Mixing Old and new Powder

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JWH321

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I have a couple of 1 pound bottles of Tite-Group that are a few years old. I've been using them up, and I'm down to the point that I don't have a full powder measure using them all up. I find my powder measure loses accuracy when the hopper gets below about 25% full.

So -- can I grab a new bottle of Tite-Group and mix it in with the older stuff to fill the hopper?

Do powder mixtures change over a few years?
 
Powder mixtures burn rate can vary slightly from lot to lot. Me personally, I don't put one pounders together unless they are the same lot. Other folks may do other stuff but for, unless it's same lot, I don't mix.
 
Check to see if the measure throws very close to the same weight with each lot. If they do, I would mix them thoroughly. If not, I wouldn't. Burn rates can vary a little lot to lot, but not much. That is one difference in canister powders and big lots made for ammo manufactures. Canister powders must be very close lot to lot.
 
Walkalong said:
Check to see if the measure throws very close to the same weight with each lot. If they do, I would mix them thoroughly. If not, I wouldn't. Burn rates can vary a little lot to lot, but not much. That is one difference in canister powders and big lots made for ammo manufactures. Canister powders must be very close lot to lot.
Click to expand...


^^^This, and by mixing the powders together, you are actually reducing the variance between lots.
 
I'm faced with the same thing, same powder. I plan to pour the old in with half a container of new and shake vigoursly. I can't see where it will matter that much, especially if you're mid range or lower. If you're on the edge of upper limits, maybe. I wouldn't just dump in new right on top of the old.
 
Interesting you brought this up. I bought four pounds of TG and have been slowly using them up the past three months. I was down to my last half pound when a friend who switched over to Vihta offered to sell/trade what he had left of an 8lb jug of Titegroup. Figuring it was the "exact" same I simply added it and "lo and behold" it started measuring a little different.
I have a log on my bench. I write down what cavity on my disc measure throws with different powders and the numbers started changing a little with this batch. If I was a new reloader or using a different powder it probably would not be noticable. Titegroup measures so "on the button" that its the exact same throw every time.
Example: Usually the .30cc drops 3.5gr and with this new/old batch it dropped 3.4gr. For my 115gr fmj load I noticed a drop from 4.8gr to .4.6gr. At first I pulled apart the measure and cleaned/lubed everything. I trust the disc measure but only up to a point, I have had problems with them when they weren't clean and had them bind up and drop short charges.
I put it back together and it still dropped slightly different charges. It is the powder I determined.
With Red Dot, Unique, or 700x I would never have noticed!
 
I typically take the last portion of powder from a canister and mix it in with a batch of the next canister. I've never had a problem.
 
Well, I put the old in with the new and shook it up. It still measures 4.1 (+-.1). I haven't been out to shoot it yet -- that comes tomorrow.

It looks the same after its mixed up, and I could find no variance in the old #55.

I'm nowhere near max on the load or on the seating depth so I should be OK I guess. (I load for comfort -- good 'ol arthritis -- but that another good reason to load my own).

I have a new 8 lb bottle -- that may last me several years. It allows a lot of loading at 4.1grns , -- maybe a bit over 8K rounds.
 
More like 13,000 instead of 8K. My max load of 3.6 would give me over 15K on one jug, IF I could find it.
 
Do a little googling to see whether there is discussion of the powder being "reformulated" or any thing such as that.

If you get nothing in your search, inspect to be sure the powders are visually identical.

If it passes that test, you can be confident that mixing won't create any surprises.
 
Pour the enough new powder on top of the old in the measure to keep it happy, and load away as long as you are not at the bleeding edge of the load data. (and if you are, dial it back a few clicks) Keep in mind that you'll transition from the old powder to new somewhere in that box of cartridges, so you might not want to load for a match or for self defense until you're sure you are in the new powder.
 
I mix all the time.
The current load data (and the recipe I'm using) does not change from lot to lot of TG, and my loader has a 0.1 grain accuracy at the very best (and often it is a bit less accurate; +/- 0.1 per throw) anyway. I don't shoot well enough to notice any change in accuracy from slight lot-to-lot variations in recently-produced powders. If it was more than 20 years old, or something like that, maybe I'd work up the load again before loading up large quantities of ammo, but if I was not able to find any info about reformulation, I might not even do that.

I even mix HP-38 and Win 231 together when at the end of a canister of one or the other (but, just to be clear, I do not mix HP-38, Win231, or mixed HP38/Win 231 WITH Titegroup!).
 
Shake, don't stir, breath of vermouth, serve chilled in a martini glass.

On a serious note, if your not working with a max charge, or up in that territory, I would mix the two lots together, verify it's throwing the same charge, and load. Other wise, take your load back down and work back up.

GS
 
Powder manufacturers adjust their manufacturing process and sometimes blend different production lots to keep their cannister powder's burn rates controlled within a very narrow range - so I would have no qualms about mixing different lots of the exact same canister powder together.

With a few caveats . . . I understand that over the years, there has been some reformulation of powders (e.g., Unique) and if I used that, I wouldn't want to mix vintage powder with new production.

And of course, if I were the type to "redline" my loads, I'd be extra careful about lot to lot variations. (But being extra careful, I don't like to work into my guns' safety margins anyway.)
 
I wouldn't just throw a different lot number powder on top of the stuff in your hopper and call it good, especially if you're loading up near the top of the pressure limits already. Use some of the cautions listed above you you should be able to mix it.
 
valleyforge.1777 said:
I even mix HP-38 and Win 231 together when at the end of a canister of one or the other .
Click to expand...

Same here. Same with H110/W296. My experience has made it comfortable for me to do this. After years of restarting low and working back up when changing lot numbers and verifying the results with a chrono, I've found the variance to be so small amongst them that it was no different than the variance I get from loading different batches with the same powder lot.
 
Well it shot just fine - for me that is.

I have to admit that I kinda tightened up when I pulled the trigger on the first one, but after that, I forgot that I had questioned anything.

I use 4.1 grains of Tite Group. I'm sure glad I don't use more for the rounds that go in the 938. Its pretty snappy stuff.
 
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