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"Tapping down" VS Drop tubing black powder (Read 3021 times)

Rooster Ex Member	"Tapping down" VS Drop tubing black powder Apr 8^th, 2013 at 5:52pm	Print Post
	It seems the "old timers" used both methods. What are shooters doing today? Also, card wad VS felt wad?


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SchwarzStock Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1161 Location: SchwarzWald Joined: Mar 23^rd, 2010	Re: "Tapping down" VS Drop tubing black powder Reply #1 - Apr 8^th, 2013 at 5:59pm	Print Post
	"Tapping down" = unevenly crushed/compressed powder. Works ok with junk BP like Wano (aka Scheutzen) but is not required or recommened with good Swiss BP drop-tubed. I use a compression die once in a while but again only with the junk BP. I use card (punched milk carton) but I'm cheap and it works. I also use a slip of wax paper cut with the same card punch between the wad and the bullet to ensure the wad does not stick to the bullet's base after leaving the muzzle. SS

	If your rifle is not in 7.62 and you can't hit what you are aiming at with de-linked machinegun ammo you are a pretender.
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JackHughs Oldtimer Offline Posts: 657 Location: Riverbank Joined: Sep 27^th, 2008	Re: "Tapping down" VS Drop tubing black powder Reply #2 - Apr 8^th, 2013 at 8:26pm	Print Post
	Quote: It seems the "old timers" used both methods. What are shooters doing today? Also, card wad VS felt wad? I stopped shooting BP when my body could no longer handle the recoil. Things may have changed some since then but here's what worked for me. I installed a small vibrating device in the drop tube base. Powder was then dropped very slowly and the combination of the drop tube and vibration resulted in very even loads. But that's not the end of it. The next step was to place a card wad in the case mouth and carefully push down until it seated lightly on the powder column. I then used a set of calipers to measure the depth from the case mouth to the top of the wad and segregated loaded cases by this measurement. The final steps were to apply compression and seat the bullet. JackHughs

	The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. W.B. Yeats
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SSShooter Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 2917 Location: Southern NJ Joined: Aug 1^st, 2010	Re: "Tapping down" VS Drop tubing black powder Reply #3 - Apr 8^th, 2013 at 9:01pm	Print Post
	The half-dozen, or so, folks I shoot BP with all drop-tube. Some compress Goex, but most use minimal compression with Swiss. Think we all use Walters fiber wads with a newspaper wad between the bullet base and fiber wad to insure that the wad separates from the bullet when fired. Have found that 2F and LR primers work best in the 40-65.

	Glenn - 2x CPA 44 1/2 w/22LR (Shilen ratchet-rifled & Bartlein 5R rifled), 38-40RH & 38-55WCF (Bartlein 5R rifled) & 40-65WCF (GrnMtn 'X') barrels
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shovel80 Oldtimer Offline Posts: 896 Location: Sonora,CA Joined: Jun 6^th, 2011	Re: "Tapping down" VS Drop tubing black powder Reply #4 - Apr 8^th, 2013 at 11:34pm	Print Post
	I'm using a Drop Tube, Walters .060 wads, Compression die With Goex Cartridge Powder. With NO Resizing of Brass. Terry

	ASSRA Member # 11021
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macca Participating Member Offline Posts: 44 Location: nsw Joined: Jan 7^th, 2012	Re: "Tapping down" VS Drop tubing black powder Reply #5 - Apr 9^th, 2013 at 6:29am	Print Post
	Black powder burn rate depends solely on particle size. 3f sized powders burn far more quickly than 1f powders simply because of the greater total surface offered by the same mass of powder. When compressing powder, granules are pulverised producing a far greater variety of granule sizes in the powder column. This causes a different burn rate from case to case and I believe contributes to vertical stringing. I now only drop tube. I determine my powder charge on the seating depth I wish to achieve. For my purposes seived and cleaned Wano performs better than Swiss at half the price cheers macca


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boats Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 7545 Location: Virginia Joined: Apr 23^rd, 2004	Re: "Tapping down" VS Drop tubing black powder Reply #6 - Apr 9^th, 2013 at 7:04am	Print Post
	Crushing to compress, with a compression die and loading press, is not a good thing, in my opinion. You do want to settle the powder and used a drop tube for years. When breech seating black needed another method due complexity at the range. Friend of mine that's a successful long range shooter tapped his cases on the side with a small brass rod & achieved the same weight for bulk as drop tubing. I picked up the tap method, now using it for all black loading. You need a wad and thin is best for maximum powder space. Breech seating using the wad to hold the powder in when inserting the case, I use a thicker cork wad. Boats


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Rooster Ex Member	Re: "Tapping down" VS Drop tubing black powder Reply #7 - Apr 9^th, 2013 at 8:35am	Print Post
	The old timers were using the taping down method for breech seating where compression would be difficult to do. I shoot BP in 45-70 and 45-90 using KIK 2ff drop tubed. getting excellent results with no compression. When I find time to shoot my 38-55 with BP breech seated I'll drop tube, but I'll likely try some taping down just to see what happens.


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