Crushing Pellets - Words of Hodgdons VP

[exMember]

In an email, I asked Hodgdon VP, Chris Hodgdon if he could take some time and tell us why it's not a good idea to crush up a pellet and use it as loose powder. Most of us already know, but this is for the new guys that may have watched the video of a guy crushing a Blue MZ pellet and then saying you can then load the full pellet on top. Why you'd go through this process is beyond me! Plenty of loose powder out there to choose from that is accurate, consistent and cleans up easy. If the smell of good ol black powder bothers you, the hang fires that the sub black powders can create, will have you smiling as you load up with the stinky black powder.

That's a good topic with the crushing Pyrodex, Triple Seven and White Hot Pellets.  

First of all we highly recommend to NOT crush Pellets.

There are two separate issues, one is crushing them intentionally and the other is accidentally crushing.

By crushing the Pellets intentionally (outside of the gun) the shooter could experience high pressure spikes (depends if the shooter is using a modern muzzleloading rifle or old rifle, cap and ball revolvers are also included). Intentional crushing causes the powder to be broken up in different sized particles thus causing inconsistent poor accuracy and possible high pressure.

By crushing Pellets by accident (inside the gun) this will most likely not cause high pressures, just terrible accuracy.

We recommend that the shooter mark their ramrod when the bullet/sabot is firmly seated on the Pellets. This way the next time the gun is loaded the shooter will know the proper length to properly seat the load (without crushing the Pellets).

For those that did NOT see the video but are reading this, Here you are. 24 minutes of covering your face and shaking your head fun.
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[Anonymous]

Why is Santa Claus trying-out the Traditions Mountain Rifle I asked-for, this Christmas? :no:

He better clean it good, before wrapping it. :evil:

 

[lighthorseman]

All of this modern "muzzle loading" is Greek to me....but to anyone familiar with black powder, the smaller the granulation, the greater surface area.......faster the burn.....greater the pressures......i.e the more explosive. Modernization of ML propellants has it's advantages, but there are basic common sense safety factors that simply can't be ignored.....and carelessness whether a 250 year old original flintlock or the most modern sophisticated inline scoped muzzle loader is inexcusable. :2 cents:

 

[Buck Conner1]

If you practice, know you game habits and make the first shot count (ball placement) you wouldn't need the second, third or tenth shot to keep your game down. 

This is like teaching a kid to shoot with a single shot, he becomes good with one shot then he grows up and buys a semi auto and now he can't hit anything.

 

[ceader savage]

PELLETS WEIGHT DIFFERENCE AMOUNTS A 50 CAL PELLET CAN RUN FROM 18 GR TO 44 GR I KNOW I WEIGHT THEM SO 2 - 50 GR MAKES 100 B.S. I'LL USE LOOSE POWDER THANKS

 

[reinholzrudy]

WELL I USE TO BE THE CEADER SAVAGE. ONE THING I WILL SAY IS MEASURE THE TRIPLE 7 3 FG POWDER AT 80 GR U WILL GROUP BETTER THEN 100 GR EVERY TIME AND ITS KILLS OUT TO 125 YARDS, I KNOW THIS BECAUSE I HAVE  DONE IT A 20 YARDS TRACK JOB THAT A BLIND MAN COULD SMELL

 

[Hylander]

I just saw that video a couple of weeks ago and thought, WHY ?

 

[Marty1]

On "inside the gun" crushed pellets and lost accuracy:

I found that to be the case early-on once after experiencing a staggered ignition/recoil :scratch: with horrible accuracy.    I then reloaded three 90 grain pellets again, carefully removed my load and discovered some crushed fragments of the pellets rather than whole.  I was incorrectly seating the Powebelts too :evil: aggressively.

 

[Buck Conner1]

I just saw that video a couple of weeks ago and thought, WHY ?

Same thought.......