777 Powder
 

I thought the loose powder was supposed to be hotter than the pellets?

couple of months ago took my Omega and M700 out to make sure they were still sighted in. My M700 (musket nipple) was shooting with a slight delay in the ignition, don't know if my nipples were too weak or if it was the powder. Then while shooting my Omega I ran out of the loose 777 so I grabbed some 777 pellets that were in my bag. FYI was shooting 110g of loose. Load with two 50g pellets and it shot with more noticeable kick, louder sharper "crack" and grouped 1.5-2" higher.

Any ideas on what's going on? Bad powder maybe?

What powder measure were you using for the loose powder loads? My TC U-View measure throws lighter charges than the scale indicates.

Hodgdon says two 50 grain T7 pellets are equal to 100 grains volume equivalent of black powder (they don't state a black powder grade, but one would assume it's FFg). If I set my TC U-View at the 100 grain mark and fill it with GOEX FFg, the load weighs only 89.5 grains on my RCBS powder scale.

So when I shoot a 100 grain measure of T7 using the TC measure, I am actually shooting less than 90 grains "equivalent" of black powder.

just to clarify I'm talking about volume measure, but I could have sworn that I read somewhere that 100g (by volume measure) of loose would produce more velocity than two 50g (by volume) pellets when dealing with 777

It should. But if you're not getting good ignition, who knows. What temp is it? Are you using misket caps of #11s? I never tried musked caps but #11s were terribly inconsistent in reliably igniting 777 for me below 30-35 degrees.

when i noticed a difference in velocity i was shooting my Omega (209's), with the m700 and musket caps i was getting a slight hangfire

Hey Nolehoe, I think you may have missed the point of my comment.

I understand that you were talking about a volume measure. But how accurate is the measure? When you set it on 100 grains as indicated by the scale on the measure it may actually be throwing something less than the volume equivalent of 100 grains of black powder.

777 will drive you out of your tree. Get some good powder. Lee

Like GOEX. :s1:

Could be a barrel whip difference. Slower loads are exiting the bore when the barrel is higher in its point of whip, but are ultimately inferior. Just a thought.

Nolehoe,

You are correct in thinking that 100g of loose T7 should yield more velocity than 100g of T7 pellets. I can't explain the louder boom or the greater felt recoil, but here is my explanation for your change of impact.
The velocity of the projectile traveling down your barrel probably was slower with the "pellets" load which means more time in the barrel, which means the barrel has more time to recoil up before the bullet exits the barrel, which means a higher point of impact.