If you call the people at the gun companies and press them hard enough they will admit that they advertize and put information in their manuals that their guns can handle 150 grains of granular they will admit that it is a marketing gimmick aimed at the bigger is better crowd. They all contend that it is safe but recommend that you should never exceed 100 grains by volume. My man at Hodgdon told me that to get an complete burn of 150 grains of powder you would need a barrel at least 40 inches long. He contends that even with 100 grains of loose or pellets you can't get complete burn in any barrel shorter than 30 inches. Out of curiosity I had a friend, a real camera nut, take pictures of me firing my CVA Wolf, 24 inch barrel, loaded with 100 grains in the dark. It shocked the hell out all of us that there was around eleven inches of flame coming out of the barrel. Using pellets the flame was still around six inches. The guy from Hodgdon says that all this magnum crap is straight up B.S and a waste of powder and money. His policy is to never recommend using more than 100 grains of any of their products in a 50 caliber gun.
I would say that I think you are pretty much incorrect in most of this information in this post amd I think others can and will confirm. If you get a chronograph out and measure the velocities it will tell you exactly when you hit the
rule of diminishing returns...
Look at this chart and you will see a velocity increase with greater than 100 grains... CVA has even acknowledge that in their recent manuals... CVA and Traditions of yesterday did say exactly what you are indicating but now that they are producing rifles with better quality barrels thet also have changed their thoughts.
But, I would agree that 100 grains in most instances is probably all you would need...
The powder companies do have to protect their liability and recommend powder loads thatr are safe for ALL rifles - good ones and not so good ones. Manufacturers then test their own guns and set safe load data for their guns.
This is the load data set for Knight Rifles. This load data is good for all black powders and approved black powder substutues including BH-209..
