Powder mixup

[greyhunter]

Got a call from a local college boy yesterdaywith a question. Some how he had mixed a small amount of 2fg with 3fg, how small, I don't know. When a young person tells you, "I only had a small accident", how small is small? Anyway, I know it's not a good thing, but knowing he only shoots 70 grains in his traditions flinter, I told him to reduce his charge by 5 grains and use it.  I doubt he will have any dangerous issues, but has anyone else any other advise? If I can run him down, I will relieve him of it and give him the fg of his choice.

[bluelake]

Accident?  What happened?

[Roaddog]

I don't think It will be unsafe but he will haveto work up new lodes just to use it up.

[greyhunter]

Sorry Blue Lake, no one had an accident, it was just a poor analogy by me to, illustrate a different generations analysis of a situation. Ie,  a small accident to me is a slight dent to a fender, to a young person dodging trouble with his parents, a small accident would be, he  walked away from a totaled car! I don't know how much powder he mixed, he said a small amount. We're only guessing here! I don't think it a problem either, like RD said he may have to rework his load .

[Loyalist Dave]

No problems at all really.  You start out with 2Fg in your horn, and you get a pound of 3Fg by Goex from the store, which is in the red can, with black lettering, and it's not good to "glance" at the letters, for then you may miss an "F" on the label.  As you pour new powder into the horn you realize there's a third "F" on the can.  You asked for 2Fg, the guy who sold it to you handed you the can of 3Fg, as he glanced at the label wrong too.  (or reverse the powders, it does happen)  Oh well.

Really folks with 70 grains if you accidentally loaded the whole powder measure with 3Fg instead of 2Fg, the difference would not hurt you in a sound rifle.  It might mess with your point of impact.  I have found that 2Fg if it gets jostled around a bit in a horn sorta fragments, so you kinda get a 2Fg / 3Fg mix anyway.  A solution would be to take a bit of the mixed "duplex" powder, get another pound of the proper size, take the duplex   powder and mix it with the pound of the proper stuff, and thus dilute the whole mixture down to the point of it not possibly mattering.  Taking for granted that "small accident" was really small.  

I use 3Fg in my rifle, and in blanks, 2Fg in the shotguns and live musket fire.

LD

[bluelake]

Sorry Blue Lake, no one had an accident, it was just a poor analogy by me to, illustrate a different generations analysis of a situation. Ie,  a small accident to me is a slight dent to a fender, to a young person dodging trouble with his parents, a small accident would be, he  walked away from a totaled car! I don't know how much powder he mixed, he said a small amount. We're only guessing here! I don't think it a problem either, like RD said he may have to rework his load .

Oh, o.k., I see what you were getting at.  That's what happens when you spend an entire semester teaching students whose native language isn't your own--you start looking at things too literally  :oops:  (However, I paid closer attention after that).

[pathfinder]

I have a can of ?f,dont really know outside of it is goex in the 2-3f range,fella gave it to me after his Uncle mixed it to get more velocity out of 2f. I know,WTF. anyway, I use it in my Bess and it works good. Big bore smoothies aren't to particular

[Uncle Russ]

I agree with LD on this one...it's no real big deal, IMO.

In fact, sometime before Goex came out with "Cartridge" grade BP, it was quite common for BP cartridge shooters to mix 2Fg and 3Fg on a 50/50 basis....other, more exotic showed here and there..like 60/40, 75/25, 80/20, and God only knows what else, but it turns out it was nothing more than shooters having fun and doing what shooters have always done.  

This "mixing" is said to have come about due to the lack of the old balloon head cases which actually held a few grains more water / powder...today we have much better / stronger cases but it's darn near impossible to seat a wad, a grease cookie, and a bullet over  70gr BP in a 45-70 case....without the use of a compression die.
 
Anyway, Goex quickly latched onto this practice of "mixing" 2F & 3F by the old timers, and came out with what one might describe as 2.5Fg calling it "Cartridge grade" and charged $3 more per pound....there may be a wee bit more to it than that, but that is the basic story.

I shoot, and have been shooting, Cartridge Grade in all my muzzle loaders for some time now, mostly because I won a case of the stuff years ago and still have several pounds left...if it is any better in a muzzleloader than 2Fg or 3Fg ie, more accurate, less fowling, whatever, I am not astute enough to see that difference....but still yet it shoots just fine.

Uncle Russ...

[Dphariss]

Got a call from a local college boy yesterdaywith a question. Some how he had mixed a small amount of 2fg with 3fg, how small, I don't know. When a young person tells you, "I only had a small accident", how small is small? Anyway, I know it's not a good thing, but knowing he only shoots 70 grains in his traditions flinter, I told him to reduce his charge by 5 grains and use it.  I doubt he will have any dangerous issues, but has anyone else any other advise? If I can run him down, I will relieve him of it and give him the fg of his choice.

No reason to even reduce the charge.

Dan

[greyhunter]

Thanks for the advice, I worry about that lad!