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This Youtube clip is actually titled Dangerous Muzzleloading Practices however the examples could equally apply to other rifles and reloading practices. Personally I think every single new shooter/reloader in the country should watch something like this. There is no NWS content, instead a film of what happens to a rifle with the wrong charge or type of powder or an obstruction.

It brings home the dangers if you don't know the basics.

Can you imagine being stood next to one !

:goodjob: Good post.

I am aware that in Muzzle loading you don't leave a air gap - but one thing that's confusing me is that I'm sure I've seen (or maybe just heard of) smokeless powder loads (for cartridged rifles) where the bullet touches the powder...

...not that I would ever do this, but just want to clarify what I thought was a 'golden rule'...i.e. no air gap with BP, but there must be an air gap with smokeless...?

No air gap with Blackpowder is a given. Reloading with modern powders in cartridges is not quite as cut and dried, in that you can in some circumstances shoot compressed loads, that is the powder volume exceeds the case capacity excluding the mass of the bullet when seated. In easy terms you can fill the case up to a level that when the bullet is seated is compresses the powder which gives a nice crunching sound as you seat the bullet. At the other end of the scale an excessive air gap, or more correctly a very low case capacity can cause the powder to flash over across the greater surface area which can lead to unpredictably high and possibly dangerous pressures which is why some reloaders will use a filler such as Kapok.

The compressed and filler loads are certainly not the norm for the vast majority of shooters and should not be looked on as standards to attain

Thanks for clearing that up

What sort of circumstances and rifles would someone use a compressed load?

Dougan wrote:Thanks for clearing that up

What sort of circumstances and rifles would someone use a compressed load?

Some manuals will have compressed loads listed - for instance if the charge weight has a C after the number then it usually a compressed load e.g. H4350 43.0 - 47.0C (this is a load listed for a 100gn bullet for the 257 Roberts.)

Good post, you can't stress enough, that PRIOR knowledge is vital before loading your own.
ukrifleman.