Bought 2 lbs of win 231 and flake powder was in the container.

[allen4150]

The only ball powder I've used in the past was H-380 and it had a true spherical shape to it. I bought 2 lbs of win 231 ball powder and noticed that instead of a ball shape, it had a flake texture a litle smaller than bullseye.

Is this right or am I taking the "ball" descriptor too literally?

 

[Slamfire]

W231 is supposed to be a rolled ball powder.

I just looked at my old tin can of W231. Looks the same. Don't worry, be happy.

 

[mbopp]

Now you made me look, and my 231 looks like yours.

 

[snuffy]

Your picture certainly does NOT look like my WW-231. Mine comes from a 4# jug that I bought some time ago, maybe 6 years? Mine has a shiny sheen to it, which yours does not. Hard to gauge the size of the granuals from your pic to my direct observation.

WW-231 is a flattened, or as slam says, rolled ball power. It makes a sphere into a flake.

A call to Winchester seems to be in order. Ask them if there's been a change in the method of manufacture. Offer to email them your photo.

 

[LiveLife]

W231 is supposed to be flattened ball powder.

I just checked my W231 (2 years old) and HP38 (bought last year) and both were flat and shiny on the surface with smooth borders around the edge.

Just as a comparison, I checked my other powders and my WSF looks like your picture (rough texture and not shiny).

I wonder if they changed their formulation? I doubt it though.

Update: I see that snuffy and I were typing at the same time.

Yes, I would call Winchester just to make sure wrong powder type did not end up in the W231 container. If they changed formulation and the powder appearance is supposed to be rough, you are ok. But if Winchester says they are supposed to be flat and shiny, you may have wrong powder in your container.

 

[Jesse Heywood]

W231

Lot #
1071309
387

 

[allen4150]

Thanks everybody. It actually does have a sheen to it-something my el cheapo camera didn't pick up. I had always assumed it would look like H380. I learned something today.

 

[Walkalong]

Yep. Some flattened ball powders look a lot like flake powders until looked at more closely.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Yup...W-231...No doubt about it.

 

[ReloaderFred]

That's Winchester 231, without a doubt. Now the question is, where the heck did you find some? I've scoured all the local and usual on-line sources, but can't seem to locate it.

Fred

 

[idahoglock36]

Hey Fred,

If you make it over to Boise, our local Cabelas has plenty...at least the last couple of times I have been in there....looked like they had at least 10 1 pounders on the the shelf today and all the primers you could ever want...except LPP. Tons of Federal Small Pistol Magnum's and CCI SPP, Bench SR, MSR and SR.....tons and tons Magtech's and Remingtons to boot. Looked like a primer orgy!

 

[Fatelvis]

I just checked a pound of 231 I have that is about 20 yrs old. Same flat round flake.

 

[ReloaderFred]

idahoglock36,

A friend was down at the Medford Sportsman's Warehouse on Friday, and they also had plenty of primers and a fair selection of powder, but no 231 or HP-38. He was able to get me the only two pounds of Reloder 7 they had in stock for my .375 Winchester, though. The Wholesale Sportsman store in Salem, that used to be a Sportsman's Warehouse, didn't have much at all in primers or powder last week, but what they did have was a couple of dollars more than the Sportsman's Warehouse in Medford.

I'm looking for a couple 8 pound kegs of Winchester 231. I still have one keg, but I'm about to start using quite a bit of it for .45 acp and will need more than I have on hand.

As for primers, I just picked up the 10,000 Federal Large Pistol Primers that I ordered almost a year ago through my local supplier. He said these were shipped directly from Federal, rather than the distributor he ordered them through. His order was for 100,000 primers, and he received 35,000, which are already sold.

Fred

 

[rondog]

I'll have to look at my 231 and HP-38, but I don't recall them looking like that. I've never really looked at them in close-up detail before though. Seems like there's a lot more of the tiny little balls in them. But maybe I'm the flake!

Might check with Powder Valley, seems like I saw 8# jugs of 231 there recently. Might have been something else though, not sure. Maybe it was H110.

 

[10xforever]

WW231 is considered a ball powder, however the manufacturer (now Hodgdon) rolls the powder into flake form to allow for more consistent burning quality. Some powders have tiny holes to control the burning rates.

 

[GP100man]

Looks like HP-38 to me !!!

LOT to LOT may not look exactly alike , but has to meet a burn rate tolerance.

If runnin max loads drop back & go again!!

 

[45ACPUSER]

Hodgdon does not make ANY powder; rather they distribute powder.....their main sources
are General Dynamics plants in Canada and in St. Marks FL, and ADI of Austrailia....

 

[rondog]

Probably safe to say that NO powders are made by the companies whose name is on the label. Or at least very few are. Probably primers and brass too. Just like Sears doesn't make Craftsman tools.