after reading about it it finally happened to me.

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roval

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i used a black friday purchase my chargemaster 1500 for the first time today. i had loaded some 45 acp with vvn320 on my dillon and left the jug on the bench. i then loaded 44 mag with 296 and used the chargemaster.( i never could meter it consistently on tthe dillon) .

this was first time emptying the chargemaster so i could load some 308 later tonight. trying to not spill from the spout i had drained the residual 296 into my 1 lb jug of vvn320 instead.

2 good things: the left over 296 from the machine was not too much. i put the wrong powder into a 1 lb jig and not into a bigger jug like the 4 lb jig of 296.

the bad it was vvn320 with only 300 5 gr rounds used. it was also my most expensive powder.

i dumped the powder in the grass already.

at least its easy to replace at this time.
 
I hate that for you I'm always so paranoid about that, I try to keep the powder I am using in an easy to reach spot and try to make it to where the other powder is in a hard to get to area but I could easily screw it up. If it makes you feel any better I accidentally started a truck up at work with no oil and let it run for at least 15 seconds the other week before I noticed, I told my supervisor but he wasn't worried and thankfully it has since gone thousands of miles with no issues now, lesson learned, don't go into work when I'm sick. It hurts to loose that powder but it would have would been a lot worse if you hadn't noticed.
 
Well, that STINKS! as you stated, at least you didn't taint a 4 or 8 pounder! I haven't done it yet and sure dont plan to. I like to think my way of dealing with powders minimizes those chances. I keep a pound of each powder on the highest shelf above the bench. when I'm reloading I set the powder in use on the bench and always empty the measure after reloading. The rest of the powder stays in 8lb jugs and 1lb cans in a proper wooden box. When the can above the bench runs out, I will weigh out another pound or break open a new 1lb can.
 

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Two things: First and obviously, that sucks. Secondly, good thing you caught it. With any luck at all, this post will stick in someone's mind and make them pay attention so they don't make the same mistake and miss it.
 
I got a funny one to tell on myself. I geuss about 2 years ago when you couldn't find pistol powder anywhere I happened to find a 1lb jug of universal powder so within a couple days I decided to load some 9mm, so I got everything prepared and then got me a big ol chew of tobacco and sat down and started loading. I loaded probably 300 and decided to stop and stretch and that's when I noticed that I had been using my new hard as he'll to find powder jug for a spit cup.:uhoh:
 
i guess i got flustered trying to drain the chargemaster. i usually only have one powder out but if i have 2 . the one im using is on the table and the other one on a shelf. with the 296 being a 4 lber i had it on the shelf instead of the table since the chargemaster took up space.

i thought about sifting the powder for 5 seconds since the 2 powders were of such different sizes then i came to my senses.

i usually get a 1 lb jug of whatever i have in biggger containers and then refill the 1 lber as necessary. for some reason i didnt do that with the 296

alientrainwreck, now that is funny.

live and learn....
 
My powder is stored in a cabinet where I have to get up from the reloading table and walk across the room to access. I only have the powder that I am currently using on the reloading table. I never get more than one powder out of the cabinet at a time.

I learned the hard way before this procedure in place.
 
Reefinmike said:
Well, that STINKS! as you stated, at least you didn't taint a 4 or 8 pounder! I haven't done it yet and sure dont plan to. I like to think my way of dealing with powders minimizes those chances. I keep a pound of each powder on the highest shelf above the bench. when I'm reloading I set the powder in use on the bench and always empty the measure after reloading. The rest of the powder stays in 8lb jugs and 1lb cans in a proper wooden box. When the can above the bench runs out, I will weigh out another pound or break open a new 1lb can.
Click to expand...
This is basically the same thing I do. I have a couple of water bottles I have lacked labeled for rifle powders I top off to load from. I just can't take the chance of putting anything back in my 8lb jugs. I have different styles for pistol powder.
 
NeuseRvrRat said:
I keep my powder in a big metal cabinet and I try to only have one bottle or jug out of the cabinet at a time.
Click to expand...

That is what I do too. And that, because of reading here at THR over the last few years, of other members stories and advice.

roval, glad you caught that mistake. As we all screw up, and most of the time without any serious consequences. Thankfully , yours fell in that category.
 
I only put one can out at a time and often put it back after I fill a hopper. I did have a moment recently where I was halfway through loading some 223 and suddenly wondered if I had picked up the CFE Pistol or the CFE 223 to fill with. Luckily I keep pistol and rifle powder in separate areas about 5 feet apart and could remember for sure where I'd been. Otherwise I'd have been pulling bullets.
 
berettaprofessor said:
I only put one can out at a time and often put it back after I fill a hopper. I did have a moment recently where I was halfway through loading some 223 and suddenly wondered if I had picked up the CFE Pistol or the CFE 223 to fill with. Luckily I keep pistol and rifle powder in separate areas about 5 feet apart and could remember for sure where I'd been. Otherwise I'd have been pulling bullets.
Click to expand...

That is why I keep the container of the powder I'm currently using out from the other powders. There have been times I had to stop the process and not get back to finishing for a couple of days. Everyone finds a method that works for themselves . :)
 
I only have one powder at a time. With the ChargeMaster I empty the complete contents of a 1# bottle into the hopper, then set the bottle inverted on top (as the lid). This way it's off the work top and there is no dought as to what powder I have in use.
 
Ugh, that blows. I try to avoid that issue by storing my powder several steps away from my bench; the jug that the powder in the hopper/thrower came out of stays on the bench. And it goes back to the shelf across the room only when the powder has been put back into it, and before a new powder comes off the shelf.
 
Yep I've done it. Thankfully I caught it.
I poured IMR3031 into a can of IMR4350.

Over half a pound wasted. Oh well. If only that $20 lesson was my most expensive one.
 
Might have actually made some really good powder however it would have taken about a pound for testing then you wouldn't have any left over.
 
Glad you caught it!

I stick a piece of masking tape on my dispenser, labeled with what powder I have in it. And....only one powder out at a time. I store my powder indoors, and my reloading setup is in the garage, so it's pretty easy to keep them all apart.
 
The 1964 National High Power Match Rifle Champion pulls a close related boo boo.

He had loaded some new Winchester powder into primed 308 Win cases then seated 168's for the custom Win 70 match rifle he won the Nationals with. His first shot from prone blew apart the receiver around the bolt head. Pieces of steel and brass peppered and cut his face quite bad. He was able to drive about 25 miles to a hospital for treatment.

When he got home, checked his reloading components used. A can of pistol powder was by the boxes of primers and bullets used for the test.
 
Bart's story reminds me of the one a few years ago where the fellow swapped these two.

IMG_4183_zpsd4hbzkyb.jpg


And made one of these.

IMG_4184_zps1ymmuoza.jpg


He posted recently and said he is about 100% recovered.



I finally got around to trying to organize my powder by how old it is, to use up the oldest first and keep what I'm not using handy but off the bench.

IMG_20161207_185602_710_zpsktd14x6e.jpg
 
Jmorris reminded me that whenever I get any new powder, I wright the date on the can when I got it. I have done this for years. If I have more than 2 cans of the same powder, the oldest is in the front. Remember the old square Red Dot cans. I started dating cans when they were replaced by the present shaped cans.This reminds me of my wife not paying attention to code dates. We moved to our present house 2 1/2 years ago, some seasonings and cake mix boxes were out coded before we moved and we still had them in the cupboards of our new house. Then there was the time when she ate cottage cheese that was over 2 weeks out of code. She became one with the bathroom all day. So pay attention, it is a jungle out there.
 
I mixed 2 about 50 years ago. IMR rifle powders in cans.
Put a cannon fuse thru the lid. Lit it and run, expecting an explosion.
It popped the cap off and had about a 3 foot sparkler.
Very disappointing.
Click to expand...

But a very good lesson on the fact that smokeless propellant has to be tightly and strongly confined to function as an "explosive" (explosive in quotes because we all know that the explosion comes from the catastrophic failure of the pressure vessel and not from the inherent qualities of the propellant as an explosive).
 
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