Mixing powders by mistake

[vjay]

Well, I was reloading 38spl this afternoon and accidentally mixed 2 kind of powders.

I was working with herco and forgot to empty auto disk hopper. Later on when I notice, I mistook what kind of powder was and mixed whats left on almost 1 pound of red dot.

It was not that much, like 1/10 of hopper's capacity. Would it be safe to use that powder? I use red dot mainly to reload 380acp, 2.6gr behind 105 SWC (lee mold).

I know powder is cheap on the states but in Mexico are 85 us dollars each pound so I don't want to throw it away that easily


Thanks
Jay

 

[dmazur]

$85 is a cheap lesson. Much cheaper than hospital bills...

The best answer is, you can't mix powders. You have no idea what the results are going to be, so you can't follow the load data for either one.

You have a pound of very expensive fertilizer...

 

[Sunray]

"...Would it be safe to use that powder?..." Absolutely not. Red Dot(#8 on Hodgdon's burn rate chart) is a much faster burning powder than Herco(#35 on the chart). Using mixed powders is extremely unsafe.
"...85 us dollars..." Geezuz! Free trade is just wonderful isn't it. Unfortunately, you're going to have to pitch it on your lawn or garden. Mind you, it's more fun to put it in some kind of flat, fire proof, container, outside(nothing over head), and drop a match on it. Had to dispose of a bad can of Unique, long ago. The colume of fire went over 10 feet.

 

[TonyAngel]

dispose of it. No other option.

 

[vjay]

Oh well I had to try

Very expensive fertilizer indeed

 

[Clark]

There are handloaders that follow recipes and there are hand loaders that can develop loads in new wild cats with unknown bulk powder.

I can use ANY powder, but it is only worth half as much money as a factory blended canister powder.

What does it all mean?
Find an expert reloader who will give you $42.

 

[Steve C]

Herco is a relatively slow powder and Red Dots about as fast as it gets. If it was me and the amount of Herco was small I'd just mix it well in the Red Dot and continue to use it with Red Dot data.

You may get some degradation in velocities from the slower powder but other than that there should be no harm. Not like mixing a fast powder with a slower one and using the slower data. Check loads on a scale to make sure of the charges. Rework up loads and don't try to uses "extra" because of the mistake. Check with a chrono if you have one.

I probably wouldn't run the Red Dot (mixed) in shotgun shells.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Mixed powders with different burn rates are not going to be consistent. Even if someone could predict a safe (low) charge weight based on the fastest burning powder (and I would not dare), accuracy would be hard to predict. Mixed powders are hard to predict.

I bet the gun is worth more than $85. Be safe.

 

[JDGray]

I dumped a small amount of H335, into my Power Pistol bottle once. I shot it up without issue since it was such a small amount of slow rifle powder, mixed with almost a pound of fast handgun powder. If it were the other way arround, I would have fertilized the old ladies flowers with it. I now only have ONE powder out, at one time, on my bench!

 

[Clark]

The cheap bulk powders are all the same thing.
The expensive canister powders have been blended to an exact speed.

 

[qajaq59]

Originally posted by vjay

Posts: 29 Oh well I had to try

Very expensive fertilizer indeed

Yes it is. But it sure is cheaper then 3 hours of a surgeon's time would be!

 

[esheato]

I've dumped the remnants (maybe couple hundred grains) of a one pounder into a brand new 8 pounder of something else before....ran the rumbers, put the lid on and shook it up.

In your situation I'd dump it though.

 

[R.Clem]

If you haven't disposed of it from the hopper yet, dump charges into a pan until you get Red Dot, then twenty more dumps.
That should get the Herco out.

Ray

 

[LightningMan]

With the amount you mixed by accident, I'd throw it out and consider it a lesson learned. I myself mixed in a single charge ( about 6 grs. ) of AA#5 into my nearly full powder hopper of Trailboss of my Dillon 550. I didn't throw it out for such a small amount, but did learn a lesson to always ALWAYS! pay attention to what your doing. LM

 

[HankB]

I've occasionally mixed different lots of the exact same powder . . . but mixing different powders is too much of an adventure for me; I really don't look forward to surprises when I pull the trigger.

 

[FROGO207]

I will bet on lots of things. This I would not bet on. Make the plants happy. You learned why one needs to pay attention at all times---without a kaboom.

 

[FROGO207]

I will bet on lots of things. This I would not bet on. Make the plants happy. You learned why one needs to pay attention at all times---without a kaboom.

 

[Sport45]

If you haven't moved the hopper you could dip (from the top) your Red Dot out. Don't mix what's in the hopper and stop when there's about 25% left.

What's left in the hopper should be Herco on the bottom (~10%) and Red Dot on the top (~15%). Throw all of that on the lawn or flush it to the sewer.

 

[vjay]

Sadly, hopper was poured into RD container. I think it would be 80-100gr of herco.

 

[JDGray]

Your mixture, is alot like mine was, a full pound of fast powder mixed with a bit of slow. It would probably shoot fine, but velocity will be down a bit, or the 38s would be a little flashier with the slow herco mixed in. Now loading a rifle cartridge, with a fast HG powder mixed in is a disaster waiting to happen. I doubt 100gr of herco, would have much effect on a full pound of reddot, if it was mixed in good. Only you can determin that. If your pleasure shooting, where accuracy isn't vital, I'd shoot it. If for competition, your accuracy may suffer, and may not be worth it.

 

[BADUNAME37]

I absolutely would not shoot the rounds you created with this concoction. Any powder in question I would properly dispose of.

When in DOUBT, DON'T!

This is the reason I have only one powder on my reloading bench at a time. I am not so anal as to pouring back what is in the powder measure if I walk away for several hours, or even days. I do, however, make a large note that I put visibly inside or outside the powder measure with the name of the powder on it and with the cannister next to the measure. Any cases I have loaded, I cover with another loading block, set upside-down over the charged batch of cases. That way, nothing can disturb the cases without my knowing it (like a cat knocks something over, which would rarely happen as my cat pretty much stays off my reloading bench).

 

[Walkalong]

Kind of like throwing a little low octane gas in with a lot of high octane gas. Use high octane figures.

 

[kestak]

Greetings,

This is a pure rethorical question:

Would it be possible to save that powder by mixing VERY WELL the messed up powder in one or two 8 pounds of any of the powder?

I did that at a lesser extent: I disassembled three rounds (total 165 grains) and threw the powder back into the hopper...until I figured out I threw Big Game powder into TAC. I simply poured the hopper into a 8# of TAC and shook it for a few minutes.

Thank you

 

[qajaq59]

I suspect by now the OP has tossed it and will likely never do it again. Now if no one will make the same mistake it'd be nice. The can for whatever powder is in the hooper should sit on the bench until you're done with it. And only THAT can.

 

[jcwit]

I would use mild Red Dot data probably in a low pressure round like .45 acp and loaded for practice, which I'm badly in need of.