, so it's denser than X brand. The shooter as Old Hawkeye points out, still gets his 16 ounces, but it takes up less volume. So when our shooter uses his powder measure that was made to measure X brand and thus is
calibrated to X brand powder..., that measure then gives him more powder by weight when he uses it for Y powder. ☹ Is it enough of a difference to matter?
Complicate that further..., The X brand powder was 2Fg, but the Y brand powder was 3Fg...so our shooter gets even more powder by weight in his measure, because Y brand is denser, and there is less unused space when he uses the Y brand 3Fg powder in his volume measure. NOW YES, our shooter notices that his bullets hit significantly higher on the target and he is feeling more recoil, because he is actually using enough extra powder that it makes a difference for what our shooter is doing.
(We won't even get into discussing burn rates between the two brands of powder)
So IF one is are curious, or IF one is shooting long range targets where the variation of the true weight of the powder, the ability of the shooter to be consistent with measuring, the burn rate of the powder, all result in the shooter hitting the target where the shooter needs to hit that target..., then you will want to check your particular powder load and ensure that you get it right every time, AND pay attention to the brand, the granule size, and the lot number of that powder's batch....
At the distances that I shoot..., variations in Muzzle Velocity (which is where this powder stuff leads) don't make enough of a difference, to me.
Doesn't seem to make any difference to the deer, or small game, or birds... the paper target and the gongs have no opinion.
LD
* "as I understand it"... I could always be full of baked beans....
