I've used cornmeal on top of the powder to move the ball forward of breech erosion. No problems with ringing the barrel, but I am careful to seat the ball firmly on the cornmeal. The amount of cornmeal to use will depend on how far you are trying to move the ball forward. At first glance 2 3/4 drams seems like a lot of filler, but I've used that much to move a ball forward a couple inches in a .49 caliber rifle.