doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 16b Blackpowder Blank load recipe please...

Hello Gentlemen-

A very good day is on it's way, definitely a good day make some noise.
I want to run some blackpowder blanks through my sexy little German hammergun the night of the 4th (it was liberated!).

I've never loaded shotgun blanks though, and would love to hear your blackpowder blank recipes.

Actually, I have a can of (gasp) pyrodex here somewhere (it was a gift!) and would actually burn it for this purpose - given there's no good reason not to.

Thanks for taking a look, I will appreciate any help you guys can provide.


--Tinker

Blackpowder blanks just need a measure of powder, an over-powder wad and a crimp - they'll go bang just fine.

I don't know how pyrodex would go though - if it would need the pressure of a pellet charge over it etc to burn well.
RG

Cadet-

That was my initial thought - powder and overpowder card.

Perhaps I'll charge the cases with equal volumes of powder and shredded paper (or better yet something not flammable) separated with card and wadding.
I was thinking of using my typical wads, soaked with blackpowder lube, to keep the fouling soft - for easier cleanup...

Thanks for the input.

on a slightly different topic, do you see many blackpowder double rifles in the shops around where you live?


--Tinker

Basically none in the shops.
What little is in this part of the world tends to now be traded in fairly tight collector circles and antique arms auctions, but there are a few unlikely sleepers.
Because of geography, social and economic history, exceptionally good vintage British shotguns do pop up now and again, like the two I'm getting excited about in another thread, but they're getting thin on the ground too.
RG

Tinker you'll be the only guy in Oakland shooting blanks.

Did you ever stop to think about the fine example you'll be setting firing a gun up in the air on a holiday ?

Cadet-

Thanks for the note, both on the blanks and on the brit guns.

HJoe-

Couple things.
First thing, whenever in Oakland I'm perfectly prepared with live ammunition.
This Independence Day display will not be taking place in the streets as a public display, rather with family (8th generation Californian, including Great Grandmother the rancher, hunter, patriot)
Guns, celebration of our Independence, and a solid grounding of what it takes to keep it go back further than California in our family history.
Further, there will be private local displays within a couple block's radius that dwarf our little one dram loads. A couple of families near here have traditionally set up some very (outlaw) impressive mortars and firework displays.

So, to put it in simpler terms, no. My family knows better than to loft live ammunition in the air in *a careless manner*, although we do have survey equipment and understand geometry for when it really does matter
As a matter of fact, it's likely everyone will get a hand in on the loading of the blackpowder blank loads!
(fwiw, my three year old daughter already has squarely distinguished her favorite firearm, one of my late fathers' flintlock fur trade rifles!)
This is a team effort. That's how we stick together out here in the Wild West.


--Tinker