loads???

[bowandgunhuntr]

this is my first post here and i have several questions.
first is loose powder equal to pellets,or is loose hotter.someone told me 100 gr. loose equals 125 pellets????

and im looking for a in-line and was thinking about the t/c omega
z5,seems user friendly,any imput?? thanks..

[rem 700]

Loose and pellets are equivalent. The only advantage would be using a finer granule of loose powder(which would increase pressure so I don't recommend unless in a 'light' load). I don't recommend you use other than a 2fg powder unless your charge is 100 grains or lower. As the owner of a z5, it's very easy to clean, very easy to operate, and super simple in every way. Great choice. I recommend American Pioneer brand powder for easy cleanup. A universally accurate in-line muzzleloader load I always like to start with is 120 grains of 2fg powder, along with either a 250 or 300 grain t/c shockwave or Hornady SST(make sure sabots are legal in your state).

[Dale]

I have an Omega as well and love it. I shoot 777 pellets just for the ease of loading in the field. I have shot at a deer and missed (Iknow that's hard to believe) and was able to reload and fire again (hitting this time) before she knew what was going on and got out of range. That was with 250gr SST's.

[HPBTMTCH]

They are the same, as long as you weigh both. 50 grain pellets don`t weigh what they sre supposed to very often.

[muskrat30]

My understanding is that the same amount of loose powder(Talking 777 here) will give higher pressure(more velocity) than pellets. That is when 100 grains of pellet is compared to 100 grains of the same company's loose powder, the loose powder should give the higher speed. Look at data from Hodgden powder company. The Knight owners manual that I have I think also suggests a lower amount of loose powder when compared to pellets.

My current favorite load is a 320 grain homemade conical over 95 grns of loose pyrodex. They shoot very well & it had complete pass through on the doe I shot in early Dec at 40 yrds. The deer went about another 50 before piling up. Since I am running low on Pyrodex I recently bought some loose 777. I like loose powder because you can taylor your load more and is more economical. With a few speedloaders set up before the hunt hassle free reloading is easy. The Omaga should be fine. I am also very content with my Knight bolt in-line.

Edit; I went & looked up my Hodgdon Basic M-L manual. It is published by Hodgdon powder co, the makers of 777 & pryodex.
The data shows higher velocity with loose powder over the same charge of pellets. The difference can be 30 to 100 FPS or more depending on the load. It also shows slightly higher speeds on FFFG powder when compared to the same charge of the more course FFG powder. These comparisons are all firing the same projectile. I am not saying any of this will matter to a deer, just passing on the info.

Example; Hdy 250 grn SST Sabot

2-50grn 777 pellets(100 total) = 1785fps
100grn loose 777 ffg = 1835fps
100grn loose 777 fffg = 1909fps

In all like comparisons the loose powder was faster. I would say that even though the charge is compressed under the projectile the loose powder is not as dense as a pellet and burns better & more efficient. Like my woodstove on a cold day comparing the heat from 6 smaller pieces of wood to two big chunks.

[rattus58]

Theoretically 100 grains of pellets are 100 grains of loose 2F black powder or RS/Select. The Triple Seven Pellets are designed to provide the same "energy" as does the Pyrodex Pellet.

Loose Pyrodex 2F powder (RS) is very potent stuff nowadays and is almost as hot as is Pyrodex P (3F).

One has to experiment with powder to come up with what is best for his gun. The arbitrary guidline of 2F for 50 caliber and up is erroneous advice at best. Some smaller calibers shoot better with 2F than they do with 3F, which is recommended. The only way to really tell is to try it.

As for substituting 3F for 2F you need to work up your loads for optimum accuracy. There is another tale that suggests restricting your loads by 15% or more in comparison. With todays powders, that by itself won't really tell the tale. The best approach would be to have access to a chronograph and work your way up to similar velocity with the finer powder and start the process with maybe 60 grains of the finer powder. Like has been illustrated over the last year or so by a number of tests, Pyrodex P and RS are so close now in performance its hard to tell the difference except in the residue left behind.

When you get into Black Powder... 2F Swiss may not represent the same thing as 2F Goex. In all cases with powder, you need to operate with care.

Aloha... :cool: