ORIGINAL: charlie brown
I have never tried any type of filler or anything with my muzzle loader. Just the powder and bullet. I have also considered trying some Pydrodex P, and as long as I stay with no more than 80 grains, should be fine with no worries about the pressure spikes. I don't have any, so would have to pick some up next time I go north. What does the ground oatmeal do to the load? I would just put 10 grains of oatmeal on top of the powder, then seat the bullet?
Now my interest is peaked, so I may have to grind some up, and do a control velocity test, and a test with oatmeal tomorrow when I go to town.
Charlie,
I think just about any meal would help. Cream of wheat (farina), cornmeal, it is just that we like oatmeal, (and its supposed to be good for cholesterol), and it happened to be there that day. So I just put some in my coffee grinder and ground some up.
And yes, load the powder, lightly tap the butt of the rifle to pack it, drop the oatmeal. Then seat the bullet. Charlie, I made a scoop which measures 10 grains of meal out of a piece of oak drilled to accept the barrel of a pen (quit writing, shrug) which was cut just right for ten grains. Works awesome. One other thing. Other with more experience than I use 20 grains. But thats the fun of it, experimenting, having a blast with it.
Charlie, one other thing. In the sidekick, with the 385 GP, I found that pyro p produced inferior velocities with respect to RS. I can't explain it and it took me completely by surprise. What I found pyro p to excell with is patched roundball, and ballets. It seems to like lighter projectiles, at least in my sidekick and hawken. If you are going to be primarily shooting the maxiball, you may prefer to opt for RS in this next purchase if my experience with the 385 is indicative of what you may expect with the maxiball.