Dark VS lite loads

[Martini2]

Lately I've enjoyed looking into the "dark side" ;-) I.E. loading BOTH BP and Smokeless in different rifles for different events. As a 73 year old Geezer it is a privilege to do so. The BP is in 40-65 and NRA Silhouettes are that game. Since the serious BP is a new adventure the results to date have not pushed the fun meter. However to restore my soul the 45-70 is loaded with #457132s and 25 gr. of IMR 4198 for equal velocity in my '74 replica Sharps. With this "white load" we attended a high power rifle 600 yds. practice match week ago. Pleased to say first round was on paper ( 3 min high 2 min right of X). I'd figured elevation to be just over 1 inch mark on the staff of Soule long range rear sight By end of session the 45-70 was tuned into 9-10 & X ring on standard 600 yd center. Three of us cross over shooters using 19th century iron had similar experience shooting smokeless along with the High Power rifle shooters. The one thing really different was the bore in the Sharps did not need nor receive maintenance until the rifle was home. Just for further tonic the same '74 Sharps and 4198 load was used this past Sunday at gong match in Defiance Ohio (hanging silhouettes 100-400 yards.) We shoot pigs and turkey steel both at 300 yards to make 50 record round match. I took 2nd with 40/50 and my partner hit 44/50 (45-70 with Snovers and smokeless too). There was a side prize for "best team" which we took with 84/100 combine score. I guess my point here is having 5 decades with smokeless shows over my current 6 mo. experience in developing serious Black Powder rifle loads is evident. Having a foot in both worlds is not a bad thing. Using the same rifles and kit hopefully will help bring along the experiment in fuels ;-) Getting more trigger time is on the Bucket List. The people one meets in either fuel type are usually all 1st class. Aim small too I hear that helps

[SgtDog0311]

I started out shooting distant dingers several years ago with Smokeless and I'm glad I did. Lots of fun but more importantly it lead me to Black Powder and BPCR.

I'm read everything I could on powders the older my guns got and they got older quick as most all moderns were sold for vintage guns. I especially relied on Sherman Bell in coming to prefer a very narrow range of powders that produce a pressure curve less dramatic than Black in the chamber and all the way down the bore. He used strain gauges at both the chamber and at spacing down the bore. I don't deviate when I do shoot smokeless but have to say that Black Powder consumes nearly all my time anymore.

No one can argue there is not increased risk with double charges so all I say to anyone dabbling is "do your research, rely on evidence and not what someone posts, and practice triple-checks when loading reduced loads".