[Sevens]

Good stuff so far--
As for Blue Dot, works great for me. I simply use the rifle cylinder in my Hornady powder measure rather than the pistol chamber-- instead of the small tube adjusted out for a heavy charge, I use the BIG tube adjusted quite a way down for a small charge. My powder measure is pretty consistent with Blue Dot when I use it this way. I even keep a note stickied to my bottle of Blue Dot to remind me. 8.0 grains with either a 100 or 110 grain jacketed bullet performs well for me. Blue Dot is cheap and 8.0 grains is a little more than half of what many of the others call for. I won't go as far as to say it's the best powder, but it sure does work pretty well for me.

cobra81 -- you said you've used Unique. Was that in cast loads only, or with jacketed rounds? I'd like to hear a powder charge and bullet used with Unique.

zxcvbob -- sticky chambers, no doubt. Factory rounds give me trouble, but my Blue Dot loads don't give me much hassle. I've seen them go sticky as the powder charge goes up with IMR-4227. Lighter load, less sticky. I've tried to really scrub my chambers and with a very light abrasive like Flitz. I also keep a short cleaning rod and some patches in the range kit to combat the sticky chambers. I do agree that some polishing is the answer. In your post you said that AA#7 is a good powder... but WHERE do I start? I like to see at least one published somewhere rather than just wing it, but I've never seen one published or even posted with AA#7. Have you? Where would you start for 110 grain jacketed round and AA#7?

Hook686 -- thanks for the link, a good read. Does peeve me off when some gun writer somehow "finds" a gun in his safe he bought and forgot that he owns. Jealous... sure. That's obnoxious! But a good read.

wncchester -- Yup, it's a hellish loud caliber/handgun combo. No doubt. This is the prevailing opinion across the globe. The terms "Blackhawk" and ".30 Carbine" almost never appear in the same conversation without some or many people talking about the blast and noise. For me, doesn't bother me in the slightest because I don't shoot anything without my ear protection. Others may be subjected to it when hunting, but for me, it's a non-issue.

T. O'Heir -- I asked for and got your e-mail in the past, so thanks for that.

In all, good stuff in this thread. I'm still looking for more sources for bullets... seems I can get 500 FMJ or JSP from Midway for around $60 or so, that's $12 per hundred before shipping. I'd like to do better but I might be dreaming.

Still hoping someone has a better source for slugs for this caliber.

The blast, lack of recoil and accuracy of the Blackhawk in .30 is an absolute joy. The case prep at the reloading bench is a real hassle. The lack of data and discussion is a little annoying... seems to me that it's a pretty popular caliber.

As for the Blackhawk, I'd love it if it were a 5 1/2 barrel rather than this monster 7 1/2, but I think you'd give up quite a bit of performance in those two inches given that the round was developed for a carbine length rifle barrel.