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As I have never been able to attend the chunk gun matches where the top shooters are in attendance, I was wondering if drop tubes were used or if they just dump the powder down at the muzzle and maybe tap the side of the barrel to settle?
Thx,
Mike
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I guess nobody wants to share their super secret recipe for success. So I'll just say that some of the top shooters use drop tubes and some don't. Paul did. I can't remember specifically any body else right now. Big brother and I did experiments years ago and found that powder doesn't stick to the the bore of a cleaned and dried competition gun. Folks have said they've poured powder down an unbreeched barrel and only X% comes out the bottom. What may be happening there is they set the breech end on the floor, pour the powder, then lift the barrel up and some (but not all) falls out. That's because when all that powder gets to the bottom it packs itself a bit (that's what happens with a drop tube), bridges the gap, and makes itself get stuck in there. If you hold the barrel up off the floor a few inches essentially all of the powder will fall through and you'll have a nice mess to sweep up.
Fact is, the barrel itself is a drop tube, and the powder compacts itself just as if a drop tube were used. If you think it helps you, and a lot of guys think it does, then go ahead. Most of this game is in your head anyway. As for me, I'm a dump and shake guy - pour the powder in then kind of shake the gun from side to side to try to be sure there's powder up next the touch hole of the White Lightnin' liner. Big brother smacks the breech with the palm of his hand a few times. Either way the guns seem to go off right regularly. Good luck.