Not Knowing This Could Be Dangerous
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ม.ค. 2025
- Original Upload: • Shooting the Breeze # 19
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, this channel is created and managed by Hickok45 and John, mainly John. The video clips on this channel are segments of videos taken from videos originally posted on the Hickok45 TH-cam channel. John always includes a link to the original video from which the clip is taken.
Hickok45 videos are filmed on my own private shooting range and property by trained professionals for educational and entertainment purposes only, with emphasis on firearms safety and responsible gun ownership. We are NOT in the business of selling firearms or performing modifications on them. Do not attempt to copy at home anything you see in our videos. Firearms can be extremely dangerous if not used safely.
Powder is like hot peppers. They aren't all the same spiciness.
Hot loads ? The Carolina Reaper , Magnum
In my reloading manual, there is a list of all available powders, and how they rank their burn rate. The faster they burn, the lower the number. Loading for a pistol, even a snub nose, you want the fastest powder, for large rifles you want the slowest. You want all the powder to burn up by the time the bullet leaves the barrel. So on a snub nose, that’s a very short length of time, but a long longer time on that big bore rifle. There are about 70 different powders, all burn at different rates.
@@alphagt62 fast burn for pistols , slow burn for rifles , that makes sense !
@@alphagt62 All over my head. I'm just a poor who can't afford a refrigerator, much less a reloading presser. I just buy whatever is on sale at Academy for my Hi-Point.
I *LOVE* this!
;-)
When your wife complains about the number on the scale just tell her she’s a high-caliber wife. 😂
Or get her one of those British "stone" scales.
👍👍👍
You are a VERY wise person!
;-)
Lol, im going to do that today.
Or, tell her to get into shape or you’ll be sniffing around the neighborhood for the woman she used to be.
You might have added that their are 7000 grains per pound to illustrate .
Yeah, that's 14 million grains / ton!
"… that there are …"
Yep, and that's 7000 grains of rice.
@@albertthesecond210go away
He does in the full video. Remember that what you are watching is Hickok 45 clips.
Thank you Mr. Hicock45 for explaining these numbers! There are a lot of new people out there in this sport, and a lot of confusion along with quite a few misconceptions about ammo components. The best way that we can make sure everyone out there in the firearms world stays safe is to educate them with videos like this! Fewer accidents make less room for negative perception of firearms.
Yet again great info Bill! Just a side note... one of my favorite types of green tea is gunpowder green tea. It's called that because WAY back in the day it looked like gunpowder. The tea leaves are rolled into small balls. I'm a big fan of your channel!
It's called that because the Royal Army wanted it's troopers to shit before going on a long walk. They would add a tiny amount of Cordite to the breakfast tea and before long everybody was all nicely emptied out.
Another thing to keep in mind when reloading. Black powder is measured in volume not weight. Don’t use a powder measure designed for black powder for measuring smokeless powder.
A powder measure is _calibrated_ for black powder. Says so on the blister pack card that the brass measure was sold on in the store.
Volumetric measures like an antler horn has to be cut down from a _weighed_ measure of black powder in the granulation you need for that gun (2Fg for muskets/rifles/shotguns, 3Fg for pistols).
Thank you, Mr. Hickok. Never too old to learn something.
This is really confusing stuff for beginners! Thanks for shedding light on it!
Never load your own ammo without a reloader's bible as we saw here. It's all to easy to make a load which will destroy your gun.
If you have any questions, just reach out. And the Hodgdon Reloading webpage is your friend for getting load data.
Thanks for the explanation. I’m sure there are a lot of ppl that watch your vids that needed that.
Keep up the fine work
Mr Hickok45 is really good at explaining this. I remember trying to explain this to my grandkids and I wish this video would have been available back then. I appreciate this gentleman having teaching experience and being able to break down this for those who did grow up with it. I wish the very best of health and happiness to you all and also to your families!
That powder on the bench is gold the problem in Australia and many other places is you can't buy powder as it's not available, pistol powder predominantly, some small amounts coming through from overseas otherwise rare as rocking horse crap.
Even in the USA Unique powder is $50/lb and often not available.
@@klawockkidd3426 $140.00 for 454 grams in Australia
Why not? Your people don't control your govt?
What a shame on the People for allowing themselves to be subjugated to weaklings
Is production, or imports restricted in Australia?
@@williamallen7836they had a shooting at a historical site, and basically said guns and stuff are now banned.
This new series .. is needed and a great path
I also wish to mention that a heavier bullet often indicates a smaller charge of propellant too. So in 9mm a 115 gr bullet will have more powder that a 147 grain bullet will have. For sake of pressure.
Maybe yes, maybe no. Off the same type of powder, maybe yes. A different powder. Maybe no.
@@TheGrizz1717 it's always going to take less titegroup to send a bullet down range than no. 9 from accurate arms. But it would take less no. 9 to send a 156 gr bullet down range from a 9mm than the amount of no 9 needed to send an 88gr bullet out of the same 9mm cartridge.
There's no maybe about it. It's how physics works.
There is still a lot of assumptions in your statement. Are you loading a mouse fart load with the 88gr bullet a hot load on the 158gr. ( I don't know why you would load 158gr unless you want subsonic)
That is the beauty of handloading you can have many options.
I do understand what you were trying to say, but it would only apply if you were trying to keep preasures the same and using the same powder.
As a newbie, this was very educational for me. I'll admit that when I saw "grains" on boxes of ammo, I was one of those who thought it was referring to a powder charge. I feel a little less foolish now.
We all can learn ❤
On shotshells they use to put a "dram equivalent" label on the box. So magnum loads might have 3 3/4 dram eqivalent while regular loads might say 3 dram equivalent - of black powder. As he showed in his smokeless powder example, the actual powders used vary in density and burn rate so the actual load in the shell would be nowhere near the volume of black powder that would have been used.🤪
@@williamgaines9784Reminds me when I used to wonder why .38 Special /.357 Magnum cases are so long until I found out that the .38 special was so old it originally used black powder so needed a lot more.
I'm 70 years old and used to reload all my ammo, but now I don't. My bullet preference was Speer bullets and they came in yellow plastic boxes ( very handy ). I used an RCBS Rock Chucker, a Lee precision priming tool, a Speer reloading manual, etc. I remember the powder came in much bigger containers.
I'm 82 and started out with a Rock Chucker 30+ years ago. I can't find Speer in the handy yellow plastic boxes anymore. Still shootin'.
@@gitwitcha6676 I am also 71 and used to reload back in early 80s same equipment you used.Good old times. And yes , still shooting.
Same here and same equipment.😊
You never left teaching.
You can tell you was a good teacher sir, and u still are! Thank Mr. HICKOK45, gun videos would not be the same without you and ur good teaching. I needed this video😁
That s the first manual I bought also in 1977. Love Lyman manuals.
I had no idea that the "-70" of a 45-70 was referring to the original powder charge. I always assumed that it was a 45 caliber released in 1870. I learned something new. Thanks!
I have a reproduction Sears Catalog from 1908 and they sold 45-90, 45-120 rifles and ammunition.
Yeah the names of, particularly older, cartridges follows no rules. Ex. .30-06 the 06 does refer to 1906, but .45-70 does not refer to a date. Lots of the older cartridges have confusing names some of which even changed over the years, which makes matching ammo to old guns challenging sometimes. I.e. .32-20.
It can be kind of goofy, the 30-30 was a 30 caliber x 30 grains black powder. Where the 30-06 is 30 caliber Model 1906. (Originally shot from a 1903 Springfield).
"Caliber" can also be a bit goofy. A .30 Caliber rifle roughly means .30in in diameter, but a 5inX38caliber canon is 5 inches by the length of the barrel. The "caliber" is the length of the barrel is 38 times the diameter of the bullet. (That one also took me a bit to figure out.) The actual length of the barrel in "caliber" will vary with the size of the bullet. The battleship 16x50 is a 16" bullet and a barrel length of 16"x50.
@@seventhson27 While the logic holds true for .44-40, it does not hold for .30-30. 30-30 was originally a smokeless powder cartridge. Its original name was .30 Winchester Center Fire, but many other companies made guns and ammo in that caliber that didn't want to slap the name 'Winchester' on their products. They invented the name '.30-30' and probably slapped the second 30 on to keep with the naming convention of the day for rifle rounds. It's also possible that the original loading was thirty grains of smokeless powder?
Also, there was a .30-03 cartridge prior to the more famous .30-06. The aught-three cartridge used a bottle-nose bullet. This bullet was heavier and produced lower velocities while also being draggier through the air. The aught six transitioned to a 'spitzer' bullet which was lighter (leading to higher velocities) and more aerodynamically efficient. We now think of bullet design as being independent to cartridge designation, but this was not the case a century ago.
P.S. I just checked my reloading manual for .30-30. Charge weight seems to range from 21 grains of powder to 38.9 grains (depending on powder and bullet). Thirty grains of smokeless would appear to be a reasonable original loading for the cartridge.
@prycenewberg3976 Good try on summarizing the 30-30, 30-06 n such. To clarify all: Read Cartridges of the World by F.C. Barnes. The first copy of that I ever bought was the 3rd edition in late 1986. His book(s) are the gold standard in many, many gun shops.
Enjoy!!
Wow I've never been this early. Love your work Hickok and crew :D
I'm an RSO at a local public shooting range and one of the regular shooters that's been going there for several years was under the wrong assumption that the projectile weight listed on the box of ammo was the powder charge and I only discovered he had that wrong assumption when he made reference to 147 grain 9mm ammo being more powerful than 115 grain 9mm ammo. I explained it to him that it was the projectile weight and he didn't even know there were different types of gun powders. He thought the ammo companies were required to list how much gun powder the ammo contains. I've been handloading for over 10 years and never actually met anyone that didn't know the difference between projectile weight and powder charges. This guy was well into his 60s and might have been in his lower 70s and has been a shooter since he was a kid so I was shocked someone like that has had that wrong assumption for so long. I can understand if it's a new shooter, but this guy has been shooting for 40+ years.
To be fair, the vast majority of people drive automobiles for most of their lives without having much of a clue how they work.
Similarly, you can shoot guns your whole life without really understanding how they work.
“Stupid is as stupid does”
Forrest Gumps mama
@@wmpx34yeah and those people are effing oddballs.
There's no fool , like an old fool.😅
Thank you sir 🙂 for helping some people that don't know ty
My bread must be really light because it says it's only 6 grains. I got screwed!
Hat tip to ya! Now go away 😂
I read some where years ago that in the days of the first rifle catridge fire arms, the calibre was followed by the amount of standard black powder used. So a 44-40 was .44 calbre using 40 grains of standard black powder. Standard being the standard formula for making black powder. So, the way I believed it be was tha that 45-70 was a .45 calibre with 70 grains of powder.
I was so happy to hear that covered, Thanks Hickok and John.
A concise summary:
The grain is a unit of weight. 1 pound = 16 ounces = 7000 grains; 1 ounce = 437.5 grains; 1 kilogram = 2.204622622 pounds; 1 gram = 15.432358354 grains
For cartridges, the weight of bullets and the powder charge is measured in grains
When one refers to a grain of powder, one is not referring to an individual piece of powder. One refers to an amount of a given powder that weighs one grain.
Smokeless powder comes in many different types, the size, shape, and properties vary. It is dangerous to substitute powders on a weight for weight basis.
That is why he was using a scale to weigh the smokeless or modern powder. However with black powder you use a volume, not a weight
@@mikehoward8201, I know. I've fired black powder rifles before.
My metric ass is trying to wrap my head around why we need another random ass unit for that. What's wrong with just using grams like a normal person.
@@nezu_cc
Because grains is a much finer unit of measure and as such allows one to be much more precise. (Yes, I know, all units of measure can be broken down into smaller fractions that can equal the same weight in grains. There are 15.43235733226571 grains per gram. If I'm developing a load for ultimate accuracy weighing the powder charge to .1 of a grain, would make the gram equivalent far too long and therefore easy to forget thus slowing me down.)
How many grains to finish the border wall and reduce the illegal aliens out of America ?
Very good video Mr Hickok. The most important thing is your reloading manual ( Hornady, Lyman, Sierra, Lee and Nosler are examples ). All of these manuals can be purchased from various sources like Midway or Brownells. It’s a recipe book for safely reloading and shooting cartridges of just about any size ( grain ). Most bullet manufacturers have a published manual about reloading.
I was just talking to my father in law about this. It’s funny you made a video on it. Thank you Hickok
Grains is a unit of measurement used in jewelry too!
And metal but the measurement is on two different scales for metals and powders.
@@mothmagic1 I'm a jeweler and reload my ammo on the same certified scale. To each his own.
And used to be in medicine.
I have been watching you Sir for many years, and I learn something pretty much every time you put out content . Thank you!
Well done teacher!! When I first got started in the sport I didn't understand what the grain really was about. It's something you really need to understand because some guns like my 9m, some like 124 but others like 115 gain lead.
Long live hickok45
I wish I had heard this 30 years ago. I've been a gun owner and shooter off and on for many years. I've read articles talking about "xx grain loads" and wondered what that meant. I've even owned and shot a black powder rifle. I had my own accurate little scale which measures in grams (to help build my son's pinewood derby car), but I never understood what shooters meant until now. Thanks so much.
All good advice Hickok45. Enjoyed your video very much. Thanks.
When I first started reloading many many years ago when I was 20 years old, I started reloading 38/357, and 44 special/44 magnum, I started reloading in 1980 and they were a hell of a lot less powders back then, I was very afraid about what I was doing, so that made me very careful, do not reload while you are distracted, or drinking.
Someone asked about the 577-450 round down in the comments, and now i can't find it. It started out as the British .577 Snider, but they lengthened the case a bit and necked it down to 450 thousandths of an inch diameter. Actually it takes a .455 diameter bullet/projectile though. A huge problem with learning about all these calibers is that the makers use names for chamberings rather than exact measurements. For instance, most of us know that the .38 special round has a .358 or .357 inch diameter bullet/projectile loaded on it, rather than a true .38 hundredths of an inch bullet/projectile, yet they named it the .38 special because - reasons that don't make sense now. To further confuse things, U.S. ammo and gun makers named some cartridges based on a bogus diameter and the amount of black powder, not modern smokeless powder, the case should be loaded with. The 45=70 comes to mind although it is really a .458 diameter bullet over 70 gr.s of black powder. Think the metric system may be better? Nope. The 9mm kurz, 9mm corto, 9x17mm and the .380 ACP are all the same round, yet different from the 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO, 9x19mm which are all names for a single round. Further, don't confuse either of these with 9mm largo, or 9mm Mars which are again, two different rounds. Oh yeah, and the 9x18mm is a Russian thing that is actually wider than the other "9mm's" so it isn't really a 9mm. Why did they do this? Why wasn't small, medium, and large good enough for Starbucks? I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time.
The European numbers are backwards from the American Numbers. For instance, the 577-450 is what was a .577 case "necked down" to a .450 bullet. Whereas a 7mm-08 (American) is a .308 case "necked down to a 7mm bullet.
On has to be careful, to of what size of bullet you are actually using reloading. A 30-06 is actually .308. The 30-30 is .307. DO NOT try to shoot bullets for a 30-06 or .308 out of your 30-30. Whereas the British 303 is actually a .311. The Russian 30x54r is .311, while the AK's 30x39 IS .310. I've shot a quite a lot of .308 out of a 30x54r, but DON"T put a .311 in your 308. It may blow up your gun.
Thank you for the explanation.
Great video!
It's always concerned me just HOW different powder 'Grains' are (In performance/energy), and I can't count the number of folks who've asked me about this over the decades. I'm not a reloader, but I know a little, and certainly the basics. Is always good to address them, because this activity sees new people joining-in all the time!
Thank you.
:-D
This is like being in class, but interesting.
I'm an archer and learned to calculate in grains when I startet building and tuning arrows.
In Archers world - even over here in Europe - grains, pounds and inches are the measuremants of choice. :)
Very helpful info! Thanks for posting!
437.5 grains=1 ounce.
Imperial units are so much fun.
1 grain = 64.79891 milligrams. Quite smart, quite smart..
how many grains in a gram ;)
asked and answered by someone with more coffee i their system below :)
@@bobsch-gd6ze
See my comment above. 1 gram = 15.4324 grains.
Imperial units were based on everyday things. And yes, they were fun!!
id much rather use imperial although Grams and Milligrams have their place at times.
You need to explain the burn rate chart Hickock. Would demonstrate why all powders are different and why they are used for different cartridges and bullet weights.
Damn that bird was LOUD :)
Buy a good UP TO DATE loading manual ! Start at the Suggested starting load and work up to the max ! Not the other way around !
You are right on point. So many just do not understand it isbthe wright of the bullet. Nor, do they understand the difference in the power if the various powders. Sone have had some serious incidents from just not knowing. Thank you for sharing. Everyone stay safe, happy and healthy.
Grains are one of the oldest systems of Mass Measurement still in use to this day. It first came into use during the Bronze Age, based on the weight of a single grain of Barley.
In modern usage, the British system of measurements was first codified in the 1300's, and it passed into Firearm Usage from there. It's still used, though not as often in the Apothecary Measurement System. One 325 milligram Aspirin Tablet is 5 grains of the active ingredient in aspirin (Acetylsalicylic Acid). Phenobarbital is another medication still prescribed in grains.
One Grain is exactly 64.79891 milligrams or 1/5760 Troy Ounce.
Using excessive powder is extremely dangerous. Packing up the cartridge full of powder is a mini grenade💥. The detonation will damage the firearm and quite possibly cause severe injuries. When reloading, please keep your attention on the task so that you don't overload powder by accident. It's a very simple and expensive mistake to make. Silence cell phone, turn off the TV and don't drink while reloading! 🥴
Excellent advice sir.....
h110 says hello
Whether you pack it full, or half full, or just a little full depends on the cartridge and the powder, and other things. .45-70 loaded with black powder must be packed full and even crushed a bit. But loading the same cartridge in smokeless sometimes requires using 'batting' to fill out the case and keep the smaller charge isolated at the bottom of the case by the primer regardless of the direction the rifle is pointing. (This same batting can clog the barrel after just 1-2 shots and cause your grups to open up to plate size at 100 yds.)
TOO LITTLE powder in a case can also be dangerous. That is why reloading manuals give a min/max range. Too little powder can leave an air space in the case which can cause the load to "detonate." Which can also be detrimental to your health.
W296/H110
An excellent video! A great many people do not realize that grains are a unit of measurement. Back in the day, many medications were dosed in grains. Now, of course, milligrams are the common measurement.
Thanks for the video. I truly enjoy watching you guys. The 45-70 project is interesting. Thx much.
This was common knowledge back when our school systems taught basic weights, and measurements
"grains" are units of measure by weight. 437.5 grains = 1 ounce. "corrected"
I used to makeup target loads with 5 grains of Red Dot. You can reload a lot of ammo with 1 pound of Red Dot. If you want to get into reloading, get a good manual, like the Lyman and read up on how to do it. Take no shortcuts and only use recipes published by the powder manufacturer.
I saw the aftermath of someone loading 100 grains (by volume) of H110 into an inline muzzle loader with a Power Belt. It was not far from being a Kentucky Ballistics incident, the gun slightly disassembled itself, shearing half the breach plug threads and splitting at the top where the scope mount screws are. He did get the deer though.
A grain, by the way, is one 7000th (one seven thousandth) of a pound. That's because some king, way back when, declared a pound to be " seven thousand plump grains of wheat". They're also known as "corns", so in old Americal writings you'll find reference to how many corns might have been used to load or prime a flintlock.
Suggestion to all.
Get a grain specific scale.
Getting a universal scale is dangerous. You might have your settings on ounces or grams and you are over loading your powders.
I agree completely. I have a hornady digital scale and its a fairly nice one but what never has made sense to me is that it weighs in grains, grams, and ounces. I never have understood why they include grams or even ounces with this scale. As you said that can be dangerous especially to someone who may be new to reloading.
@@bcrt3387
Or complacent.
When you do the same thing over and over you become over confident and skip your checks.
@@bcrt3387 they include grams because in europe we weigh powder in grams.
In yurp they use the frenchie system.
or just pay attention. I fail to see how someone could accidently use grams instead of grains and not notice that there's way too much powder
Start with 7000gr = 1lb., for those who still believe metric is more accurate than imperial, 1 kilogram is 15,400gr, that will simplify the measurement, even for them. Then jump directly into burn rate of powder and how that could give you a bad day if not comprehended. Then explain how smokeless differs in pressure build up from black powder. It's difficult to get into the reloading discussion with getting deep into the weeds. Tiny units matter, avoid gram measurement, you'll understand why eventually.
when one gram is too heavy, then you can use milli-,micro-, nano- & etc grams :)
A lot of very good information here. I have the same manual and scales that you have there. Thanks
well said great info as usual, thanks hickock
a 'grain' is the weight of a 'Grain of Rice'. It takes 7000 grains of rice to equal 1 Pound, so 7000 grains of Gun Powder will equal 1 Pound of Gun Powder. If you're loading 100 grains of Powder into a shell, you will be able to load 70 rounds of ammunition per pound of powder you use.
It’s a grain of water. Not a grain of rice.
Originally derived from weight of a grain of barley.
@@albundy7459Not the origin of the term. That's how we describe case capacity -- by the weight (in grains) of water that would fill it. Makes sense because loaders typically have scales calibrated in grains. But it would be sort of like saying you're going to go get a pound and a quarter Coke (20 fl. oz. water is about 20 avoirdupois (common weight) ounces in weight).
“Unique is one of the most common powders…”. I think you missed a joke there, sir.
It's got a "quality.."
But what do I know? I can't afford a refrigerator...
Unique is being discontinued
From memory that looked like Unique... 😂
7000grains or 453.6gram or 1 lb
Very informative, thank you!
I love how some units of measurement haven't changed in ten thousand years.
Sorry, but I'm having problems even thinking of what unit of measurement has been around that long. Maybe you could enlighten me?
I took a required class for a handgun qualification license, and someone in the class asked the instructor what did "115 grains" mean for the 9mm ammo he was showing us. He said that's the amount of powder in the cartridge. Shortly thereafter when he showed the class his pistol with the slide locked back, someone asked why the barrel was pointing up slightly. He said that was to compensate for the drop of the bullet during flight. (It was, of course, a Browning style action with the barrel unlocked from the slide at that point). Sheesh!
I saw your intro photo ... I saw your location .... I IMMEDIATLY LOOKED AT THE FOLIAGE OF YOUR LOCATION ... looking for the slightest indications of wind. HEY YOU ROCK!!!!
What does anything in that comment mean?
Great video, sir. very helpful info.
Fun fact, the term grain of measurement unit is suppose to match a actual whole grain of wheat. if you have a 200grain .452 diameter bullet, it should equal 200 grains of wheat.
Nice demonstration 👍👍👍
Thank you for this. I've been a misinformed shooter for a while.
Jeff from TF has been helpful.
That was the same Lyman Manual I started with back in the 1970's but mine is a bit worse for wear. In the back there is a section on Black Powder guns and data for using old Black Powder Cartridges the are also loaded with Smokeless. I also have the old Lyman Cast Bullet Manual that came out about the same time. One pound =16 ounces, 1 ounce =16 Drams , There are 7000 grains =1pound so 1Dram =27.34375 Grains , 1 ounce =437.5 Grains .
The bottle of powder is probably sold by weight and labeled in grams. That could be confusing. A digital scale could measure in ounces, grains, grams or milligrams.
There was a minor scandal with one of the gun magazines way back when. The magazine needed an editor to do a fill in until they got themselves a more permanent editor. But the editor they got to fill in, while he knew how to edit, didn't actually know firearms. As a result when he saw a measurement in grains he changed it to grams. Minor hilarity ensued.
Hickok and me are two nerds. We love talking ballistics. Cartridges of the world is my favorite read.
Curious thing: even in areas where the metric system is used, bullets and powder are usually still measured in grains. Never heard anybody referring to so and so many milligrams of powder.
1 ounce = 437.5 grains
In vietnam fireing the 155mm HOW a powder charge of #7 in a mid range all the way to max #12. this 95 lb round would take around 35-40 sec to inpact target.
Those birds must know his schedule. They are taking advantage of the down time.
Remind non shooters that there are 7000 grains in a pound
At one time, when I was into reloading, I had that same book! It is a powder Bible!
Units of measure are meant to keep the numeric part from getting too large and unfamiliar to most people. My van weighs 4,500 pounds however it weighs 72,000 ounces, but we usually don't use ounces for anything that weighs more than a pound, because 16 ounces = 1 pound.
One grain is an awful lot... It's nearly 65 milligrams! 😊
That's .065 grams or (.065/28) .002 ounce.
Well, actually the way to look at is that 65 milligrams is 65 thousandths of gram. The base unit in that sentence is the gram and you are subdividing it to get a smaller amount of a gram. The grain is much smaller than the gram. 1g (gram) = 15.4324gr (grain)
I really enjoy talking about reloading, been doing it for years now.
That was a very long-winded way to say, "Heck, we really oughta have some kind of metric system" 😁
When enlightening the ignorant; Grains Avoirdupois, of which there are 7000 units to the imperial pound, not to be confused with Granules or Grams. Don’t get me started on Drachmas, still referred to in the world of shotshell loading. The establishment of the volumetric standard for Blackpowder measuring has always fascinated me because of the historical wide disparity in density across the various granulation types and brands.
285 pound bench press is pretty good Hickok!!
230 grains behind a 45? That would make Quigley excited.
I think the measure projectile weight started during the US Civil War to standardize the projectiles which improves the accuracy of the slug. They used full "grains" of wheat with more or less similar sizes/shape and called it "grains".
That's what I learned... incompletely so some US Civil War historians please correct my errors.
Anyone new to reloading should get 2 or 3 reloading manuals and read them more than once. I started with Lyman, Lee and Hornady. Now, I have a couple more. After reading, find a mentor who can walk you through the steps, before launching off on your own.
Unique is a personal favorite
It’s a unit of ‘weight’ of either a bullet or the wight of powder load (different powder will weigh different). Bullets weight will all be same.. Most weights on boxes Will refer to the weight of the bullet, because manufactures usually don’t tell you the powder they are using or the weight of the powder charge.
‘Unique is the most common’. A perfect oxymoron
I can't, and don't want to, talk about details like this unless I know someone listening knows a thing or two about the subject... I also will never share ammo that I assembled.
In the shotgunning world, we use Oz for the weight of the projectiles ( shot ) and Dram's for weight on powder load. 😎
Some of them old manuals are dangerous. Some of the powder companies have changed the compound of their powder over the years.
Someone said to me the other day that I had "sh💩t for grains"... Now I know what they meant!
Wonderful to see that old manual, scale, and containers. I keep my old reloading manuals as well as buying new ones. Unique? Cannot even find it today (2024) for some reason. I will give you $100 for that. 😅 I think it is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, of all the powders.
When talking about powder it is not only "grains," but "grains of WHAT type of powder." 1 oz == 437.5 grains. Powders have different burn rates. Generally if the powder (IMR 4350) burns slower, it will take more powder to achieve the same results as a faster burning powder (Unique).
Just keep in mind that grains considering shooting are used only in US
My Nutritionist says I'm to stay away from 'Grains' and focus on non-starchy Veg and quality proteins
I sure would have like to have heard this 45 years ago, back when I was really getting into shooting. I was 14 when I started going to local shoots with my shotgun. All I really knew about ammo was birdshot, buckshot, led slugs, jacketed, steel and hollow points for the most part. I never gave it much thought. Then I met a reloader when I was 22. He explained it all to me. After that, I actually became a better shooter.
Grains is part of the imperial system used measure weight or mass. Use generally to weight objects that weigh less than a ounce or pound. There are 437.5 grains in an ounce and 7,000 grains in a pound.