I never have worried too much about velocity. In my Lymans 1st Edition reloading manual they don't show 3F for shotguns but in a 45cal rifle and 50grs of 3F, it has a 1212 velocity, and a 60gr charge of 2F has a 1238 velocity. So, a 10gr difference is about the same. Am I gonna spend the money to prove something I've known to be true from 50 years of shooting BP - no. I never thought about going with 3F in a shotgun till about 10 years ago and over on the doublegunshop.com a couple of the guys were talking about 70gr 3F charges in the 12ga worked just great shooting skeet. That was with 1oz of shot. They claimed their leads didn't change and I tried it and liked it. The finer the powder, the faster the burn, the more energy, so the higher the velocity. Don't matter if it's a bullet or a load of shot; the same principle applies. With the cost of BP today I like to save a little money. You can get a 100 of the 70gr loads from a pound of BP. With 82gr loads it's only 85 loads.
I'm sorry I used the terms " about the same ". BP shooting/loading/reloading is so much different than smokeless. Loads can be varied 5, 10, 20, or more grains, and nothing is going to blow up. Same with going from 1, 2, or 3F. The noise and velocity will change, and that's about all. I've loaded from 80 to 110grs of 2F in the 12ga and only the recoil, noise, and velocity changed. BP is more dangerous in some ways, but safer in other ways. I never get tired of shooting it, only cleaning after.
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Paul Harm
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