Need help identifying powder

[Roccobro]

Sure, as I already stated it is either herco or Unique.

No you didn't.

the person he got it from has passed away so no way to verify type of powder.

Who's to say the dead guy was even a reloader. Fourth hand information to risk limbs on... Sounds good to me!!!! Do it and post pixs!

if you can still...

Justin

 

[moosehunt]

Golly, I was one that said you can't identify it, and you can't, but a little logic says the guy ain't going to wreck himself if he uses lots of caution. Hello? He ain't going to blow nothing up with too little powder! Then he carefully works up watching for preasure signs. It ain't rocket science! If that's the biggest risk this captain takes in life, then he has awfully dull, mundane life! I'm wondering if the average age on this post isn't about 35 years or something? You young kids are awfully spooky! Do your pups wear hardhats when they ride their pedalmobiles? Don't let your shadow get you!

 

[jrumsey]

moosehunt :
Thank you for those great words of wisdom. Please post your list of reloading safety rules so all us have it for ready reference whenever we are not sure how to proceed.

NRMA Safety Rules Link :

http://www.reload-nrma.com/basic-rules.html

 

[paperpuncher49]

As I implied in my previous post, "Stupid is as stupid does."

There is no reason for the majority of people here to "go ballistic" if someone asks advice and then chooses to ignore it. Every parent knows kids do the same thing. Sometimes they get hurt and sometimes they don't.

Actually, there are two safety rules in question here, one being the use of an unknown propellant and the breaking of another which led to the confusion in the first place, that is, failure to store whatever the substance is in the original container. For all anyone knows, maybe it's not smokeless powder at all. It could be two huge cans of Folgers flaked coffee or maybe even dandruff flakes from Sasquatch!

Also, I would suggest the number of posts a respondent has does not mean they have extensive experience, other than experience in front of the computer. I have been reloading for over 30 years but have fewer than 100 posts. But I also would not claim to know it all. If the senior ballistician from Hodgdon, Winchester, or Alliant rang in with a response and had fewer than 10 posts would that be cause to ignore him? I too (and many others who post here) have been guilty of "reloading safety rules" at some time or another. I have (carefully, I would add) decapped live primers. How many of the negative respondents have done the same? I doubt there is a reloader among us who has never been distracted while reloading, unless they are newbies.

Lighten up and remember that this thread exemplifies another common sense safety rule: Don't fire any reloads unless you are sure they come from a reliable source.

 

[JDGray]

Seeing that its been stored in coffee cans, its probably absorbed moisture, how does it smell? You either have good fertilizer, or spoiled fertilizer

Please be safe!!

 

[bensdad]

for the majority of people here to "go ballistic"

Nobody did. Guy asked a question. We answered. Guy argued. We tried again. You wanna see "ballistic?" Go read ARFCOM. If he didn't want to hear the answer, he shouldn't have asked the question.

Every parent knows kids do the same thing. Sometimes they get hurt and sometimes they don't.

Not my kids... at least not with gun powder for cryin out loud.

number of posts a respondent has does not mean they have extensive experience,

I made it perfectly clear in my post that I realize post-count doesn't equate to wisdom and experience. I'll make it clear now that when folks like rcmodel, sm, and others post something, those who have paid attention for a while, and recognize their consistency, accuracy and truthfulness, know enough to listen.

PS: Sorry for the thread hijack. I vote to not use the powder.

 

[cpttango30]

Well you guys aren't much help! I know safety is paramount but I'm not a neophyte I just don't know Unique or Herco by sight. This powder is one of them. They both have similar load data specs. I plan on loading some rounds to .38 special low pressure and fire them in my T. Contender and compare the results to rounds loaded to similar specs with my known powders. It would be helpful if someone could identify the powder by my description. Or at least say no, that doesn't sound like either one!

I am sorry this may not be high road but this has to be said, that has to be the stupidest comment I have ever heard. Please post an address of the funeral home that will be used I would like to send some flowers. These powder may be similer but they are not the same.

In a 45acp shooting a 230gr FMJ the max laod is 6.4gr for Unique and 7gr for Herco. If you throw a max load in for Herco but your powder is Unique this will cause an over presure and can blow your pistol and hand to into little bits.

Maybe you have not seen the threads on here just this week. I remember reading about a guy that mixed up powders now he has 8.5 fingers and one less rifle. Reloading is not something you do by the seat of your pants. I have only been reloading for 24 years. Not a long time to many here, I did make the mistake of using some unmarked powder once. I was banned from the reloading room for a month (Worst punishment I ever had). I was made to pull the bullets and dump the powder out. It was a good thing to because after inspection it was not the powder I used data for. They sure did look the same to me. There are reasons for safety warnings and reloading manuals. You are dealing with stuff that can kill you. Does it matter to me if you use this powder not really I just do not want to see that we lost a member of the board and of the shooting sports because they were smarter than everyone else.

Is your life worth saving $60? Mine is not. Dang dude if you are that hard up let us know and I bet we could hook you up with some powder of known quality.


Mastercard moment

Unknown powder: $0
Nice pistol: $700
Hand Surgery to replace seperated fingers and remove parts of $700 pistol from face: $ 50,000

Throwing away unknown powder: PRICELESS.

 

[Sport45]

Seeing that its been stored in coffee cans, its probably absorbed moisture, how does it smell?

I agree. Even if you were positively sure what was put in those cans you don't know what condition it is in now. Coffee cans don't seal well enough for long term storage of powder. I've seen bleach jugs work pretty well, but not old coffee cans.

 

[Zeke/PA]

Never EVER use powder that cannot be positively identified.
Powder should be stored in the origional container and the container discarded when it's empty.
Zeke

 

[The Bushmaster]

At my house it would be lawn fertilizer...

 

[jerkface11]

You don't even know that all 3 cans have the same kind of powder in them. If you can still type when this is over let us know how it worked out though.

 

[snuffy]

After reading this thread,(yes all of it), I would not use that powder for loading anything!

I've gone out on a limb in the past, loading wildcats with little or no data. But that was with powders of known history. Also loading for short barreled single shot pistols,(in rifle calibers), for handgun silhouette.

I just went to look at 3 alliant and Hercules powders I have in stock. Unique, blu-dot, and STEEL, all have very similar grain size and color,(of course the blu-dot is easily recognizable). The powder you have, capsize, is of unknown history, quality and quantity. For that matter, you don't even know for sure it is Alliant/Hercules powder.

If you live in the city, I would not pile it up and light it! Some liberal might call the cops/fire department, you'd play hell explaining it. While it does act like fertilizer, it takes a while to break the nitrogen down so it can be used by plants.

 

[Virginian]

Now you know why folks always liked Blue Dot, Green Dot, and Red Dot. I have several old Enfamil containers with powder in them. No label. What the... Then I always look, and see the little red dots, and I remember.
On anything from gray to black... Good Luck.

 

[alsaqr]

"This powder is one of them. They both have similar load data specs."

You sound very sure of that.

Been re-loading for well over 40 years. No way I will use any powder that cannot be positively identified.

Chunk it!!!

 

[Shoney]

I’ve only been reloading 47 years, but then, I don’t know Shinola. IMHO RecoilRob (post #22) is the only voice of reason in this thread!

Paperpuncher49 wrote
It could be two huge cans of Folgers flaked coffee or maybe even dandruff flakes from Sasquatch!

A friend of a friend, ol’ One Eye Three Fingers Stumpyleg, said that Sasquatch dandruff was gooOOOod shhhhhhtuf. In particular, Sasquatch armpit dandruff was particularly potent in pistols of pusillanimous prevaricating powder pitchers who palaver prurient prattle in these posts.

 

[GaryL]

A load could be worked up, given the proper test equipment. But this sounds like a case where it's possible 2 different powders could be mixed together. I'm not sure what happens then, but it may not have a linear response curve, even if it's uniformly mixed, and if it isn't, each load would be different. There is a point where the risk is far greater than the reward.

 

[Roccobro]

cpttango30- Very well put.

I just do not want to see that we lost a member of the board and of the shooting sports because they were smarter than everyone else. Is your life worth saving $60? Mine is not. Dang dude if you are that hard up let us know and I bet we could hook you up with some powder of known quality.

I'll kick in $10 for Capt. to make hims lawn more healthy. That would be money well spent in my book. Just give me an address to help a member out.

Justin

 

[30Cal]

Greetings gents. A buddy of mine (not a reloader) just gave me about 3 pounds of powder he thought was Unique. It came in two coffee cans one labeled Herco and the other Unique, the person he got it from has passed away so no way to verify type of powder. I have never used either one so don't have anything to compare it to. Here is the problem; both powders look identical and both have an unusual appearance. I think both cans contain the same powder. The powder is a small flake slightly smaller than Clays, it is a two tone powder of gray flakes and black flakes. Does this seem like anything you have seen before? At the price of powder now a days, I hope to be able to use this stuff. Thanks in advance.

You've got to be kidding me. Any published manual will clearly tell you that it's fertilizer at this point. If you can't understand that, you've got no business being anywhere near a reloading bench.

 

[Master Blaster]

Is it just me or has the IQ of folks posting here gone down by a least 50% lately??

Read the thread on how not to hold a revolver, and look at the picture of he poor guy's thumb stump.
This happened because he failed to follow a common sense safety procedure. He didnt read the manual that came with his 460 revolver, he had no idea about safely shooting any revolver.

You didnt read your reloading manual, you have no idea how to safely reload, you asked for and recieved very good advice here.


Be smart throw the powder away, the average ruined gun costs $600, the averaqe trip to the emrgency room is $750.

Most 5lb containers of powder cost less than $80. Eyes and fingers never grow back.

Do the math.

 

[RustyFN]

moosehunt:
Golly, I was one that said you can't identify it, and you can't, but a little logic says the guy ain't going to wreck himself if he uses lots of caution. Hello? He ain't going to blow nothing up with too little powder! Then he carefully works up watching for preasure signs. It ain't rocket science!

So if he loads a starting load for Unique he will be OK? Even if the powder ends up being Titegroup or 231 an he is 1/2 to 1 grain over the max for those powders? That sounds like some great logic you have there.
Rusty

 

[Okiecruffler]

What possible reason could there be to store powder in a container other than it's original container?

 

[Urbana John]

Come on guys-------let him use it



















I got first "dibs" on what's left of his gun collection!!!!

UJ

 

[Sport45]

What possible reason could there be to store powder in a container other than it's original container?

There's a lot of IMR4895 floating around that was pulled from demil'd ammo. Not unusual to find it in bleach jugs. Good stuff, too. But then I guess the bleach jug is it's "original" container.

What did Widener's package their surplus 4895 in? I never bought any of that.

Okay, back on topic: I still don't recommend using unknown powder packaged in coffee cans.

 

[joneb]

Here is what my "new clean burning" Unique looks like next to a large pistol primer. As already mentioned why would the powder be put into coffee cans personally I would not waste good lead on suspicious powder.

 

[TooTaxed]

I've bee reloading for 50 years...used a lot of Herco and Unique, and a lot of other powders.

I wouldn't risk injury to my precious firearms...or even myself!...if the labels came off my powder containers and I had to identify by sight.

And, in your case, you don't know how well the original person who put the powder in those non-standard cans knew powder, or how careful he was dto avoid mixing. Those cans should have been well-marked...wern't, which means something...