Bob Kingsbury
New member
I'm hearing some interesting tales
Anyone got a recipy for mixing powder?
- Thread starter Bob Kingsbury
- Start date
C
Chuck Bogardus
Guest
Make sure you have your insurance paid up, and use an action you're real particular about.
L
LASER
Guest
A Sunday Morning Story
I met a feller once....Several years back, when I got back into shooting(kids left home) I rejoined a local club. In the twenty years that I was gone this guy joined and became very active. His willingness to do stuff around the club made him very popular. He also reloaded for several members(this is a sportsman's club) who thought they were going for improvements...ANYHOW, One day I saw some of this guy's reloads disintegrate, vaporize or what ever before they hit the target at 100 yards. Some cracked real loud some popped. He had several instances where the bolt took considerable effort to open. At that point I tried to politely intervein before somebody got killed. The ensuing conversation revealed this guy to be the POSTER BOY OF STUPID RELOADERS.
Yup.. he mixed his own powder too!!!!!!!!
I immediately sounded an alarm with other members who said that they knew about it and did nothing. I no longer belong to that club. I have heard other stories since about this guy but...
LASER
I met a feller once....Several years back, when I got back into shooting(kids left home) I rejoined a local club. In the twenty years that I was gone this guy joined and became very active. His willingness to do stuff around the club made him very popular. He also reloaded for several members(this is a sportsman's club) who thought they were going for improvements...ANYHOW, One day I saw some of this guy's reloads disintegrate, vaporize or what ever before they hit the target at 100 yards. Some cracked real loud some popped. He had several instances where the bolt took considerable effort to open. At that point I tried to politely intervein before somebody got killed. The ensuing conversation revealed this guy to be the POSTER BOY OF STUPID RELOADERS.
Yup.. he mixed his own powder too!!!!!!!!
I immediately sounded an alarm with other members who said that they knew about it and did nothing. I no longer belong to that club. I have heard other stories since about this guy but...
LASER
John Kielly
Shari's fan club
I'm one of those tragics who collects snippets of mainly useless information unless I play Trivial Pursuits, which I don't.
When a container is vibrated, the contents rise up thru the centre & circulate back down round its edges. They don't sit still. Now that's all fine when the items in it are all the same size, like a jar of filberts. But if it's a mix of filberts, peanuts & walnuts, for example & it's vibrated for a time, you'll end up with peanuts at the bottom & the larger nuts on top & the filberts round the mid point, because the peanuts can work down thru the gaps between the bigger ones & the filberts past the walnuts.
Now it seems to me that a cartridge case of powder is about the same as a jar is. So if you plan to mix powders of different granulation, make sure you never subject the loaded cases to vibration, like when you drive a while to the rifle range, or it will unmix itself with the smaller granules down the bottom & the biggies up near the neck. Hereabouts that would likely mean that the fast burning powder would ignite first & the slower powder later - not necessarily the most desirable outcome.
When a container is vibrated, the contents rise up thru the centre & circulate back down round its edges. They don't sit still. Now that's all fine when the items in it are all the same size, like a jar of filberts. But if it's a mix of filberts, peanuts & walnuts, for example & it's vibrated for a time, you'll end up with peanuts at the bottom & the larger nuts on top & the filberts round the mid point, because the peanuts can work down thru the gaps between the bigger ones & the filberts past the walnuts.
Now it seems to me that a cartridge case of powder is about the same as a jar is. So if you plan to mix powders of different granulation, make sure you never subject the loaded cases to vibration, like when you drive a while to the rifle range, or it will unmix itself with the smaller granules down the bottom & the biggies up near the neck. Hereabouts that would likely mean that the fast burning powder would ignite first & the slower powder later - not necessarily the most desirable outcome.
JerrySharrett
Senile Member
Bob, some considerations;
1-mix it outdoors, way outdoors.
2-mix it by tumbling the powders in a square or rectangular shaped container that was designed to house powder. This means you must tumble it by hand, not in a case tumbler, and the irregular shape causes a better mixing action.
3-only mix similar formulation powders--VV130 with VV135, IMR with IMR, etc.
4-Don't mix single base powders with double base powders.
5-don't mix powders with extreme differences in burning rate--like IMR 4227 with IMR 7828, etc.
When I was a kid, we built a 2" bore black powder cannon on an old belt drive lathe we had at the farm. It was made from a 4' long piece of steel of unknown origin.
The cannon took 1/3 lb of blackpowder/shot
The cannon provided us with lots of entertainment for several years, until one 4th of july we mixed a small amount of rifle powder in with the black powder.
The cannon split in half with a deafening shock wave, and the bottom half made a 5 foot deep crater in the ground. The top half was found whilst plowing a corn field 15 years later and returned by a neighbor 1/2 mile away.
Luckily, nobody was killed, just a few broken windows and minor injuries from pieces of the haywagon that it was shot from....... but I have not mixed any powders since.
Ben
The cannon took 1/3 lb of blackpowder/shot
The cannon provided us with lots of entertainment for several years, until one 4th of july we mixed a small amount of rifle powder in with the black powder.
The cannon split in half with a deafening shock wave, and the bottom half made a 5 foot deep crater in the ground. The top half was found whilst plowing a corn field 15 years later and returned by a neighbor 1/2 mile away.
Luckily, nobody was killed, just a few broken windows and minor injuries from pieces of the haywagon that it was shot from....... but I have not mixed any powders since.
Ben
Last edited:
Disclaimer
Benchrest Central (www.benchrest.com) does not advise, and will not be responsible for, mixing gunpowder.
Benchrest Central (www.benchrest.com) does not advise, and will not be responsible for, mixing gunpowder.
sbindy
Steve B
With all of the options available, from burnrate, ball, extruded, single base, and double based powders, if someone cant find the anwer to what they are looking for over the counter , they need to re-evaluate the question.
Good groups are shot all the time without all the black magic.
Good groups are shot all the time without all the black magic.
B
Boss Hoss 540
Guest
That is right up there with using a hammer to knock the primer flush on a loaded round!
Bob Kingsbury
New member
Now, now, I see I have been severly trounced about the head and shoulders
and shall not speak of it again. I knew a guy that was able to put a well
define belt on the original sako cases. He was not aware that he had been
mixing 2400 and H 4895. The belts were very uniform. Seems his brother
was loading 44 mags and left the powder in the measure, fortunately
no one was hurt.------Was just Curious
and shall not speak of it again. I knew a guy that was able to put a well
define belt on the original sako cases. He was not aware that he had been
mixing 2400 and H 4895. The belts were very uniform. Seems his brother
was loading 44 mags and left the powder in the measure, fortunately
no one was hurt.------Was just Curious
B J Atkinson
Member
Seriously Bob, with the vast array of powders and burning rates that are available (even down here in the Colonies), why would you even want to mix powders?