Armscor .38 MLR powder charge

[Fenrir.2]

Up until now I have been metering out the charge into fired .38 SP cases that I have kicking around and sealing them with the bullet I am going to use pushed gently into the top. It is however a bit of a faff and I have noticed that not all the powder comes out as some sticks to the inside of the case especially where some bullet lube has contaminated it which leads to a reduced charge from not a lot to start with. The other night I weighed out 3 gr of Herco and poured it into a fired .22 LR case and it was completely full with a slightly raised meniscus and I got to thinking that one of these soldered onto a rod would make a perfect dipper and was wondering if anybody else has tried this method. One scoop not struck off is the perfect charge.

[dannywayoflife]

All the muzzle loaders at my club use the 2ml plastic test tubes. I've just bought some to use. Then if any grains of powder stick to them you can see them and keep rattling it till it comes out

[Fenrir.2]

I have got a load of those but it is such a piddly little charge and unless you are very careful because the mouth of the vial is so much larger than the chamber it would be very easy to dump most of the charge on the bench or risk having some go into the adjacent chamber and risk overloading.

[dannywayoflife]

Small funnel? That's what I'm using

[Fenrir.2]

I want to make things as simple as I can without lugging around all the accoutrements of the BP shooter. Strip it back to the bare essentials. An empty case has a capacity of 0.34 cc so a powder flask with a small enough spout would do,

[dannywayoflife]

Fair one mate I've found some lovely real small funnels on fleabay

[Fenrir.2]

Just a little update, I soldered an empty .22 LR onto a short brass rod and am using it as a dipper, it consistently measures 2.7 to 2.8 grains which seems to give perfectly adequate results. It is so much less fuss than weighing the charges out into little containers before going to the range and noticeably quicker to reload the cylinder when there.

[tacfoley]

Just a little update, I soldered an empty .22 LR onto a short brass rod and am using it as a dipper, it consistently measures 2.7 to 2.8 grains which seems to give perfectly adequate results. It is so much less fuss than weighing the charges out into little containers before going to the range and noticeably quicker to reload the cylinder when there.

Yup. Lee have been doing that for over fifty years.

Easy-peasy, eh?

tac

[gtpkeeper]

Just a little update, I soldered an empty .22 LR onto a short brass rod and am using it as a dipper, it consistently measures 2.7 to 2.8 grains which seems to give perfectly adequate results. It is so much less fuss than weighing the charges out into little containers before going to the range and noticeably quicker to reload the cylinder when there.

nice one, take a photo of it ,when you get a chance,

[Fenrir.2]

Yup. Lee have been doing that for over fifty years.

Easy-peasy, eh?

tac

I know, that is where the idea came from but I couldn't find one small enough hence the home brew version.

[tim56]

Just wondering, are you loading on the firing point from an open pot of powder.?? I use phials with mine and kind of like the
idea of only having the small amount of powder required with its own little pourer rather than scooping it out on range.
These little revolvers are great fun and it kind of grates on me a bit that i can have a short barrel muzzle loader but have to
have a 12" barrel and wrist brace on my Taurus's. Would love to combine the two but dont suppose it will ever happen. Tim

[Fenrir.2]

In short yes. I started out using spent 38 brass as the little phials with the bullet as stopper but wanted to streamline the process a bit. Doing it this way has speeded up reloading significantly.

[Fenrir.2]

nice one, take a photo of it ,when you get a chance,

Sorry for being so slow in responding, I can only say that I forgot.

Anyway, better late than never I suppose. The bullets are the 148 grain wadcutters from Shellhouse which I load pointy end first.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/...ps62f9c3ec.jpg

[Nocrimp]

Hi,

I would appreciate tapping into the expertise of forum members please.....

I have just bought a new Alfa MLR from Alan Westlake and the powder suggested is Herco (but I can't find any).
Blue Dot is the alternative and this seems to work ok at about 4.5 gns. with 148gn HBWC.

I have been told by an experienced RFD that Unique can be used, but it's hotter than Herco, so load would have to be less than for Herco?
Has anyone tried / had success with Unique in a .38 MLR (shotgun primers).

Thanks for the the posts re using a dipper... I will certainly be making one as soon as I have sorted the powder / charge that works best.
Any othere hints or tips gratefully received.

Thanks and good shooting!

[butterfly]

Does anyone know where i can get a cheap shot flask and powder flask for a muzzle loading shotgun please