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Grains are used worldwide for measuring gunpowder and smokeless powder charges. Historically, the dram (27 + 11 ⁄ 32 grains; not to be mixed up with the apothecaries' dram of 60 grains) has also been used worldwide for measuring gunpowder charges, particularly for shotguns and large black-powder rifles.
These powder measures typically use gravity feed from a hopper of powder above an adjustable cavity in a rotating cylinder. [3] A lever rotates the cylinder so the cavity moves between an upward position where powder can drain from the hopper into the cavity, and a lower position where the powder can drain from the cavity into an empty ...
C-6–C-7 The dram apothecaries is equal to 3 scruples (s ap or ℈) or 60 grains (gr), [5]: C-7 or exactly 3.887 9346 grams. [5]: C-14 "Dram" is also used as a measure of the powder charge in a shotgun shell, representing the equivalent of black powder in drams avoirdupois. [16]
For example, to measure a "60 grain equivalent" of black powder substitute suitable for use in a muzzleloader rifle, one uses a volumetric measure that produces a volume of black powder equivalent equal to the volume of a mass of 60 grains of black powder. For example, because Pyrodex, a common black powder substitute, is less dense than black ...
The term black powder was coined in the late 19th century, primarily in the United States, to distinguish prior gunpowder formulations from the new smokeless powders and semi-smokeless powders. Semi-smokeless powders featured bulk volume properties that approximated black powder, but had significantly reduced amounts of smoke and combustion ...
For example, the .50-90 Sharps has a .50-inch bore and used a nominal charge of 90.0 grains (5.83 g) of black powder. Many such cartridges were designated by a three-number system (e.g., 45–120–3 1 ⁄ 4 Sharps: 45-caliber bore, 120 grains of (black) powder, 3 1 ⁄ 4-inch long case). Other times, a similar three-number system indicated ...
Grains are commonly used to measure the mass of bullets and propellants. [11] [12] In archery, the grain is the standard unit used to weigh arrows. [13] In North America, the hardness of water is often measured in grains per U.S. gallon (gpg) of calcium carbonate equivalents.
Smokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to black powder. Because of their similar use, both the original black powder formulation and the smokeless propellant which replaced it are commonly described as gunpowder .