megasupermagnum
45 Cal.
It was raining all day today, so did not get to do the testing I had hoped for. Finally about 6pm it slowed to a mist, and I got out for an hour and a half. I tested the 9 gauge SXS comparing powder grades. I controlled every variable I could. I swabbed the barrels between every shot. I used only one measure, and I used brand new powder bought about the same time. All three grades were red bottle Goex. The chronograph was set exactly three feet from the muzzle to the front of the unit. The load I used was my powder measure set to 100 for both powder and shot. From previous testing I know this throws about 98 grains of Fg powder, and about 569 grains of shot. I used only one kind of wad, a .050" thick layered card stock I cut with a 21mm punch. I used three wads over the powder, and one over the shot. I took eight shots total with each grade, four shots from each barrel.
The results:
Powder grade - average velocity - extreme spread
-------Fg-------------863 fps------------29 fps
-------FFg------------972 fps------------62 fps
------FFFg-----------1149 fps-----------187 fps
I'm sure there is a person or three ready for an "I told ya so". I am honestly blown away how much difference there really is. So here I am with emperical data saying I was wrong. Now I know. There is definitely a velocity difference between each grade. Is it a huge difference, I don't think so, but it is there. As Goex powder gets finer, velocity gets higher. The velocity variation increases as well. I ran a damp patch through the barrel on every single shot to keep fouling from effecting the results. A purely anecdotal observation I made was that fouling between Fg and FFg is pretty much the same, nothing to write about. FFFg on the other hand definitely had more fouling, and it was a crusty fouling. It would in no way be detrimental to your shooting, and if you wipe every so often it would not matter at all. If you used particularly stiff wads, it might be a bit tougher to ram down.
After finishing that test, I knew I did not have time to test different wads. I decided to try a few anyway just to see. I started by going to five cards over the powder, and found almost no velocity change from the first test. I then went the other extreme, and only used a single .050" card over the powder. This made a huge difference. The load was still the same exact 100/100 load, using Fg powder, the only thing I varied was how many cards I used over the powder. With only a single wad over the powder, the average was 713 fps, with an ES of 252 FPS. There was a single shot that was up around 850 fps. If we discounted that, the average would be under 700, but ES still rather high, although more reasonable. I was surprised by this. I knew there would be a minimum amount of wadding needed, but I figured a sturdy card like this would do better. Hopefully in part two I'll be able to better show how many wads are needed to get a reasonable amount of sealing. I had planned on testing thin overshot cards, but I now know that would be a waste of time. I will probably do this test tomorrow, weather permitting. Instead of my sxs, I will be using my 12 gauge single barrel. The reason for this is that I can test not only the .050 cards, but also 1/8" thick nitro cards, wool wads, and a modern plastic wad (Federal 12S4) as well.
After seeing the results today, I think in the distant future I will have to do a part three as well with pattern testing. I know that Fg has always patterned better than an equal volume of FFg for me. My question is will equal velocities pattern as well. I know from testing in the past that small differences do not. For example 80 gr of FFg and 120 gr (volume) of shot does NOT pattern as well as even 100gr of Fg and 120 gr (volume) of shot.
The results:
Powder grade - average velocity - extreme spread
-------Fg-------------863 fps------------29 fps
-------FFg------------972 fps------------62 fps
------FFFg-----------1149 fps-----------187 fps
I'm sure there is a person or three ready for an "I told ya so". I am honestly blown away how much difference there really is. So here I am with emperical data saying I was wrong. Now I know. There is definitely a velocity difference between each grade. Is it a huge difference, I don't think so, but it is there. As Goex powder gets finer, velocity gets higher. The velocity variation increases as well. I ran a damp patch through the barrel on every single shot to keep fouling from effecting the results. A purely anecdotal observation I made was that fouling between Fg and FFg is pretty much the same, nothing to write about. FFFg on the other hand definitely had more fouling, and it was a crusty fouling. It would in no way be detrimental to your shooting, and if you wipe every so often it would not matter at all. If you used particularly stiff wads, it might be a bit tougher to ram down.
After finishing that test, I knew I did not have time to test different wads. I decided to try a few anyway just to see. I started by going to five cards over the powder, and found almost no velocity change from the first test. I then went the other extreme, and only used a single .050" card over the powder. This made a huge difference. The load was still the same exact 100/100 load, using Fg powder, the only thing I varied was how many cards I used over the powder. With only a single wad over the powder, the average was 713 fps, with an ES of 252 FPS. There was a single shot that was up around 850 fps. If we discounted that, the average would be under 700, but ES still rather high, although more reasonable. I was surprised by this. I knew there would be a minimum amount of wadding needed, but I figured a sturdy card like this would do better. Hopefully in part two I'll be able to better show how many wads are needed to get a reasonable amount of sealing. I had planned on testing thin overshot cards, but I now know that would be a waste of time. I will probably do this test tomorrow, weather permitting. Instead of my sxs, I will be using my 12 gauge single barrel. The reason for this is that I can test not only the .050 cards, but also 1/8" thick nitro cards, wool wads, and a modern plastic wad (Federal 12S4) as well.
After seeing the results today, I think in the distant future I will have to do a part three as well with pattern testing. I know that Fg has always patterned better than an equal volume of FFg for me. My question is will equal velocities pattern as well. I know from testing in the past that small differences do not. For example 80 gr of FFg and 120 gr (volume) of shot does NOT pattern as well as even 100gr of Fg and 120 gr (volume) of shot.