Loading the Black Powder Rifle Cartridge

Like other Paul Matthews books this is a b&w 6"x9" paperback. It comprises of 122 pages with 22 illustrations, mostly amateur photographs. The book is obviously intended as a budget publication, but even so it uses better paper and what feels like a more durable paper back (cover) than Mr. Matthews' book - The Paper Jacket.The book covers the basics such as lubrication, grease cookies, bullets, moulds, casting, case care, the powder charge for BP, Pyrodex and duplex loads), as well as the actual cartridge assembly and load testing in sufficient detail to get one started without having to go through the entire learning curve by trial and error. Upon putting the book down I knew that with it in one hand I would find my way loading the .577/450 Martini that prompted its acquisition. I did however have a feeling that I would have liked more on accuracy development, but only then I realized that Mr Matthews' follow-up book: More How-To's for the Black Powder Cartridge Rifle Shooter, provided exactly that.This is an unpretentious book. It provides everything you will need to get started and then some. Its format and price indicates that its objective had been to serve as a beginners guide to newcomers to black powder shooting. It fulfills that objective and the reason I bought it for, but it is not the be-all and end-all regarding the topic. I learnt considerably more than expected and I am happy to recommend it to black powder beginners like myself.

I can't recommend this book. Way too wordy, a book in need of an editor. Expect to wade through pages that could easily be deduced to a few sentences. Sort of like listening to your uncle,on your mother's side talk about his years as an insurance adjuster. On the positive side, after buying this book I now appreciate "mansplaining".

This seems to be the definitive book on BP reloading. Too much time was spent on things not really to do with BP reloading, but that can be skipped. . The author would have been interesting to know.

For those interested in preserving a disappearing art, Matthews books are without equal. If there is a criticism, it is for the degree of duplication of some material. That is probably justified in that each booksstands on it's own quite nicely. If you have the Matthews collection, or even part of it, that's pretty much all you need.

Although the information in this book is somewhat dated in that some of the materials described by the author are no longer available, I did find it to be both educational and informative as I am new to blackpowder cartridge reloading although I've been shooting blackpowder muzzleloaders for many years. I recently bought a 45-70 Pedersoli sharps rifle and want to continue to shoot blackpowder as was original to this rifle in 1874 and this book has provided much needed guidance in that pursuit. I would recommend this book to any one, like myself, that is trying to maintain the "old ways" in using blackpowder for cartridge rifles.

A lot of useful info in this little book!

As described. Would buy again

I shared some of the contents of this book with some current national level BPCR shooters, who say its decent info, but very dated. However its great perspective material and a good starter for the total novice.

Clear, very informative, practical and well researched and written. Recommended reading for all black powder enthusiasts. Thankyou.

Very Good

Mathews gives detailed instructions on building an accurate black powder load. This book is a must have for any black powder cartridge rifle shooter.