ronlaughlin
130g of BH resulted in an incomplete burn with powder all over the snow. I had high hopes for a 120g load, and tried it for 3 days, but it just wasn't what i had hoped for. Today, i tried 115g BH pushing the 270g Gold Dot, and it worked pretty good.
Ron, I am not so sure that you were seeing un-burnt powder in the snow. The last time i was shooting BH at the farm I noticed the same thing and I was shooting 90 grains at the time. I collected a few of the black particles of the snow and from top of my Chronograph. I honestly think they are powder residue, the result of the burning powder. The particles that I collected and then tried to ignite in a tuna can with a propane torch would not burn or reburn...
Another reason I believe it is residue, is that I shot 90 thru 130 grains of BH and saw a substantial velocity increase with each different load. The next thing is I was shooting a 300 grain bullet.
Now here is the flip side.... shooting a light weight bullet with BH you might be shooting powder out the barrel as the light bullet gets out the barrel so fast BH does not have enought time to burn.
If you look at this chart, i was using a light 200 grain bullet and you can see that BH did not hold its own until I got way up in the powder load. Then it appears that it was shooting or burning, progressive burning, was about in time with the exit of the bullet from the barrel.
Guess it all come down to you will have to make your own judgement...