Wasted powder?

[Shotgun Willy]

I figure if anyone has an answer to this it'll be ya'll. I've got an 1860 Army that I'm awful fond of shooting and it, like most, makes a nice big fireball at night and a mess of smoke during the day. I load anywhere from 20 to 30 grains of Pyrodex P depending on the mood I'm in. 25 gives me the best performance but sometimes I'm after smoke and noise so I use 30.
Now for the dumb question. How much of the 30 grains is actually used and how much burns after leaving the barrel? At what point, if there is one, am I just wasting powder? Or is it that with more grains there are more burning particles and hence more pressure?
Theoretically to have the last little particle burn as the ball leaves the barrel would be optimal, but is that possible? Or do I need to quit thinking about this stuff while I'm covering the night shift and can get back to my normal day schedule?
Bill

 

[sundance44s]

You really need a crono to determine the point of diminishing returns ..I just invested in one a few months ago ..don`t know of a better investment I`ve made , of course like all electronics they`ll gotten much cheaper these days .

 

[Mark whiz]

Chronographs and black powder make for an interesting combination - the Chrono usually ends up covered in residue, making clean-up "fun"
If you get the Chrono too close to the barrel, you can get false readings on wads, sabots, and even powder residue. I've used mine for black powder testing on several occassions, and learned to cover the front of thew unit with cardboard to ease the clean-up and a few baby-wipe type clothes are good to keep on-hand for cleaning the skyscreens at the range before the powder residue sets up.

As far as wasting powder goes, if 25gr gives you the best accuracy just stick with that - you'll get a few extra shots out of every pound of powder and the amount of smoke between 25 & 30gr will be negligible to the naked eye. Heck, as long as you're surrounded by smoke - it's all good!

Now if you ever try to hunt with that piece, then use the 30gr load as long as it is accurate enough for what you are attempting to do - you'll want as much power as you can get to bring down a critter.