Hi all. Thought I'd post this tidbit for light interest/discussion.
First off, not firing unknown reloads is a given. (Please don't turn this into a safety sermon)
Received some 270W reloads in a lot passed on to myself.
"Top Shelf", nice people who care for things. These reloads & other ammo were stored perfectly in a cool dry location.
Even the old Dominion paper cartridge boxes were in great shape.
The reloads consisted of 1 box with 11 rounds of 160gr and 9 rounds of 90gr. These were labeled on the box .
Additionally there were 4 rounds in an unmarked box.
The 4 unmarked rounds turned out to be 160gr and matched the 11 inside the box.
I decided to do a little reloading CSI to evaluate these reloads which were now over 1/2 century old. (That statement made me feel old ! )
In short, these were very well done reloads.
Data as follows:
160gr H4831
n = 15
mean = 55.3gr
sd = 0.09gr
90gr CL-17
n = 9
mean = 45.7
sd = 0.05
( Any opinions on this data & how careful & with equipment available to the average chap in 1969 ??? Yes, I was OCD careful in my measurements )
The powder also showed no signs of age in appearance, odor, or even any corroding of the brass inside the cases.
In reading on the internet, I did find multiple comments that CR-17 was prone to break down. In this instance it appeared perfect.
The only hint of time on the powder was that the H4831 did not pour freely/smoothly out of the case after the bullet was gently collet pulled on the press. Just a light probing with a copper pick and it fell out freely with only a few grains lightly stuck inside the case. Once it was poured out of the case it showed no sign of grains stuck together.
Cartridge OALs were also in spec and only varied .050 on the 160gr loads, and .015 on the 90gr loads.
Below is what was written on the box along with pictures & measurements of the powders.
(edit) I also examined a box of fired reloads and there were no signs of over pressure at all. Additionally there were 3 boxes of old Dominion 270W 160gr that had the cases saved (likely to be reloaded). Just guessing, but I imagine the user found a great improvement in accuracy in the reloads over the old "BAng, Plop, KaPOW" low quality Dominion rounds. (chuckle)
Hope this was of interest to a few
Cheers
TheCounty
First off, not firing unknown reloads is a given. (Please don't turn this into a safety sermon)
Received some 270W reloads in a lot passed on to myself.
"Top Shelf", nice people who care for things. These reloads & other ammo were stored perfectly in a cool dry location.
Even the old Dominion paper cartridge boxes were in great shape.
The reloads consisted of 1 box with 11 rounds of 160gr and 9 rounds of 90gr. These were labeled on the box .
Additionally there were 4 rounds in an unmarked box.
The 4 unmarked rounds turned out to be 160gr and matched the 11 inside the box.
I decided to do a little reloading CSI to evaluate these reloads which were now over 1/2 century old. (That statement made me feel old ! )
In short, these were very well done reloads.
Data as follows:
160gr H4831
n = 15
mean = 55.3gr
sd = 0.09gr
90gr CL-17
n = 9
mean = 45.7
sd = 0.05
( Any opinions on this data & how careful & with equipment available to the average chap in 1969 ??? Yes, I was OCD careful in my measurements )
The powder also showed no signs of age in appearance, odor, or even any corroding of the brass inside the cases.
In reading on the internet, I did find multiple comments that CR-17 was prone to break down. In this instance it appeared perfect.
The only hint of time on the powder was that the H4831 did not pour freely/smoothly out of the case after the bullet was gently collet pulled on the press. Just a light probing with a copper pick and it fell out freely with only a few grains lightly stuck inside the case. Once it was poured out of the case it showed no sign of grains stuck together.
Cartridge OALs were also in spec and only varied .050 on the 160gr loads, and .015 on the 90gr loads.
Below is what was written on the box along with pictures & measurements of the powders.
(edit) I also examined a box of fired reloads and there were no signs of over pressure at all. Additionally there were 3 boxes of old Dominion 270W 160gr that had the cases saved (likely to be reloaded). Just guessing, but I imagine the user found a great improvement in accuracy in the reloads over the old "BAng, Plop, KaPOW" low quality Dominion rounds. (chuckle)
Hope this was of interest to a few
Cheers
TheCounty
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