Puzzling Out Our Propellants
OVER THE LAST decade or so, black powder shooters in South Africa have experienced dramatic fluctuations in the supply of propellant. Firstly, AECI ceased mass-production of the old G-20; then supplies off Swiss- and German-made powders dried up due to the high cost of importation and distribution, after which substitutes like Sannadex appeared and disappeared.
A reported last year in Magnum, the situation improved somewhat with the introduction of Obatex and we now also have the ZAR range which means that local black powder shooters currently have a choice of propellants.
However, while getting the velocity right in muzzle-loaders involves little more than determining the correct charge weight, the situation becomes more complex when loading modern black powders into large capacity 19th century cartridge cases. One of the keys to accuracy with these old breech-loaders is the ability to fill the case
