aluminum

[kenny sd]

not wanting to use a plastic funnel, I ordered an aluminum one large enough to fill my loading tube.
question...could not find a large brass one, so is aluminum safe for BP and non sparking? Ken

[Kenny Wasserburger]

What’s wrong with plastic?

KW..

[martinibelgian]

It's what we call "yellow powder against elephants"... Agree with Kenny, no issues at all with plastic and no, static electricty generated in a funnel (or a powder hopper for that matter) will not ignite BP.

[DeadEye]

Don't tell Swiss there's something wrong with plastic, or Goex, or Schuetzen. they'd have to change all their packaging. They switched to plastic to get away from metal because it's safer. Kenny, based on your earlier comment about reducing what you keep on hand to three pounds for safety I'm thinking maybe you would be better off doing something else, easier on your nerves. Know what I mean? I don't know how you expect to get any consistency out of your shooting with only three pounds to work with. I use that much just working up a load and the other 22 go to the matches. Just saying, no harm intended.

Paul

[august west]

What does "yellow powder against elephants" mean?

[Nuclearcricket]

Aluminum is non ferrous and thus non sparking, Its quite safe to use with BP. When I built my drop tube I custom made an aluminum funnel for on top of the tube and haven't had any problems at all. I also have a large plastic funnel that I use when putting powder back in the original container and have not had any problems with that either. A brass funnel would work just as well if you could find one but aluminum is easier to form and a bit cheaper for a manufacturer to run through stamping machinery to form into funnels.
Sam

[kenny sd]

Thanks Cricket. that's the answer I needed. the plastic funnel is too small. I need a bigger one to fill the hopper up in the air. and they don't make a 5 inch brass funnel. go figure.
If plastic is ok, why do they not recommend the plastic hopper used for smokeless for black powder.
we had a house blow up here last month. 100 pounds of black powder...propane tank, BOOM. two guys were reloading and are still in the hospital.

got me thinking.

Ken

[DeadEye]

I can appreciate from your recent experience you're a lot wary. We of course don't know what set it off but I highly doubt it was a static discharge. The only accident I know of was caused when the man's ash fell off his cigarette into the funnel. He blamed the funnel. Now this is where science comes in, there are many different kinds of plastics NOW. I say now because when the rumor about plastics not being safe started there were fewer types and some would actually cause static to build. It was then that folks got the idea maybe it wasn't good and of course the powder measure folks went right along with it as they sold twice as many powder dispensers. Then a new formula came along that did not generate static and that is when all the powder manufacturers switched to plastic containers since they are safer. Here's a link you might be interested in showing how difficult it is to ignite Black Powder with static discharge: https://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_ex ... parks.html

If we ourselves perpetuate these myths how can we attract more converts to the Holy Black?

Paul

[Glen Ring]

We use Pyrodex . No Worries.

[DeadEye]

And ignorance is bliss.

[DeadEye]

So few people use it that I've never seen a test on Pyrodex so I did a little searching. I think this quote makes my point.

"Ultimately, Pyrodex is a somewhat safer alternative to traditional black powder. I say “somewhat safer,” because the original inventor was killed when the first Pyrodex plant blew up in the late 1970’s."

Paul

[Glen Ring]

Kenny
You can't be too careful with something labeled as Explosive.
As we all know there are many ways to get blown up if you're not careful and even then "Experts" make mistakes that cost them dearly.
I store my gun powder 100 yards from my home in my "shootin shak" where We also load our ammo. If I make a mistake like the folks you are referring to , and get hurt I don't want my family to be injured.
The manufacturers of products publish what seems like excessive safety precautions to follow, but I follow them anyway.

Years ago, Jeanne and I were shooting a lever action match and a fellow who claimed to have shot several records and had written and disseminated several articles about shooting was talking to us about reloading. He had a bunch of knowledge and was before us shooting. His 45-70 came from together and the fore stock hit me in the chest. His hand looked terrible...the 45-70 was ruined.

This fellow was VERY experienced but made one little mistake that fortunately only cost him a rifle, some lacerations on his hand and me only a bruised chest.
Jeanne was impressed with his reloading mistake and when she started loading her ammo she follows a very predictable and overly safe routine.

[kwilliams]

I looked on Ebay and found several brass and copper funnels that could work. Some cheap and some not so much.
kw

[bobw]

What’s wrong with plastic?

KW..

Nothing wrong with plastic , glass, rubber ,aluminum or brass but stand on a rubber floormat while drop tubing it's easier on your feet and her knees might get blowed to heaven but prolly not to hell. Kenny you asked.bobw

[Coltsmoke]

It has been tested in the labs, static electricity will not, I'll say it again, WILL NOT, ignite BP. I'm not talking about Billy Bob doing a test in the back yard with his half brother Joe Bob. The warning is just corporate attorneys covering every ones ars. I've poured BP out of a plastic bottle into a plastic hopper that dumps into a plastic funnel attached to a drop tube for 12 yrs. I'm still here. Not only has it been tested in a lab, I and a lot of others on here has tested it well over a 1000 times, we're still here.