Grains does not equal granules

John Y Cannuck

John Y Cannuck

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Anyone who has reloaded a bit knows that a grain is a unit of measure. But to new people, a grain, can easily be misunderstood to mean a granule of powder. It's the kind of newbie question that is thrown regularly at reloaders by those starting out, and was thrown at me today.

I hope that people new to reloading will come forward and ask, rather than make assumptions. The error above could depending on the cartridge, and the powder, result in a seriously under loaded cartridge. Can't think of a case where it would be an overload, but there may be some.
Please ask!

Grains:

1 LB = 7000 grains.


:bangHead:
:wave:
 
A misunderstanding I have had to set straight multiple times, for sure.

I believe the correct term for each particle of powder is a kernel, leastwise, that is what I have seen in print from powder manufacturers and have used in my explanations to people.
 
You would hope they figured it out once they put a charge in their first case and looked in.
Imagine the number of bullets stuck in barrel if they put say 5 granules of CFE Pistol in 9mm :eek:
 
and a kernel of typical cylindrical rifle powder such as 4895, Varget, 4831, 1000, 4350, etc, depending on the kernel size and density of that type of gunpowder, is in the range of 0.014 to 0.035 grains. That means it takes around 3 to 5 kernels of these types of gunpowder to equal 0.1 grains - yes, 1/10th of a grain! This is NOT the case with flake or spherical powders which may weigh far less per 'kernel', meaning that it may take a lot more of them to make up 1/10th of a grain.
 
I've never handloaded, but definitely know that a granule of powder may not/does not equal a grain of powder. a granule is one of something while grain is, as you said, a measurement.
 
I've heard it said, but always by someone who had never loaded or seen a shell loaded in their lives although some tried to pretend otherwise. The most notable was an engineer bragging about his Lazzeroni and describing the care that the factory ammo was assembled. I thought he was putting me on for a second, but nobody's poker face is that good. ;)
 
There is no way you can protect the human race from the consequences of idiocy. Idiots are way too creative. They can always invent new ways to be idiots, no matter what activity you are discussing.

I do agree that the metric system makes much more sense, and makes "conversions" much easier, but I doubt the change of measurement system would protect all the stupid people in the world. Ignorance can be fixed with education of some sort; stupidity seems terminal.
 
The funniest one I have seen (funny because no one got hurt), was a new reloader that used grams instead of grains.
After 20 rounds, not understanding why his 9mm reloads, which should have been softer, we're snappy as hell compared to factory loads.
I am sure his gun was close to doing major!
 
Well imagine if he claimed to load 4grams(61gr!!) instead of 4 grains. Sounds like a poorly thought out excuse on his part :)
 
MartyK2500 said:
The funniest one I have seen (funny because no one got hurt), was a new reloader that used grams instead of grains.
After 20 rounds, not understanding why his 9mm reloads, which should have been softer, we're snappy as hell compared to factory loads.
I am sure his gun was close to doing major!
Click to expand...

Hard to believe.
1 gram = 15.4324grains
A 4.0 grain load of pistol powder powder mistaken for the same number of grams, would give over 61 grains, which will not fit in a 9mm. not even a dense powder like Titegroup.
61 grains of Titegroup is not something I want to be next to when it goes off.
I can't imagine the damage it would do in a 30-06.
 
Never did the math
Now that i see, yeah poorly worked out excuse.
There was an open gun shooter there that evening, tried the ammo and was reliably cycling his open gun.
 
Last thing I'd ever do is try out some newbie's handloads, that he admitted to screwing up....

And if you count kernels, man, reloading would take forever.... and you better bring a long brass drift and hammer.
 
Grains and grams and kernels aside, one thing that's always seemed risky to me is a powder company naming their products using the same number sequence as a competitor, changing only the prefix letters.
As an example, IMR4350 vs H4350.. calling one H4351 would obviously have been out of the question, I guess? Or something that can sound very similar to a novice, like Titewad and Titegroup.
There's not much keeping a novice from making a mistake, all it takes is an unsure buyer and an inexperienced vendor.
Anyone I'm considering introducing to reloading gets the talk about "close enough" isn't really "close enough" when you're dealing with things that go bang.
 
Last edited:
Chilly807 said:
Grains and grams and kernels aside, one thing that's always seemed risky to me is a powder company naming their products using the same number sequence as a competitor, changing only the prefix letters.
As an example, IMR4350 vs H4350.. calling one H4351 would obviously have been out of the question, I guess? Or something that can sound very similar to a novice, like Titewad and Titegroup.
There's not much keeping a novice from making a mistake, all it takes is an unsure buyer and an inexperienced vendor.
Anyone I'm considering introducing to reloading gets the talk about "close enough" isn't really "close enough" when you're dealing with things that go bang.
Click to expand...

When I first got into reloading I was drawn to Alliant powder because of the simplicity of the powder names, and they were easy to differentiate from the competitors. The slower the powder, the bigger the number on the container, RL 15 goes in my 22-250, RL 25 goes in the 300 magnum.

I’ve since greatly expanded my powder choices and experimented with many different manufacturers.
 
About 25 years ago I was in the rifle bay at my usual indoor range when a couple came in with their brand spanking new .308 Rem 700 and box of handloads. First round was a very mild "pop". They looked confused so I told them to open the action and take a look. No yellow "sand" spilling about, just a bit of a sooty case. Checked the bore. Yep, plugged. They took it out front and got it knocked out.

They came back in and tried again. Same result. I asked what load they had used. 150gr something or other with 43gr. of IMR4895. That should have worked fine. I asked if they were sure about the powder charge. Guy said yes, he watched his wife count out "the grains" and then count them a second time to be sure. Ah, I think I see the problem.

Auggie D.
 
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