In short... what is the definition of "DRAM" ???
Hello all.
I was just wondering if anyone could tell a dumb(beeeep) like me, the difference between 3DRAM, FullDRAM, MAX DRAM and such..??
What the heck is DRAM..??
I'm thinking of shotgunshells here.
I was just wondering if anyone could tell a dumb(beeeep) like me, the difference between 3DRAM, FullDRAM, MAX DRAM and such..??
What the heck is DRAM..??
I'm thinking of shotgunshells here.
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1/16 of an ounce. 0 -
Unit of measurement for volume... 0 -
Shotshells are marked in the somewhat archaic "dram equivalent" of black powder. Thus, a 12 ga. shotshell designated 3 3/4 (dram equivalent) 1 1/4 (ounces of shot) 6 (shot size) would deliver velocity EQUIVALENT to 3 3/4 drams of black powder with that shot charge. Please note: Do NOT load shotshells either by weight or volume with smokeless powder using drams!!! 0 -
1 dram = 60 grains.
1 dram = 1771.8452 milligrams
Yo Peter!0 -
So - you take one type of shot and a certain amount of it....
Then you find out how much black powder it would need to be two equal cartridges.?
So if you have 1 1/2 ounce of #6 shot and 3 DRAM - then the 1 1/2ounce #6 shot with 3 ? DRAM would have more kick (more powerful) ???
Then what about the MAG DRAM ... and MAX DRAM. ?!??
I'd suspect the MAX DRAM would be the max performance then.. ???
And hey HeDog - hope you're doing fine.
Everything's good here - winter if finally letting go, but we're still below zero and snowing from time to time. Then we can look forward to about 4 months of summer - and then winter again.
Oh, and might drop by USA next year - rent a mobilehome and tour a little. =o)0 -
I am closer to the Left Coast than the East Coast. Love to see you! 0 -
Emergency scenario: If you had to re-load, and you only had BP, you could use the drams advertised on the box provided you used the same throw-weight of shot..and even this is risky as the amount of BP needed to send the shot downrange at the same velocity may overfill the hull base area. It's really an imaginary "performance" parallel between BP and modern powders.
Think of the drams as a liquid measure. It is not a weight. It is volume. FULL DRAM/MAX DRAM means nothing. There's no volumetric amount to use if you wanted to load BP.
Also, dram equivalent of what? FFg? FFFg? We don't know. And the dram/equiv. may very well vary with the shape of the hull bases.
Bottom line: Load to prescribed, published charges by weight, using modern smokeless powder, or find a reloading manual that will give you BP charges by grains weight. Perhaps over at the SASS end of town they may have pet BP loads. Make sure you get the loads in grains of weight. Best, Joe0 -
Not to start a horrible arguement but: Dram being a volume measurement is correct, and a volume of "gold" is going to weigh a lot more than a volume of "powder" in grains so the conversion must be weighed. So, when relating it to the old days of shotshell equivilents and to duplicate the same approximate load. a Dram of Black powder is 27 grains of 2-f. So, thinking this logically, a 3 dram load is equal to an 81 grain load in a 12 ga. When you shoot black powder shotguns, that is the load used to equal a Med. loaded 12 ga shell of 3 drams. Using the 27 gr. 0f BP formula, you can work up each load and it will be correct. 0 -
GREAT reply gunrep! At last, someone who knows of what he speaks! 0 -
I was not looking to reload anything, but was merely wondering about the DRAM designation - and what the heck it was.
And if a higher DRAM would do something specific, and if there was any meaning to MAG DRAM and MAX DRAM.
I'm still rather confused here - and haven't been able to use most of the answers, as they seem to respond to reloading, rather than explain the relation in DRAM...
BUT...
Nevermind - I'm just going to pull down shells from the shelves and try them out, instead of trying to figure this out.0
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