I finally did it...

Cleftwynd

Cleftwynd

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NW Ontario
I started reloading shotshells at a very young age in 1983, a year later started loading metallic. Up until now I have never spilled any powder, lead shot yes, but never powder.

Tonight I was fiddling with my Hornady powder thrower and running some BL-C2 through it testing my homemade powder baffle. I had a new 1lb container of powder open beside it as I was just tossing the powder back into the jug. I reached across the bench and knocked the bloody jug over spilling that infernal powder all over the place! The crap spreads around like a liquid too! The worst part is I have been a little lazy and didn't clean up the piles of brass trimmings from last night and it got all mixed with the powder.... Oh well, I guess the wife's house plants are in for an exceptional bloom!


Argggg!!!



/rant
 
I always do, except in this case every time I dumped a charge into the pan from the thrower, I emptied the pan into the jug. So I needed the cap off lol. Lesson learned.....
 
I think most of us have been there a time or two with a similar situation.I remember when I got my first and only powder charge thrower from Lyman,still going strong,I had a habit of not holding the case mouth up tight enough to the outlet and ended up with powder granules all over the place.I also had a habit of cycling the unit with a full hopper but no case at hand to fill up for some ungodly reason.I must say though that the spilled powder mess was nothing compared to the time I spilled 3 or 4 pounds of lead shot on the floor,that was a pain to clean up,still remember my wife chuckling at me.
 
I'm lucky so far, I haven't done it as of yet. Spilled a few little grains here and there but nothing major................not bad I guess for 30 1/2 years of reloading.
 
I haven't spilled any (significant amount of) powder yet but I've had more than a few ounces of shot bounce onto the loading bench and quickly make the escape onto the floor below. :rolleyes:
 
tigrr said:
Some people are sensitive to the nitrocellulose in the powder. The other is someone flicking ashes into same pot.
Click to expand...

A light sprinkle of powder in a potted plant would even light, and if it did, it would be a few kernels fizzing for a 1/4 second. Wet powder will NOT ignite.
 
Probably to late but if you get the powder on to a piece of paper and shake the paper back and forth as you pour the powder off, the brass settles and sticks to the paper. All the lighter stuff floats to the top, do this a couple times and it will clean it right up.
 
I have dumped lots of powder and shot over the years. Shot is like tiny ball bearings.

I solid floor is easy to sweep up and keep clean. A shag rug does not work. It traps powder, even after it is vacuumed. I was doing some soldering in the shop and a drop of hot solder ignited the powder in the rug. It was a bich to extinguish. Two extinguishers did nothing. It took a lot of water to cool it down and put it out.

Our loading building has two 5 gallon Jerry cans of water. The can lids are not screwed on - just sitting on top to stop evaporation. In case of fire the instructions are to knock over the cans and run like hell. The spreading water should drown the fire.
 
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