Mixing powder lots/same powder

[greentick]

So, thanks to a member tip last night and PV having 8lb jugs of 6.5staball I now find myself in decent shape. Downside is I'll have an 8lb jug and 5ea 1lb cans.

I searched this and found a thread but it wouldn't load for whatever reason.

Assuming that I don't win the lottery, and the 8lb is from the same lot as the 5 cans my plan is to mix all this in a large plastic mixing bowl and repackage it so when I do my workup I'll be set for over 2000rds, which should keep me busy for a while.

Nothing unreasonable here?

Thanks for any input. I have reloaded for almost 30yrs, and can get my ARs to 0.5-0.7moa pretty easy but for my first prs caliber endeavor I'm trying to tighten a few things up.

 

[...]

ive not found a reloading manual that breaks down powder loads by lot #......so would it be "safe".....well, i doubt itll cause your gun to explode.

however, you can still have variances between lots, so you run the possibility of experiencing erratic MV's.

personally its not worth the potential wasted time and powder.....ide just load up lots from the 1lb jugs...and load up separate lots from the 8lb jugs.

 

[NY700]

I could be way off base here and welcome input if I am.
I think there can definitely be variations lot to lot but for the most part unless I’m looking at like a 5 year old jug vs brand new I don’t think the variation is likely to be that great. I think mixing them is fine if you can assure your self that it is mixed evenly and that is probably unlikely.

I think if you are really worried about it load up 5 rounds from each of the jugs at once and see if there is an immediate difference of a chrono.

I think the bigger issue especially when loading by weight (vs volume) is humidity. Once those jugs are open they are more susceptible to it. How is it stored and are you leaving any out in a hopper as that moisture level can certainly cause weight shifts

 

[OREGUN]

When I empty a can into the hopper, I open a new can and toss it in on top….cycle the whole pile back into the can and back into the hopper to mix and press on with reloading. Never seen any verifiable difference. My experience only extends to similarly aged Varget and H4895.

I don’t store powder in the hopper and only open a can when I need to start using it…as an atmospherics control….but same powder, recently manufactured….all the same to me. I say, blend it and enjoy a heap of “same lot” powder.

 

[greentick]

Exact input I'm looking for gents. The 8lb isn't even here yet.

I have no problem mixing and feeling confident about that part (my wife and 4 of my kids have celiac. We mix up 75lbs of gluten free flour at a whack, wife's proprietary mix). But, the consideration that there's not much variation to begin with since it's all very recent manufacture powder is legit.

Humidity, would mix indoors. I generally don't reload this time of year because of the heat in the garage. If I'm doing a big run of 9mm I'll put a bunch in the hopper (550B) but for smaller runs I just pour a little in the hopper.

For this 6.5cm thing I'm weighing every charge and emptying the hopper when the session is done.

Keep it coming!

 

[simonp]

Perhaps I am overly cautious?

Everything that I have read / heard over the years has always been do not mix powders! Will it make your gun go kaboom? probably not but frankly Ive never taken the chance or care to. Since loading is primarily, for me, getting the most accurate round that I can I try to be OCD about the whole process.

I dont store powder in my hopper either but I do have a couple of spare empty 1# powder jugs that I use to empty any remnants into, then use painters tape to label it, I use that powder up first next batch then load fresh powder.

 

[greentick]

To clarify: not mixing different powders. Mixing the *same* powder but from different lots, so that i don't have to check loads between new containers. No risk of ka-boom in what I'm proposing.

I would never venture into "blending" powders, but that's just me.

For that matter I wouldn't mix the same powder if the lots were years apart either.

 

[OREGUN]

You will never go wrong with the advice to drop back 10% and ladder back up anytime anything changes, including case-lots of powder or primer. However, after years of doing this religiously, I finally came to recognize it for what it was: a waste of components. I’ve found more variation between lots in the diameter of projectiles than I ever have in muzzle velocity from different lots of powder. At this point, for my accuracy requirements, anything from the same manufacturer (all BR4s, all Varget, all Lapua SRP brass) is considered to be verified and gtg without further testing.

 

[Brandon05_88]

I've done it before. Just wipe down everything plastic with a dryer sheet beforehand. It keeps the static charge down which isn't a bad thing with that much powder under your nose.

 

[granite wagon]

While im no pro!!

Ive been in a normal habit of blending old & new lots of same powder since 2004ish.

If im reaching the end of a jug ill dump the last whatever is left 1/2 pound , 1 pound etc.. into new jug and mix the ever loving shiznet out of it..

then ill do a new ladder test!!

 

[granite wagon]

I've done it before. Just wipe down everything plastic with a dryer sheet beforehand. It keeps the static charge down which isn't a bad thing with that much powder under your nose.

What He said ! Important!!

 

[smoothy8500]

IMR 4895 and 4064 no problems with lot to lot variations. AA2520 in the past had pretty big variations. I’ll only try to blend that when I get down to the last half pound and do a new work-up.

My only concern is: If you’re trying to blend two big amounts, how sure are you that it’s totally blended? I’m sure they are pretty similar lots and are coming from the same factory. Accurate Arms has had a habit of switching manufacturers/factories in the past.

 

[louu]

Just a stupid opinion here but I think the old reloaders wise tale of never mixing powder came from the simple fact that you never mix different kinds of powder (no shit Sherlock) and somehow got turned into don't mix any powder at all even if it's the same shit. You know, like when somone tells a story and ten different people tell it, then the tenth time is nothing like the first one. Isn't there a saying for that?

 

[hafejd30]

Same powder/different lot#

Ya it’s not uncommon for people to mix them. Then you have 1 lot of 13 lbs vs 2 lots of 13 lbs

It won’t hurt anything. You’ll likely load test with the mixed lots anyways so you’ll see the pressure signs as they come.

What you want to do is perfectly safe. Your more likely to have issues with contamination from moisture and what not from the mixing process than any issues you’d see from the rest of the process

The same people that say “don’t mix any powders” would likely use up one lot of powder and just throw the next lot on top of that and load more ammo. What’s more dangerous? Mixing 2 lot# to make 1. Or swapping from one lot to another without testing anything?

Your biggest concern would be how to properly mix it all without contamination. Which includes whatever method you use to store the powder after

 

[greentick]

Yep. Not looking to do anything crazy. Stuff will go right back in the original containers, albeit mixed and labeled. I have some small desiccant packs that, if made with something fairly inert, I may drop in to each jug.

Of course there will be labels.

 

[BCP]

I've mixed powder lots plenty of times. Unless it's a batch that is really old/stored haphazardly in which case I'd just throw it out anyways.

 

[greentick]

Just to wrap this thread up...

There always has to be a twist, right? So the 8lb jug shows up from PV. THERE IS NO LOT NUMBER ON IT, ANYWHERE. WTF.

So I emailed PV to see if they knew / or could help me out, figuring they would need to track something like that in case of a recall, etc. They told me to contact Hodgdon. I'm guessing the powder drop-shipped from Hodgdon...

So I called Hodgdon and was told with the way they are making powder right now, all of it is from the same lot. Specifically mentioned the 5ea 1lb bottles were ordered from Natchez and the 8lb jug from PV. There is supposed to be an orange label stuck on the 8lb jug. There's not. Checked the shipping box and all the dunnage too. So, I'm going with the "same lot" explanation, which makes sense, and no mixing needed.

 

[ZY100]

Had one can of Varget a few years ago…zero lot information on it.

I am of the camp that mixing the same powder is fine.

BTW—you mentioned dropping a desiccant in the powder jug. Strongly suggest you do not do that. Besides the fact you might creat a clump. Powder needs some moisture to be “on spec” not sure what it is—but it certainly has an impact on the energy created.

And of course consistent moisture content as you use the product.

 

[BullGear]

Short answer, when I was reloading, I never did it. I sit here with many jugs of powder and if I were to start reloading using them, I'd load until the powder ran out and then start with another jug. The few grams of powder I'm wasting isn't a big concern for me.

But.... I've not reloaded in more than a year, so I'm far from an expert on this issue.

PS. I'd also mark these as different loads even though I used the same powder just from a different jug.

 

[greentick]

...
BTW—you mentioned dropping a desiccant in the powder jug. Strongly suggest you do not do that. Besides the fact you might creat a clump. Powder needs some moisture to be “on spec” not sure what it is—but it certainly has an impact on the energy created.

And of course consistent moisture content as you use the product.

That's a good word right there, clumping is bad. That said, I have read of folks, intentionally drying powder to be able to get more powder in a case. It was done as part of a work up, IE, back off the charge and work it back up with the "dry" powder. My plan with the dessicant pack was to tape it to the inside of the lid, if I had gone that route.

 

[OREGUN]

Funny, I have no problem mixing the end of one jug in with the start of a new jug but I would not put anything like a desiccant in there. Of course, the humidity at my place is almost always cracked-knuckle-skin dry.

 

[spife7980]

That's a good word right there, clumping is bad. That said, I have read of folks, intentionally drying powder to be able to get more powder in a case. It was done as part of a work up, IE, back off the charge and work it back up with the "dry" powder. My plan with the dessicant pack was to tape it to the inside of the lid, if I had gone that route.

Drying it wont change its size to fit "more powder in a case".
Drying it will make its chemicals burn hotter which can get you more velocity/pressure for a given volume of powder.

 

[chevy_man]

Mixing lot numbers together is just fine. I do it all the time.

I started doing it because I had a lot of h4350 that needed 2.5 grns more on a 42grn charge to hit velocity in the 6.5cm. Next lot was back on point.


Anytime I empty an 8lb jug, I simply toss it under the bench. Next time I find 4-8 1lb jugs of mixed lots I toss them in, shake, and pour back into the 1lb jugs. Those giant mason jars work great too.

 

[Baron23]

Some good number of years ago I used to often see a VP from Remington at skeet shoots here in the mid-Atlantic. He was good friends of a friend of mine and he and I had a friendly aquiantance.

He told me (and this is wrt to shotgun powders) that the powder sold to reloaders is much, much more consistent than the box car loads of powder shipped to ammo manf. It is supposedly NOT the same as, for example, the 8 lb jug of Universal I buy.

Ostensibly, this is because the ammo manf can do pretty expert testing, blending, changing of powder charges based on what they get with a new shipment in order to maintain consistent performance and safety while they know that this is often not done by the home reloader so they need a more consistent, lot to lot, powder.

Just a thought as I sit in the house with the real feel of 100 F, humidity like you find in bottom of the Marianna Trench, and all of the air pollution you could want. Good day to sit at the keyboard and pontificate! haha

 

[Precision Underground]

I always mix odd lots if I get the chance before working up a load.