Trapdoor Reloading

[11mm]

All regional joking aside, how fine are dry grits? You want something at least as dense as the powder itself.

Cream of wheat still works, and is still available, as is cornmeal, another "go-to" filler. That said, I find that 22.5 grs of SR4759 works well in several other military cartridges of the period which I shoot, but of course, you can't go wrong with black powder filled to the top, and even compressed.

[deadin]

I seem to remember hearing somewhere that adding 4 or 5 grains of a slow burning smokeless powder to a BP load would help keep the fouling down.
Now this sounds too much like a duplex load of sorts, which can get dangerous.
Would firing a mild smokeless load every so often during a BP session, help with the fouling? If so, what would be a good ratio?

Dean

[Major Tom]

I seem to remember hearing somewhere that adding 4 or 5 grains of a slow burning smokeless powder to a BP load would help keep the fouling down.
Now this sounds too much like a duplex load of sorts, which can get dangerous.
Would firing a mild smokeless load every so often during a BP session, help with the fouling? If so, what would be a good ratio?

Dean

Nah, part of the fun of firing BP is the cleaning of the gun. 8-)

[deadin]

The gun will still need cleaning at the end of the session. I was thinking more of clearing some fouling while at the range without having to carry cleaning supplies.
(Besides I don't think the traditional method of clearing fouling would be acceptable on many of today's ranges....)

[Major Tom]

When I'm at the range shooting BP, I have a plastic coffee can with water and Dawn detergent in it. I immediately put my fired brass in the solution till I get home. That stops the brass corrosion. After firing say 5-8 rounds, I dip a cleaning patch in the solution and run it in the bore a few times followed by dry patches.