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Black Powder and MEC 9000


irish ike, SASS #43615

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Pyrodex, Triple Seven would be OK in this press. Hodgdon has done testing on the safety of these products in reloading presses. Real black powder is NOT safe in a powder measure unless the measure was specifically designed for BP like Lyman and Hornady have. MEC and Hodgdon (who owns GOEX) DO NOT recommend BP in MEC presses. BP is much more sensitive to friction, shear forces, impact and electrostatic discharge than smokeless powder, Pyrodex and Triple Seven.

 

So you can choose to put yourself, your family and your health at risk or you could choose to go along with the folks who make the press and the powder, the people who do the safety testing.

 

I would go with the industry on this as a powder hopper full of black powder is much like a hand grenade at eye level.

 

BTW, internet forums are not known to be the best possible sources of information. When in doubt, contact the product manufacturer. It could save your life or just make your life easier in the long run.

 

Hodgdon Powder Company 1-800-622-4366 ext 110

 

Birdshot

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I'm curious, read a lot about not using various reloading equipment that is plastic when loading real BP. How does it come that the Swiss powder I just got came in plastic bottles??? Inquiring minds want to know.

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I've been using BP in my MEC 9000 for about 10 years with no problem. That being said, I replace the plastic hopper with an old Goex BP metal container.

 

In today's world it's safer for a company to say NO, than it is to say sure, you can use BP in it. I also use my 40 year old RCBS powder measure to load my pistol/rifle rounds. Just gets too messy charging on my 650.

 

My $.02

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BP is much more sensitive to friction, shear forces, impact and electrostatic discharge than smokeless powder, Pyrodex and Triple Seven.

 

I love it. A respected cowboy shooter who is also a representative of the company that actually makes Goex explains why it should not be done. And he is ignored. Notice he mentioned more than static electricity.

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Mine works just fine with BP...just like all my other reloaders...How have you been Ike? long time no see..

 

Muck

 

I've been great. WOrk has kept me away from out of my area shoots. Hope to get around this year. How goes your world?

Ike

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I love it. A respected cowboy shooter who is also a representative of the company that actually makes Goex explains why it should not be done. And he is ignored. Notice he mentioned more than static electricity.

 

Hey Driftwood.

 

The info and opinions you give on the wire are always well informed and show a great body of knowledge and experience. THanks for always providing info without all the hoopla we get on the wire.

 

I load my BP shotgun on a MEC Junior right now. I use the metal can the powder comes in. What reloading press do you use?

Thanks

Ike

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Hey Driftwood.

 

The info and opinions you give on the wire are always well informed and show a great body of knowledge and experience. THanks for always providing info without all the hoopla we get on the wire.

 

I load my BP shotgun on a MEC Junior right now. I use the metal can the powder comes in. What reloading press do you use?

Thanks

Ike

 

For Black Powder metallic cartridges I have a Lyman Black Powder measure that I can pop onto one of my Hornady L&L AP presses. For BP shotgun I use a MEC Jr, but I am probably the last person on the planet who still refuses to put Black Powder into the plastic bottle. I dip the powder by hand when I load BP shotgun.

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Although I have never loaded black powder shotgun shells on my MEC, I'm interested in the general topic of black powder safefy as I have an 1860 army pistol on order from Cabelas. Among the various issues related to safety, static concerns seem to generate a good bit of discussion on various forums. To save the OP some time searching, I found the following links quite interesting:

 

http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,6573.0.html

 

http://www.theopenrange.net/forum/index.php?topic=1735.0

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I've been great. WOrk has kept me away from out of my area shoots. Hope to get around this year. How goes your world?

Ike

 

Everything is great with me...retired and shooting every weekend. Have not shot Fernley since the date of the shoot changed back 3(?) yrs ago.

 

Muck

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Everything is great with me...retired and shooting every weekend. Have not shot Fernley since the date of the shoot changed back 3(?) yrs ago.

 

Muck

 

Muck

We moved the shoot back to the original weekend. It was clashing with graduations etc. This year it's June 16 to the 19th.

Ike

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Driftwood

 

I found on my charge bar the GOEX can screws right onto the bar. I also use the MEC JR. I use the universal bar so I can adjust shot and powder to where I need it. I was thinking of speeding up the process with the 9000.

Ike

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Driftwood

 

I found on my charge bar the GOEX can screws right onto the bar. I also use the MEC JR. I use the universal bar so I can adjust shot and powder to where I need it. I was thinking of speeding up the process with the 9000.

Ike

 

Yes, a lot of guys do that. Just because the can fits on the MEC does not make it a good idea.

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On the cartridge side of things a Hornady rep said no to bp on their LNL AP and this even includes using their own bp measure on it. He said it was not just about the measure but also greatly due to the mechanical operation of the progressive style presses?? He went so far as to state that Hornady has never informed the public that their bp measure can easily adapt to replace the standard LNL powder measure for the AP. Since Goex Pinnacle was discontinued, I now use APP exclusively for pistol cartridge caliber loads and have not actually discussed this with Hornady. I do load Goex on my PW 900 and just hope to not be the one that is caught up in the odds AND on an individual basis, unless someone can show statistics showing otherwise, we are probably as safe from that explosion as we are from a lightening strike in our own back yard.

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On the cartridge side of things a Hornady rep said no to bp on their LNL AP and this even includes using their own bp measure on it. He said it was not just about the measure but also greatly due to the mechanical operation of the progressive style presses??

 

Howdy

 

That really does not make a whole lot of sense. I load real Black Powder on one of my Hornady presses all the time. The only possible logic I can see for that statement is that the mechanical linkage that operates the powder measure may jerk things around as the ram rises so that the powder gets subjected to severe compression or shearing as the powder measure operates. It is possible to ignite Black Powder through violent mechanical stress. The Hornady BP press substitutes a brass rotor for the normal steel rotor. The body of the measure is made of iron. By substituting the brass rotor mechanical sparks that might form from a steel rotor scraping against the iron body are eliminated. Don't forget, although it is not well proven that static sparks can ignite Black Powder, mechanical sparks, such as those created by flint striking steel ignite Black Powder very reliably.

 

Rather than the Hornady BP measure, I use a Lyman BP measure on my Hornady press when I load BP. It too uses a brass rotor rather than steel or iron, to eliminate sparking. I do not engage the linkage to operate the powder measure, instead I flip the rotor manually for every powder drop. This may or may not be more gentle on the powder grains than relying on the linkage, I really do not know.

 

But I really cannot understand why a rep would state that the Hornady press is unsafe to use with BP when used in conjunction with their own BP measure.

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DJ, this was several years ago and became the point at which I began to believe that there would be no scenario in which any AP type press would be endorsed by its manufacturer for bp use, regardless! Though for my preferences, real bp is only rarely loaded on my LNL AP but if the need arose I would jump right in and be one of the ones who would do it through the standard smokeless powder measure. The Hornady bp measure is set up for bench use with long range loading. I am sure that some bp explosions do occur in the home loaders reloading rooms but I am convinced that they are not a regular occurrence and those factory explosions we hear so much about every few years indicates they are still searching for many answers themselves.

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For Black Powder metallic cartridges I have a Lyman Black Powder measure that I can pop onto one of my Hornady L&L AP presses. For BP shotgun I use a MEC Jr, but I am probably the last person on the planet who still refuses to put Black Powder into the plastic bottle. I dip the powder by hand when I load BP shotgun.

 

Not the last, all of my BP shotgun shells are hand dipped as well.

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