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Do you ever use blackpowder in modern handgun ammo?

2K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  458ready 
#1 ·
I saw this video showing a shooter using 38 Special loaded with BP.

Interesting. ...by the way, unlike smokeless pistol powder, I can readily buy BP handgun propellant ...

 
#3 ·
.38 Special started out as a black powder cartridge, so it isn't quite so modern.

I have a few pistols that could be loaded with black, these are single action revolvers in calibers that were originally black powder chamberings but I never use it in them because I don't want to clean up the mess.
 
#4 ·
Not only do I not want to clean up the mess, I don't like the expense.

I know, years back, I did a comparison. Unique was 15 dollars a pound, while Goex 2F or 3F was only 8. Obviously black is cheaper.

But it takes 8.0 of Unique in a 45 Colt, and it takes between 35 and 40 grains of FF. So cost is half as much, but it takes four times as much, which makes total load cost TWICE as much.

The reason I started reloading was to save money.

Now black is 18.50 a pound (Track of the Wolf) while Unique is 18 dollars (Grafs). So it costs the same, still takes four times as much, so now it is QUADRUPLE as much for total load.

It'd doable, but I don't like it.

Black powder is the reason there were no self-loading actions and no bottle-neck rifle rounds. Black does not like either - it prefers straight walls and manually operated guns. But there are people in cowboy shooting that claim they load black in 45 ACP, for their 1911s. :confused: Maybe. I've never tried.

I've got a couple of old guns that are too old to safely shoot smokeless, so if I wish to shoot them, I must load black. I don't shoot them often.
 
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#5 ·
If it was all that was available, then I would use it. Like Alpo stated, it's a lot more expensive to load up with black powder. And then there's the clean up!
 
#6 ·
I guess the clean up is subjective. Personally, I'd rather clean a single action Colt after shooting black in it than scrub the lead out of a bore. That isn't so much a problem today but back when I started shooting magnum handguns, late 60's and early 70's, there was some magnum handgun factory loaded ammo with soft bullets that was terrible for leading....and it seems I found them all. If you can strip a Colt SAA clean up is really rather easy.

I beg to differ in regards to black not being suitable for bottleneck rifle cartridges. I'll agree it is easier to make shoot in straight or straight taper cases but I've had more than satisfactory results loading black in more than a few bottlenecked cases. Those cartridges are of the kind with more sloping shoulders and of a caliber not that much smaller than the case body, such as the 43 Mauser, Spanish and Egyptian, 577-450 Martini-Henry, 44-77 Sharps and a few others of that ilk. It is not suitable for cartridges where the caliber is considerably smaller than the case body such as modern high intensity cartridges and I have never tried to load any like that with black. Semi-autos...I don't believe I'm aware than any were ever manufactured for use with black powder...and the reason seems obvious. It is a dirty propellant....but goodness...I love it!
 
#7 · (Edited)
Sharps, first semi I'm aware of was the Bochardt. 1893. White Powder (Poudre B - poudre blanche) was invented in 1884. So I don't think there were any black semis.

I will agree that there were some bottleneck black cartridges - 44/40, 38/40 and 32/20 popping immediately to mind. But I was thinking stuff like 30/06 or 243, or (bet this one would be a trip) 17 Remington Fireball.

 
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