Well that was weird ... (stuck powder in factory cartridge)

[rustyinbend]

Decided to "reverse engineer" a bit to see how my loads compared to a factory Hornady 6.5-CM 147gr ELD-M cartridge. I took a new factory cartridge, pulled the bullet, and expected the powder would pour out so that I could weigh it. Imagine my surprise when I turned over the case, and only a few kernels dropped out. I tapped with my finger ... a few more kernels. Tapped on the cup ... a few more. Then I took a small punch and stuck it in, expecting to unblock it easily. No such luck. The rest of the powder granules were stuck together like concrete.

Not wanting to blow myself up (always a good strategy) ... I gave up there, since the whole experiment wasn't that important to me. But my question is ... do the manufacturers do something to their powder to "harden / congeal" it or make this happen? Or was it just a fluke with the cartridge I disassembled? Should I expect to be able to pour the powder out of a bullet-extracted factory cartridge?

Just curious ...

 

[Namekagon]

I have no info to contribute. BUT...could you tell if the factory load a compressed load?

Reason being, I wonder if having a compressed load sit for a long time would cause the bonding you observed.

 

[rustyinbend]

I have no info to contribute. BUT...could you tell if the factory load a compressed load?

Reason being, I wonder if having a compressed load sit for a long time would cause the bonding you observed.

I have no idea ... the bullet popped off ... and the powder was all stuck together. No way to tell that I'm aware of whether or not it's a compressed load coming from the factory.

 

[Baron23]

I have no idea ... the bullet popped off ... and the powder was all stuck together. No way to tell that I'm aware of whether or not it's a compressed load coming from the factory.

Now this had to do w shotgun powder, but I have been told that the powder used to manf loaded ammo isn’t at all like what we use to reload. In particular, I was told that reloading powder is much more consistent than what the factory receives by the car load as they have the ability to test each batch and tweak the load which is of course not something we can do at home.

I can’t absolutely confirm this nor do I know the degree of difference, just that it’s supposed to not be what we buy in jugs.

 

[NH4X]

Every factory Superformance load I've pulled apart has been the same way.........had to dig it out with a pick. I' m thinking they are a really compressed load.

 

[KnowNothing256]

Is the bullet a boat-tail? If so, you can tell if the load was compressed if there's an imprint of the bullet in the powder and the top of the powder sits at exactly the neck/shoulder junction. Actually, this would be true even if it wasn't a boat-tail, as long as the bullet was seated with the bearing surface at least as deep as the junction.

 

[Heffo]

Factory 140. ELDMs powder falls straight out that I’ve pulled.

 

[nealm66]

I’ve had some 8133 do that after sitting a while. Not compressed. Didn’t seem to affect the accuracy. Definitely made me wonder

 

[whatsupdoc]

I had this happen with a 223 with IMR8208, after the powder was all out on white paper it looked normal.
My first thought was that I somehow left water in the case after ultrasonic cleaning the cases but that was not
the case.

The kernels just bonded together.

 

[Sniperwannabee]

What powder is it supposed to be?