Huvious, the powder is 'packed/tamped' with the bullet or ball, not wuth the rod first.
Here is a short video in which I am loading & shooting my .45 round ball rifle. The process is the same, except I have shot over 50 rounds prior to this video being taken, no wiping at any time - all loaded and shot "dirty".
Note that once the ball is down, I place the starter's knob's hole over the end of the rod, then give it a smack. This is to compress the powder- slightly. I do this exactly the same way each time I load. I have found this reduces shot to shot velocity spreads. It also adds almost 100fps to the average velocity. The reason I do this is not for the added velocity, but for the increased precision & consistency.

[IMG]https://oimg.photobucket.com/albums/v638/DarylS/58%20Kodiak%20Refinish/th_Movie-LoadingandShooting_zpsa177c1af.mp4[/IMG]