Bad powder?

Mark-II

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
63   0   0
Location
Wpg
I recently tapped a keg of Titrgroup that I bought a few months ago

I've tried both cast and jacketed bullets, both Remington and dominion primers

I cannot get through a single magazine without a shot that seems either grossly underpowered or it squibs, leaving a bullet stuck in the barrel. Just now I've hammered 5 bullets out of my 9mm 1911 in less than 50 shots fired

Opinions?

My press cannot be skipping charges. Not at that rate. I've loaded thousands of rounds this past year with my old powder stocks without issue...
 
Try loading some rounds without your progressive and see if they work should give you some idea if it's the powder or your press. Good luck
 
How many grains of titegroup are you using?

Weigh each load on a scale.

Take the casing. Weigh it. Drop the charge. Weigh it.

Do ten and see if it's consistent.
 
The only other variable is I used cci primers the last time. I don't have any now

Yeah... I'll go back to basics and weigh the charges. This is getting ridiculous

I was using 3.4 grains under a 125gr cast and tonight I tried 4 gr under a hornady 125 fmj
 
If you have a piece of fluff stuck in the powder thrower, it will screw up the powder charges.

Run 10 cases through the press, skipping the bullet seating part. Then look into the cases. Look the same? Weight them. if powder charges are uniform, I would be worried about the powder. It might be mis-labelled.

Primers would not be likely, since TG is not difficult to ignite in a small case.
 
Did you leave powder in your hopper?
Did you not screw the lid on tight of your keg?

I had a similar problem - however it was caused by me being inattentive and leaving powder in the hopper of my 1050 for about a week. The powder absorbed moisture from the air, and contaminated it. Leading "squibs" with full powder charges and underpowered loads.

About after a month of sitting in a closet loaded the moisture ended up fouling about 10% of the primers of the loaded rounds; so would not even go bang.

The room I load in is kept at 30% humidity all year as I run a dehumidifier to keep temperature and humidity more constant for consistency while loading
 
Where'd the keg live for those few months? You order it special? Isn't likely to have been on a shelf for very long, but it wouldn't cost anything to ask the shop you bought it from how long they had it. If it sat in a humid or non-temperature controlled place for several months, it might have gotten damp from condensation.
Plan 'B' would be contacting Hodgdon with the lot number and asking about it. Likely faster going to them than the dealer.
http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/contact
3.4 of Titegroup is under minimum for a 125 grain cast. Only by .2 though. So is 4.0 for a jacketed bullet. Only by .1 though.
 
My data showed 4 being mid range for the jacketed bullet and 3.4 being nearer to minimum with cast. Lyman manual. I'll check some other sources of data.

The keg was sealed and stored with my other powder.

I would not have thought it a difficult powder to ignite, and certainly I've had no troubles with it thus far in my 45 ACP.

I'll check my equipment over again and hopefully have a nice "derp" post later on this evening.

The powder has been in the measure for about a week. Wasn't aware it was hygroscopic. Still, the stuff I loaded the day that I dropped it in there is still iffy.

If the equipment checks out I'll get in touch with hodgdon with the lot number. I doubt that this would have sat long at the local WSS, considering how hard TG is to come by this year...
 
Back
Top Bottom