After the reaction I got today in the local reloading supply shop, I hesitate to ask my question here. When I told the guy what I was doing, he looked at me as if I had shown him my al Qaeda membership card. Then he went into lawyer mode, stopped answering my questions, and told me he wasn't going to sell me anything "for that purpose".
And I realize this is potentially dangerous territory, which is why I am trying to ask a lot of questions and understand the issue.
I am trying to make blanks. My interest in photography has gotten me into filmmaking, and I am going to be helping out with a short film that involves some shooting. (Yes, I know, don't shoot at anyone, even if it is a blank.) I have a set of Hornady "Cowboy Action Blank Cartridge" dies, which puts a rosette crimp on any case from 22 to 45 caliber.
However, I don't know what to put in the cases. Black powder is all I know. The instructions with the dies tell me to use black powder. The little information I have found online has said to use black powder. Smokeless powder causes set-back primers. But what kind of black powder and how much? I basically know nothing about black powder.
These will either go into a 32 H&R Magnum or a 38 Special.
I gather that there are different burn rates of black powder, resulting from different granual size. I assume I want a fast-burning powder. What indicates the powder's burn rate, and how do I select one?
Does black powder, like smokeless powder, require a certain amount of pressure to burn fast? Or is this not a factor for black powder, and hence the reason why black powder is better for blanks?
How is black powder measured? Recipes on the bottles say things like "100 gr. vol.", and I know muzzle loaders use a fixed powder measure that measures by volume. Can I convert grains of volume to cubic centimeters?
And the big question is, how much to use? When I experimented with smokeless powder blanks in a 44 Magnum, I picked the fastest burning powder I had on hand, and I used the amount of powder listed in a 45 LC load. It worked okay, except for the set-back primers. What could I use as a starting point for a black powder load?
Obviously, I don't want to do anything unsafe, and I don't want to blow up a gun. I don't want to just try things that have been untested. If Hornady makes dies for cowboy action blanks, it stands to reason that there are people who do this kind of thing all the time. I just haven't been able to find any information on it.
And I realize this is potentially dangerous territory, which is why I am trying to ask a lot of questions and understand the issue.
I am trying to make blanks. My interest in photography has gotten me into filmmaking, and I am going to be helping out with a short film that involves some shooting. (Yes, I know, don't shoot at anyone, even if it is a blank.) I have a set of Hornady "Cowboy Action Blank Cartridge" dies, which puts a rosette crimp on any case from 22 to 45 caliber.
However, I don't know what to put in the cases. Black powder is all I know. The instructions with the dies tell me to use black powder. The little information I have found online has said to use black powder. Smokeless powder causes set-back primers. But what kind of black powder and how much? I basically know nothing about black powder.
These will either go into a 32 H&R Magnum or a 38 Special.
I gather that there are different burn rates of black powder, resulting from different granual size. I assume I want a fast-burning powder. What indicates the powder's burn rate, and how do I select one?
Does black powder, like smokeless powder, require a certain amount of pressure to burn fast? Or is this not a factor for black powder, and hence the reason why black powder is better for blanks?
How is black powder measured? Recipes on the bottles say things like "100 gr. vol.", and I know muzzle loaders use a fixed powder measure that measures by volume. Can I convert grains of volume to cubic centimeters?
And the big question is, how much to use? When I experimented with smokeless powder blanks in a 44 Magnum, I picked the fastest burning powder I had on hand, and I used the amount of powder listed in a 45 LC load. It worked okay, except for the set-back primers. What could I use as a starting point for a black powder load?
Obviously, I don't want to do anything unsafe, and I don't want to blow up a gun. I don't want to just try things that have been untested. If Hornady makes dies for cowboy action blanks, it stands to reason that there are people who do this kind of thing all the time. I just haven't been able to find any information on it.