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Question on ball powder vs cannister for your .223 hand loaders

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Minuteman
    • Oct 11, 2013
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    I've been reading that cannister powders generally produce better consistency due to how they burn, over ball powders. I normally load cannister as that's all I've really broken in to thus far this year (this is my first year).
    Have any of you noticed any difference in shot group size between your ball and cannister powders?
     
    … do you mean “extruded” powder? Shaped like little sticks?

    I’ve always heard “Canister powder” to mean the names and labeled cans that get sold to reloaded, as opposed to the big batches that are mixed and sent to ammo manufacturers.

    Between spherical ball and extruded- IME it’s less about an accuracy difference of powder type and more about powder/bullet/chamber match, speeds, temp sensitivity, and use case.
     
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    I've heard of "canister shot", but not canister powder.

    Extruded powder (what I use almost exclusively in rifles) is a royal pain in the ass. Ball powder meters much better and is easier to throw/trickle precisely, but it used to not be temp stable. Now there are temp stable ball powders, or at least they are pushing them, though I have not tried one yet.

    I have never heard that the shape of the powder effects burn rate. Not saying it doesn't, but I've never seen any data on it.

    PS: Your bullets do not "go to sleep" either.
     
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    I used to hand trickle extruded powders that gave me the best accuracy. This was before temp insensitive powders came on the market. Then I hand trickled them because I live in areas where the temps swing wildly. But ball powders really save me time and for .223/ 5.56 the useable range is around 500 yards. So minute of yote is mainly what I need.
     
    Sorry for the different terms; I meant cannister powder as in each kernel is cannister shaped, like a coke can. I should have said extruded. That would have probably been the more technical term lol.
     
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    Generally ball powders are known to meter better than extruded powders. They were never in favor of "off the shoulder" shooters as it was thought that ignition time was greater. Never saw it tested but suspect it was true. Benchrest shooters often used ball powder.
     
    Fig said:
    I've heard of "canister shot", but not canister powder.

    Extruded powder (what I use almost exclusively in rifles) is a royal pain in the ass. Ball powder meters much better and is easier to throw/trickle precisely, but it used to not be temp stable. Now there are temp stable ball powders, or at least they are pushing them, though I have not tried one yet.

    I have never heard that the shape of the powder effects burn rate. Not saying it doesn't, but I've never seen any data on it.

    PS: Your bullets do not "go to sleep" either.
    Click to expand...
    What do you mean by the bullets going to sleep? I've never heard that before.

    And as for me and my reloading tools, all the powder shapes besides extruded (flake and ball) meter HORRIBLY in my autotrickler. (yes, I've done all the tricks to help the power thrower attempt better consistency and accuracy) So I always under throw then manually add a kernel or two (which is 2 tenths on my a&d scale) and it's right on every time, and only takes about 2 seconds more to do this. I have the house really dry so static is a huge thing in the reloading room, and drier sheets do absolutely nothing for static, nor does the spray, but that's a whole other conversation.

    So extruded powders really yield no more benefit than ball these days?
     
    “canister powder “ generally refers to the powder manufactured exclusively for the ammunition company for a specific purpose/cartridge.

    The extruded powder does have a better temperature stability than ball powder, so a max load developed in spring could still be safe in the heat of summer.
     
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