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troy fairweather said:
Will be fine but take some Precautions, only have one powder out when loading, if using a powder measure of even a cup to scoop powder use some tape and put the powder type to help if you have a brain fart. Maybe don't have the ac on, shouldn't anyway it will affect your scales.
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This is why. A safety measure but It's overkill if you have these (better) precautions in place as indicated. One powder at a time (and even things like a little place on the table you put the powder currently in use, vs back on the shelf), label things just in case anyway, etc.

If there's a question on which powder you have in an unlabeled container, there is no question. Toss it lest you blow yourself up. But it's not hard to go slow, follow process, and never have that happen.
 
I put a post it note on the powder measure naming the powder in it and charge weight and put a rubber bank on it just in case. Only have that one bottle of powder on your bench at a time, and pour the excess back as you finish.

There is absolutely no need to waste powder even when it was cheap if you just take simple precautions. I use to load in the same room as 9 aquariums and would load for a couple hours at a time and always poured my powder back in the jug it came out of with 0 issues. Whomever told you that needs to sign up here and do some reading.
 
I can't think of a valid reason for not returning unused powder from a loading session back to its original container. I've been doing it that way for decades. What you want to be obsessively observant of is the correct powder is being used, and only one bottle is out at a time (the powder being loaded). Sounds like someone wasn't doing that at some point and mixed one powder into another by accident.
 
igotta40 said:
I’ve read and heard one should not return powder to a container. Why not?
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The only legitimate reason would be not to contaminate a whole jug of powder. This could be by putting the left over powder from your hopper into the wrong powder container.....and if you have been on any reloading forum, you know it happens all the time. It also could be that the powder in your hopper somehow is contaminated. For the most part, the easiest way to get your powder contaminated is to leave it in the hopper where it is exposed to light and air. Also, many powders can and do etch the plastic of your hopper if left in it for an expended amount of time.

I always return whatever powder is left in my hopper at the end of a reloading session, back to the original container. There are times when I will use a left over powder jug instead of the original container because the original is a eight or 4 pounder and I want to leave it unopened as much as possible. But, the left over jug is clearly labeled for the powder so there is no mix up. Like with any reloading practice, care must be taken to do it correctly. Not difficult at all.
 
Because...Lawyers. I think some of the NFPA/HAZMAT sections for the old reloading flyers from Hercules said this in the 80's/90's, and it still pops up here and there. Following above BMPs, it is totally unnecessary.
 
I would love to hear the reasoning behind it. It is really reaching to say you might put it in the wrong original container. For me SOP is only one powder out at a time....so it would be pretty hard to put it in the incorrect container.
 
Still,
My friend found out the hard way when he didn't screw the cap back on tight enough. Knocked over said bottle, cap popped off, powder everywhere.

Drug out the trusty shop vac and started cleaning up! I was lucky enough to be stopping by that day.

I asked him "what happened to your shop vac"? And that my friends is the rest of the story! :rofl:
 
Mk-211 said:
Still,
My friend found out the hard way when he didn't screw the cap back on tight enough. Knocked over said bottle, cap popped off, powder everywhere.

Drug out the trusty shop vac and started cleaning up! I was lucky enough to be stopping by that day.

I asked him "what happened to your shop vac"? And that my friends is the rest of the story! :rofl:
Click to expand...

I have an RCBS electronic powder drop, it has this little twist thing on the side that you turn to let the powder out after you are done.....I can't tell you how many time I have not checked that and just poured powder in to have it come back out just as fast because that little dial.
 
I have never heard that so I too believe it's just internet wisdom and is illogical. Do "they" say what you are supposed to do with the powder remaining in the measure when you finish reloading? Many powders will etch the plastic hoppers and often cloud them enough that powder levels cannot be seen. It's almost universally known reloading practice to put everything away, in their original containers when done reloading...
 
Nope, not true. Return it to the container. If you volume load, tailing it is fine too. I also tail the last of a jug into the newly opened jug. Now, if you have a jug of unique from 1948, I probably wouldn't mix it with a jug from 2020....but really, it's fine to return to container.
 
igotta40 said:
I’ve read and heard one should not return powder to a container. Why not?
Click to expand...
I have no idea why not. Good reloading practice is only one powder at a time on the bench, the powder you are loading.

While smokeless powder is hydroscopic that does not mean after a brief reloading session it is rendered useless. I just return it to its original container. Additionally most powders today come in a plastic container. You may wish to give the container a gentle squeeze when tightening the cap. I empty my powder hopper back into the original container the powder came in. This is not to say leave it uncovered in a hopper for a week. Just apply common sense. Finally if you really want good answers just email the guys making the powder.

Ron
 
Powders can be safely returned from the bench to the containers they originally came from. No question there.

However, I would caution that just because two powder jugs have the same powder name doesn't mean that their contents can be safely mixed. If "tailing" as @EricBu suggests, I suggest that lot numbers on the two containers should also match.

Manufacturers warn against mixing powders. For example, a 2009 Reloader's Guide from Alliant includes this warning: "...do not attempt to blend salvaged powder with new powder or attempt to blend two types of powder to make a 'custom' blend."

Canister powders are themselves mixtures of various feedstocks. There is no way for handloaders to know how mixing powder from two lots of Bullseye, for example, might affect the pressures (for example) produced by the resulting mixture of two mixtures.



Even though most reloaders can't measure pressures, we CAN measure variations in velocities produced by different lots of the same name of powder. And perhaps those velocity variations from lot to lot might provide interesting information. So, some time ago, I decided to compare velocities produced by two lots of Bullseye. Here's what I found:

My recipe was for 9x19, using range brass, 115 grain Extreme CPRN, OAL 1.130", CCI 500 primers, loaded on an XL650 using the same adjustments, shot in an XD service model with a 4" barrel, on the same cold February day, with the same ambient conditions, over the same chronograph, etc.

4.3 grains of Bullseye lot A produced: 1087 fps, SD=16, ES=45, N=8
4.3 grains of Bullseye lot B produced: 1138 fps, SD=15, ES=47, N=8

The velocity difference was 51 fps, or 4.7%. This is more than three times the standard deviation for each load. Even with the low number of samples, I think that this difference is likely to be real.

I wanted to keep the velocity for the rounds loaded with Bullseye lot B similar to those loaded with Bullseye lot A, so I dropped the charge weight using the lot B powder down to 4.0 grains (a 7% reduction). This lower charge weight produced 1090 fps, which is just what I wanted.

This is one reason why I don't mix powders from different lots, even if they have the same powder name on the container.
 
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What I do is if the container is a 4 or 8 lb jug, I pour it in to a 1 lb container, and fill my hopper from it, and return any left overs to the 1 lb jug. The 1 lb jug is a lot easier to use and don`t risk spilling a whole 8 lbs
 
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I also do not mix from different lots, I use Universal and some lots are denser then others and have to adjust my load to compensate.
 
I'm curious if you guys think commercial manufacturers toss powder when they finish one lot and start a new one? Or if they maybe tail lots? Especially during times when it's really really hard to get more than 20lbs at a time in a single lot? Oh, and if you are sampling velocity....unless you did it on the same time of day/year/same barometric reading/same humidity level/same temp......your chasing waterfalls assuming a 4% difference is the powder lot. Just saying......the statistical deviation of just about any 9mm will exceed that just shooting it at different times of the day. I think some folks have a tendency to make things more complex than they need to be. Sure, if you load a hundred rounds a month, and buy 2 lbs of powder a year...by all means, stick to the lots. But it's not reasonable, nor financially sound for anybody loading in numbers. I mean, heck, you pretty much need most volumetric measures to be at least half full to maintain accuracy, you going to throw out 1/2 lb of powder everytime you crack a jug/bottle? I don't think so. Rest assured...tailing lots is just fine unless you are mixing batches that are years old, like I mentioned....not a great idea.
 
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I'm willing to bet that they have less than a pound leftover when they finish a run.

Waste isn't something companies want, costs them money to toss product.
 
luzyfuerza said:
Powders can be safely returned from the bench to the containers they originally came from. No question there.

However, I would caution that just because two powder jugs have the same powder name doesn't mean that their contents can be safely mixed. If "tailing" as @EricBu suggests, I suggest that lot numbers on the two containers should also match.

Manufacturers warn against mixing powders. For example, a 2009 Reloader's Guide from Alliant includes this warning: "...do not attempt to blend salvaged powder with new powder or attempt to blend two types of powder to make a 'custom' blend."

Canister powders are themselves mixtures of various feedstocks. There is no way for handloaders to know how mixing powder from two lots of Bullseye, for example, might affect the pressures (for example) produced by the resulting mixture of two mixtures.



Even though most reloaders can't measure pressures, we CAN measure variations in velocities produced by different lots of the same name of powder. And perhaps those velocity variations from lot to lot might provide interesting information. So, some time ago, I decided to compare velocities produced by two lots of Bullseye. Here's what I found:

My recipe was for 9x19, using range brass, 115 grain Extreme CPRN, OAL 1.130", CCI 500 primers, loaded on an XL650 using the same adjustments, shot in an XD service model with a 4" barrel, on the same cold February day, with the same ambient conditions, over the same chronograph, etc.

4.3 grains of Bullseye lot A produced: 1087 fps, SD=16, ES=45, N=8
4.3 grains of Bullseye lot B produced: 1138 fps, SD=15, ES=47, N=8

The velocity difference was 51 fps, or 4.7%. This is more than three times the standard deviation for each load. Even with the low number of samples, I think that this difference is likely to be real.

I wanted to keep the velocity for the rounds loaded with Bullseye lot B similar to those loaded with Bullseye lot A, so I dropped the charge weight using the lot B powder down to 4.0 grains (a 7% reduction). This lower charge weight produced 1090 fps, which is just what I wanted.

This is one reason why I don't mix powders from different lots, even if they have the same powder name on the container.
Click to expand...
If you start a new lot of bullets do you completely work up a new load... if you change lots of the same primer do you start all over.... now I will give you that the best shooters buy cases of the same lot of each but us normal guys dont... a modicum of sense is required in this hobby or way more money than I make...
 
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