I read thet it is desirable for a (choice of) powder to fill up as much of the volume of the cartridge as possible in a safe (maximum) charfe so that as little as possible empty space is left inside tha cartridge.
Is this true?
(Of course seating depth plays a part here aswell.)

No always true. If the charge weight of the powder is listed in data you should be fine. Some powders/cartridges may list data using slow bulky powder that fill the case, but give poor performance. No set rule here.

quote:

Originally posted by reindeer:
I read thet it is desirable for a (choice of) powder to fill up as much of the volume of the cartridge as possible in a safe (maximum) charfe so that as little as possible empty space is left inside tha cartridge.
Is this true?
(Of course seating depth plays a part here aswell.)

It is desirable. roger

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:

quote:

Originally posted by reindeer:
I read thet it is desirable for a (choice of) powder to fill up as much of the volume of the cartridge as possible in a safe (maximum) charfe so that as little as possible empty space is left inside tha cartridge.
Is this true?
(Of course seating depth plays a part here aswell.)

It is desiable. roger

+1.

Larry Gibson

+2

It's not a rule; it's not an absolute, but over time, you'll find it's a pretty good idea.

I consider it to be a good indicator that it is a very suitable powder if it takes about 95% or so of capacity..

Generally speaking, powders which come close to filling the case, or are even slightly compressed, tend to provide the most consistent velocities. However, a standard deviation of 5 fps doesen't always exhibit superior accuracy to one of 20 fps, so the value of consistent velocity can be overstated.

I personally prefer powders that run in the range of 95-105% of case capacity (capacity excluding the space occupied by the bullet), but several of the .22 centerfires tend to be exceptions with some of their best loads being more in the 80-90% range.

What is to be avoided are loads where the powder is around 60% or less. Tests have shown that the position of the powder in the case can then have surprising results.