Brass & Charcoal Black Powder Cartridges have seen a resurgence of use and interest. Look in most modern reloading manuals and they will list smokeless loads for many old black powder cartridges such as the .45-70, 44 WCF, and .45 LC just to list a few. Ten years ago, you would have been hard pressed to find many of these cartridges listed. Smokeless powder may produce more energy, but to the black powder shooter there is nothing better than thunderous explosion and copious amounts of smoke that comes from black powder shooting. These cartridges were designed to shoot black powder, and the reloading with black powder is no more difficult than reloading with smokeless powder. You just need to remember that black powder produces a lot of fouling, and the key to keeping these fouling soft is a lot of black powder lube. Let me get my disclaimer out of the way. This article is meant to be an introduction to reloading cartridges, designed to be loaded with black powder. Use all recommendations at your own risk. As with any reloading information, you should check, re-check, and check again with other reputable sources, to confirm its accuracy, and validity. Even reputable sources can make mistakes. I’m going to assume that the reader understands basic cartridge reloading, and not cover these principles in any detail. The same safety rules that apply to smokeless reloading apply equally to black powder reloading. When loading with black powder you must NEVER leave an air gap between the powder and projectile. Air gaps cause pressure spikes, which in turn can damage the firearm, and possibly cause death or injury to the shooter. Because this is meant to be a general overview of black powder cartridge reloading things like, neck tension, primers types, OAL of the cartridges – things specific to a cartridge will not be covered, and a reputable reloading manual should be consulted for this information. In this article black powder will refer to real black powder and any of the commercially available black powder substitutes namely: Pyrodex, Clear Shot, Clean Shot and others. Case Prep Case prep is the same for a black powder cartridge, as for a smokeless cartridge. Removal of the primer and resizing my take place before or after cleaning. Prime with the same primers you would use if the cartridge were to loaded with smokeless powder. Once the cases are cleaned, sized, and primed, they are ready to be charged with black powder. Poweder Volume One of the nice, and safer thing about loading black powder in the black powder cartridges vs. using a smokeless load, is the case was designed to hold the proper amount of powder. If you have ever loaded smokeless powder in a black powder cartridge you know the possibility for a double charge is very real with smokeless powder because so little smokeless powder is needed. When shooting black powder in these cartridges the case will be full, and double charging is impossible. Obviously you can’t fill the cartridge to the brim; you need room for the bullet, and possibly a grease wad, so how full should it be? Normally black powder is compressed a bit when the bullet is seated. So you subtract the seating depth of your bullet plus any wads you may be using from the length of the case, add in the amount of compression you plan on using, and this will give you the level to which you should fill the case with black powder. A general rule of thumb is between 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch of compression – enough to prevent any air gaps from occurring but not crush the individual grains of powder. As I’ve already stated you must be careful of is to avoid having an air gap between the powder and cartridge. To help prevent this the powder must be settled in the case before the bullet is added. This will prevent the powder from settling after the bullet is seated and result in more consistent loads. Two common methods exist to settle the powder; a drop tube, and a vibrator. The drop tube is nothing more than a brass tube about 24” long with a funnel on the top. The tube should fit just inside the cartridges mouth. You pour the powder down the tube into the cartridge. The second method involves using you tumbler or and other device that vibrates. Pour your charge into the cartridge and hold the cartridge next to anything that vibrates for a few seconds, a case tumbler works very well. You should see the powder settle a bit. I’ve even heard of old electric shavers being used for this. The point is you want to get the powder settled to its lowest point. Lubricant Next you must add any wads or additional lubricant – black powder bullets have deep grease grooves for holding ample amounts of lube, but additional lube may be needed for long barreled guns, and can help with overall accuracy. Some cowboy action shooters feel additional lube is unnecessary because accuracy is not critical to the sport. Wads are often added to separate the powder from any grease cookies the reloader may add, and can be purchased from most black powder shooter suppliers. The bullets should have large grease grooves to hold ample amounts of lube. Cast bullets for smokeless powder contains neither the right type of lubricant nor enough lubricant, so you will need to use cast bullets specifically designed for black powder. You may want to get bullets pre-lubed, but if you happen to be partial to a home brew lube, or want a specific lubricant not offered by the bullet manufacturer you can order the bullets with no lubricant, and add it later. There aren’t many folks out there who like dealing with the mess of filling the grease lubes on bullets. You can also cast your own bullets and then you will have to fill the grease grooves by hand Crimp Now that you have the proper bullet loaded with a good black powder lube seat the bullet and crimp in place. How much crimp you use depends on personal preference and what the bullet will be shot in. In revolvers and lever guns where the cartridge will be subjected to the shock of recoil a heavier crimp is needed than for a single shoot gun. Experimentation is the key to finding the right load for you and your gun(s). Don’t be afraid to try different things just be smart about it. Reloading your own black powder cartridges with real black powder can add a new dimension to your shooting. If you are into old guns, the historical aspect of shooting these old cartridges with the powder and loads they were designed to shoot will give you deeper understanding of the “good ol’ days” and more respect for the men and women who had to use these cartridges exclusively. Plus most black powder shooters really enjoy the smoke and recoil produced from burning charcoal. Enjoy your loads, and be safe. Tips & Tricks The following are a few tips and tricks that can be used to make reloading with black powder more personal and cheaper: Lighter Loads: If you are looking for lighter loads you can use inert filler such as corn meal or Cream of Wheat. Load cartridge with reduced powder charge, and fill remaining space with a filler to take up the air space. When working up lighter loads, reduce your normal load by 5-10% at a time until you get the performance you are looking for. Powder Measure: To make a simple powder measure, take an old cartridge, and trim it down to just shy ofthe bullets seating depth. This extra length is for the extra volume of powder needed when you settle the powder. Take a bit off at a time until you get the right volume. Now solder a handle onto it. Put you powder in a bowl, and scoop out the powder with cartridge. Card Wads: Can be made from a thin sheet of cart board like that found on shoeboxes. You will need a circular punch with the same diameter as your case's mouth, check your local hardware stores and tool outlets. Any metal tube with the right inside diameter can be make into a punch by filing the edge enough so that it will cut. Grease Wads: You can find felt grease wads that are impregnated with lube in many sizes that will fit most black powder cartridges, but they tend to be a bit pricey. If you can find a thick piece of hat felt cut out circular pieces using a punch. Melt you favorite lube and saturate the wads with it. Grease Cookies: The most common grease cookie used is beeswax. You can buy in thin sheets from craft stores. After charging the cartridge just press the sheet over the mouth of the case. The case will cut through the wax and you’ll have a nice thin layer of wax in the mouth of the cartridge. Add as many layers as needed. Black Powder Lube: A 50:50 mix of beeswax and shortening (Crisco) or animal tallow (lard) can be used to make a very good black powder lube. If you are shooting in a really warm climate add a bit more wax to prevent the lube from melting in the warm weather. If you live were its cold you may want to add bit more shortening or tallow to get the lube softer in the cold weather. Marking Black Powder Cartridges: If you shoot both smokeless and black powder loads in the same cartridge, you will want an easy way to identify which cartridges are loaded with smokeless and which are loaded with black. Take a black Sharpie marker and color only the primers of the black powder loads. A quick glance will tell you what powder each case is loaded with, and after the cartridge is fired and the primer removed no marks remains so the brass can be used for either type of powder. Protecting Spent Brass: Black powder foulings are corrosive to metals and brass is no exception. To help neutralize the corrosive effect of the foulings toss spent shells in a solution of 1 part vinegar 10 parts water until you get home. Black without the Lube: If you want the best of both worlds shooting black powder but without messing with black powder lubricants and clean up. You can try loading with Clean Shot and/or Clear Shot. Both of these powders should work fine with regular smokeless lube. Fill the case to give you some compression and no wads are needed. What you save in convenience will cost you in the wallet; both of these products will cost almost double what real black powder sells for. Back Home