...but I'd rather ask than screw something up. (my hands and face come to mind rather quickly) Is a black powder charge weighed the same as smokeless? Seems like BP charges are measured by volume rather than actual weight. Will a charge in a graduated cylinder actually weigh (on scales) what the markings say? I'm trying to be cheap here and not buy a powder measure if I can get away with it. Thinking of weighing a charge of powder on my RCBS scales and then marking the side of one of those quick load tubes to where the powder stacks up to. I've never been accused of being a big spender.

NO!!! You cannot do what you are asking. Muzzleloading powder is measured by volume and the grains are close to what real black powder weighs. None of the muzzleloading powders have the same density but are developed to have similar characteristics when measured by volume. In other words 80gr. volume of black powder ffg weighs differently from 80gr. volume of Pyrodex, or Tripple Seven or any of the other synthetic muzzleloading powders. 80gr. measured by volume of the same powders will have very similar results but not exactly the same. Some of the newer synthetics are more powerful volume for volume than real black powder so you need to be aware of what powder you are using and adjust your loads accordingly. You need at the very minimum to have a good muzzleloading powder volume measure and then you can work backwards and get to weighed charges by averaging several volume measurements of the selected powder and converting those measurements to weighed grains instead of volume grain measurements if you want to use weighed charges (I do exactly that although many others use volume measured charges only). Volume measure is the standard that all the muzzleloading rifles are built around.

I think the answer is offpoint.

Black Powder actual WEIGHT and VOLUME are essentially interchangable allowing for accuracy of your volumetric measure.

However, the issue gets complicated if you bring black powder SUBSTITUTES into the discussion.

Black powder SUBSTITUTES are intended to be used as volume-to-volume replacements for black powder
and their weights vary considerably both from real black powder and from each other.

So Yes, you can weigh out your measured charges of black powder, but you cannot use the same WEIGHT with Pyrodex triple-7, American Pioneer or any of the other BP substitutes as you can with black powder.
Those powders are usually measured out with a volumetric measure that correlates to black powder.

They CAN be weighed but due to their different density the same charge weight cannot be used.

Hodgdon publishes a weight to volume comparison between black powder and pyrodex in their powder manual. tread lightly....

AllanD

Thats why I asked. Thanks guys.

Keep in mind that even with real black powder the weight and volume comparison will depend on what granulation you are dealing with. A volume measure of fffg will usually weigh more than an equal volume measure of ffg. And to be safe I usually stay far from the maximum charge that the owners manual says I can use. Most of my rifles claim 150gr. capability and I seldom use more than 90gr. loads. That is with 300gr. bullets for Elk. At 100 yards they will shoot completely through if missing major bone.

quote:

Originally posted by MLKeith:
Keep in mind that even with real black powder the weight and volume comparison will depend on what granulation you are dealing with. A volume measure of fffg will usually weigh more than an equal volume measure of ffg. And to be safe I usually stay far from the maximum charge that the owners manual says I can use. Most of my rifles claim 150gr. capability and I seldom use more than 90gr. loads. That is with 300gr. bullets for Elk. At 100 yards they will shoot completely through if missing major bone.

what I would suggest doing is find a load that works for you using a volumetric measure.
Then take that same measured load and weigh it.

You can then preweigh your loads if you like.

Being honest blackpowder or substitutes
in a front loader simply aren't that sensitive to minute variations on charge, and in this case "Minute" being about a grain or so.
It isn't like smokless reloading which can frequently respond to a 1/10grain change in charge weight.

AllanD

http://www.hpmuzzleloading.com/LoadsBallistics2.html

Pretty good article relating weight vs volume for some subs. He also discusses a bit about variation between volumetric measures.