Mixing powders , danguras or usable ?

[bearhunter]

Op has to be a troll , really.

No, he's been around for a while.

Just doesn't do much of his own due diligence. He's not alone with that.

This isn't rocket science or prohibited alchemy, for goodness sakes.

I have a similar cannister of powder with at least four different powders in it, appx 6 pounds left. All of the powders are very close to the same speed. Close enough that the chance of a KABOOM, when using the loading data of the fastest powder in the mix, unless it's very small, is not a concern.

I don't know the proportions of the mix, so go with the fastest burn rate.

That powder doesn't have a ''consistent'' burn rate, even though it's been blended very well in a tumbler.

I still throw left over bits off the bench, etc into that mix and, use it almost exclusively in a couple of badly bubbaed Lee Enfields, for an aftenoon of shooting rocks, when practicing my off hand shooting skills.

Not nearly as many rounds as Ganderite but over the last few years, well over a thousand rounds, all loaded with 38.0 grains of the mix, over CCI 200 primers, under 150 grn FMJ SP FB.

Velocities have a rather wide extreme spread, from 2200fps to just over 2300fps.

Never a hiccup or a dud, never a "light" recoil or "heavy recoil

 

[Andy]

If all the powder was a powder suitable for 308 (all about 4895 in speed), by all means mix it all up, re-load it and shoot. Use a Start load on the book and make 100 rounds of plinker ammo.

BUT, if any of the ammo was pulled because it had pistol powder, then just dump it. A pound is not worth the effort.

I have three 8 pound jugs of powder marked "Dirty". My son would sweep up the loading room floor from time to time and dumped the sweepings in 5 gallon pails. I was about to throw this away, but noticed that most of the sweepings was powder.

I put a piece of window screen across a pail and strained the powder. It was 80% BLC2 and 20% 4895. I strained out dead bugs, dead primers, nuts, bolts, screws, nails and staples.

I have loaded several thousand rounds of plinker 223 ammo with this scrap powder.

Needless to explain, but I don't use this powder for high pressure loads or for match ammo.

X2

The only reason I posted on this thread is that it was an opportunity to learn. As expected, it turned out to be a Roll-Call for the thoughtful, knowledgeable and experienced reloaders and well - the rest.

Of over 200,000 CGN members, I bet only 40% own one or more guns (there are many imaginary gun collections on CGN...). Of those, maybe 5% reload (4,000) and of those, maybe 5% (200) dare to go outside of what the books suggest is "safe".

The most satisfying aspect of firearms for me has been developing loads, and specifically it has been developing "unpublished" loads, some of which have been that best I could produce for that firearm.

 

[fingers284]

If all the powder was a powder suitable for 308 (all about 4895 in speed), by all means mix it all up, re-load it and shoot. Use a Start load on the book and make 100 rounds of plinker ammo.

BUT, if any of the ammo was pulled because it had pistol powder, then just dump it. A pound is not worth the effort.

I have three 8 pound jugs of powder marked "Dirty". My son would sweep up the loading room floor from time to time and dumped the sweepings in 5 gallon pails. I was about to throw this away, but noticed that most of the sweepings was powder.

I put a piece of window screen across a pail and strained the powder. It was 80% BLC2 and 20% 4895. I strained out dead bugs, dead primers, nuts, bolts, screws, nails and staples.

I have loaded several thousand rounds of plinker 223 ammo with this scrap powder.

Needless to explain, but I don't use this powder for high pressure loads or for match ammo.

First time in all the years I've been reading your post's that I would question the practice your promoting....not the use of a similar burn rate powders mixed together, but the use of "floor sweepings". I would never use floor sweepings in any bore I was partial too. Your screen separation will definitely separate the course stuff but the extremely fine grit stuff that will damage a bore is still in the powder. Some of that grit will undoubtable not get blown out with the muzzle blast and will act as a grinding/milling compound when the next shot is fired.
I have been offered floor sweepings from powder coating booth's and they are pristine clean but I still turn them down, fine, abrasive grit can be tracked in without anybody noticing it .

 

[woodchopper]

ah I also have a can of sweepings and random powders, its in an old IMF4831 can and its marked DANGER - KABOOM

its a mix of everything, pistol, rifle, some back powder.

 

[saskgunowner101]

X2

The only reason I posted on this thread is that it was an opportunity to learn. As expected, it turned out to be a Roll-Call for the thoughtful, knowledgeable and experienced reloaders and well - the rest.

Of over 200,000 CGN members, I bet only 40% own one or more guns (there are many imaginary gun collections on CGN...). Of those, maybe 5% reload (4,000) and of those, maybe 5% (200) dare to go outside of what the books suggest is "safe".

The most satisfying aspect of firearms for me has been developing loads, and specifically it has been developing "unpublished" loads, some of which have been that best I could produce for that firearm.

Unpublished loads is another one of those neat areas. With a little common sense, it's not hard to cobble something together that will suit your needs. My favorite tinker ammo this year was 45 Colt brass mini 410 shells with tin can dripped shot. A 1/3 of an ounce of pure cone of death for yard pest birds pattern at 8 meters. No hearing pro required.

 

[nowarningshot]

Read books from years ago, for the most part, recent hardcover reloading books are lawyer approved for liability. Most of my rifles shoot more accurately at or near maximum. However I have a large, non imaginary collection. No need to push boundaries, as a hunter who used large magnums, now living in the land of liliputian blacktail. Now I'm experimenting with lever guns and non magnums.

Personally, I probably have two dozen powders or more on hand. An absolute ironclad rule is only have one set of components at a time on the bench. For whatever reason, the OP made a mistake. Don't compound it by making another. Currently some powders are running $60/lb or more, is that worth a eye, your hand, even just a.gun.

It was a.small mistake, learn from it, and don't repeat it. Don't make a larger mistake.Just the other day, I put some 2400 in the Chargemaster to load 44 mag, without checking, and the drain was open. Cost me perhaps 3 loads of powder, my can is metal and has a $13 price tag.

 

[Ganderite]

I've burned various piles of waste powder in the past -but admittedly I've never tried to compare times before.

If somepne can prove to me that the laboratory conditions that manufactures use to determine rates is similar to the conditions described in post # 25 ... then I will gladly use ketchup while eating a plate of crow.

As mentioned, testing is called a "Closed Bomb Test". Sort of mimics what happens in a round of ammo.

 

[Ganderite]

Now that ive gone through this thread, i would be curious... (with no intention to attempt such an experiment) if mixing powders... what effect would mixing extruded and ball together (assuming similar burn rates). I look at it and see "kindling" vs "logs" and feel like pressure would be very erratic from round to round. Given how the physical properties of the powders would effect how they settle in a container or come out of the powder dispenser, some rounds could have a lot of ball powder, others could have more extruded... may be overthinking this... which is probably why my answer to this post would be... it's just not worth it.

If the component powders have similar burn rates, a mix of ball and extruded powders is nit much of an issue, even if the two powders tend to separate with vibration in a powder thrower. (I have not observed this, but logic says it is a possibility.)

I load mixed powder with a Start load of the faster powder. If it works for a useful purpose (like 50 yard plinker ammo) that is a good use for it.

It can get exciting when pistol powder is added to rifle powder. If this is done in the powder thrower, the ammo if fine until you get to the level where the powder becomes mostly pistol powder. Guns then blow up.

I once acquired several thousand pounds of ball rifle powder that was contaminated with ball pistol powder. (It came from pulling the bad CBC ammo you may have read about). I mixed the powder in garbage cans, so that there was no concentration of the pistol powder. That actual ratio of pistol powder was tiny. This powder (loaded ammo) was tested in the gov't lab and was excellent (and cheap - about 25 cents a pound)

 

[Chatrbaz84]

What I am the most curious about is how 100 rounds of pulled 308s yielded a 1 lb of powder ?

We all can agree that 1 lb = 7,000 grains ..... so roughly an average of 70 grains per case ?

As for using said batch of powder for reloading.... personally I wouldn't use for a gun that I hated.

As for using said batch of powder as fertilizer... go ahead it WON'T do anything.

I know two long time, knowledgeable farmers who also reload and I trust their judgement when they say that powder is not at all an effective fertilizer.

HAHAHA


146 rounds

 

[Chatrbaz84]

One round at a time ??
The guy knows the answer to his question, he is just toying with us all.
Rob

You got it.

 

[Chatrbaz84]

Now after all you guys answer, I decided to go with med load 308, 147 fmj 38.6g mixed powder.

While 90% of the powder are 4064/4895/varget

Let's go with the book . HORNADY 9TH EDITION.

SELECTED
308 WINCHESTER SERVICE RIFLE LOAD DATA
to be less pressure and more safety.



155GR ----

VARGET 39G
4895 38.8G
4064 39G

2300 FPS

168G ----

VARGET 38.4 G
4895 38.7 G
4064 38.8 G

2300FPS

178GR ------

VARGET 36.1G
4895 36.8G
4064 36.3G


2100FPS



Now we see how numbers are very close together,
Most of you guys have over pressure experience
Most fo you guys every single time do compress load to get the best accuracy.
Think about it.

 

[Ganderite]

When I did some consulting work with IMR, the guy I worked with was a Ph.D. in Chemistry. So I got to ask a lot of technical questions that had been bugging me.

One set of questions involved mixed powders. Mixed powders were sometimes offered to me because the factory had made a boo-boo. I recall 2000 pounds of 4895 with a couple hundred ponds of 4350 mixed in. It had been my practice to just develop a load for it and carry on.

He said that I was ok in doing that. When we tested ammo in the lab, the limit was the maximum pressure and he said that would usually be determined by the faster of the two powders, and the slow powder added nothing of value.

I also asked about throwing bad powder on the lawn. He said it would take 20 years to break down. There is slow release fertilizer, but it is not propellant powder...

He did not like ball powder. Just like some guys don't like Ford or Ram.