Powder mistake :(

[GaryL]

15 dollar mistake? Where are you buying your powder? I need to go there also. I haven't seen that price since the early to mid 90's

In theory and if my math is correct, I have a container with about 2950 grains of H335 and 400 grains of Varget.

a $22 container of powder is NOT worth a trip to the E.D.

I really shouldn't have to do this, but:

(2950+400)/7000 = 0.4785

0.4785 * $22 = $10.52

Ok, I assumed full retail on the canister of powder, and quick mental math. I was wrong.

$15/0.4785 = $31.35 Hate to see what powder costs elsewhere.

 

[DC Plumber]

This is crazy. A short while ago someone asked about mixing some H4895 and some IMR4895 together. The responses were quite varied.

Hopefully this isn't a fishing expedition to get everyone all worked up again.

But geez, for even $50 worth of powder, why ruin a gun or your face. Dump it out and move on.

 

[jcwit]

These two powders are way to far apart however if the bottle had not been shaken up I think most of the powder in the bottle could be salvaged by cutting the bottle lower than the top level in the bottle.

However once its shaken then no!

 

[longdayjake]

I myself would probably shake it up and try it out. Granted, when it came time to shooting it, I would be very far away from the gun and pull the trigger with a string, but I have a couple of crappy .223's that I wouldn't be too horribly upset if one blew up. Granted, I would be doing it for my own curiosity and not just to save the powder. If you only want to save the powder then it isn't worth it. For you this is a good learning experience of what not to do. For me it would be a learning experience of what things do when screw ups happen.

Before someone says it, no I will not do it anyway. But since I keep all my powders on the same bench, I may get the chance to try it out later on.


Also, when I first started reloading, I made the mistake of mixing h4895 and IMR 4895. I think I ended up shooting about 150 rounds of mixed stuff with no problems and it didn't hurt my Garand. Sometimes I wonder how many other mistakes I made that I never caught when I first started reloading.

Anyone convinced that I am really dumb yet?

 

[jcwit]

Experimention is how mankind moves ahead, if no one were to experiment we'd still be throwing rocks.

 

[GaryL]

Also, when I first started reloading, I made the mistake of mixing h4895 and IMR 4895. I think I ended up shooting about 150 rounds of mixed stuff with no problems and it didn't hurt my Garand. Sometimes I wonder how many other mistakes I made that I never caught when I first started reloading.

Anyone convinced that I am really dumb yet?

No. People make mistakes. There are simple methods for preventing and catching mistakes. Most would agree that mixing those 2 on purpose is a bad idea, but they are fairly close in burning rate, and if you are well within the working range of both, your odds of not having a disaster is pretty good. People who mix powders (not gun powder) for a living tell me its not an easy thing to get a uniform mix. The problem with gun powder is you don't know how a mix will perform, what the pressure curve is going to look like, etc. Even if nothing bad happens, you still don't know what really happened without some way to measure the results.

Anyway, IMHO, where people get into trouble is pushing the envelope, and not taking advantage of the simple ideas and methods to prevent or catch mistakes that are often discussed here. Someone will try to push an -06 into 300 Win Mag territory. Why? Just get a 300 Win Mag and be done with it. I understand the thinking, loading 1 or 2 grains over list max and thinking all is well because there were no signs of trouble in 100's of rounds. But it could be that the safety margin is gone, that a half grain more could seriously spike the pressure, or that particular load in another gun will blow it up, but they don't have the test equipment and standardized equipment to do a full work up employing scientific methods to verify that the combination of components is well behaved far enough beyond the max load to be perfectly safe in all conditions encountered in the real world.

Anyway, I do appreciate the OP's admission of a screwup. We all learn from it, even if it only reinforces good loading practices.

 

[hdbiker]

I did thst once with mixing Unique with Bullseye,only one container of powder at a time from now on ,on the bench,cheap lesson.I spread it out in the yard to get rid of it.biker

 

[RandyP]

"Experimention is how mankind moves ahead, if no one were to experiment we'd still be throwing rocks. "

Experimentation is also why the phrase "Hold my beer and watch this" has preceeded so many emergency room visits and funeral services. Scientists conduct experiments under controlled conditions, idjits conduct "let's see what happens if I" voyages into the unknown.

Doing any potentially dangerous hobby carries enough inherent risk enough not to go out of one's way to compound them needlessly. Mrs Gump and Mr Darwin are proved right so often as to be considered to have near psychic ability - LOL

 

[S$W66]

Dispose of it...cheaper to buy more than pay Dr,'s bills and not to mention damage to you and gun. Powder is cheap...blood and other parts of your body isn't.

 

[rfwobbly]

Could have been worse...

Boy do I feel stupid but as most have said. a $22 container of powder is NOT worth a trip to the E.R.

It could have been MUCH worse. This could have happened in 2016 and you'd be off to an empty E.R. operating under ObamaCare rules and regulations.




(Note to Mod: This is not a political rant, merely an extension of the discussion to place the problem in the proper perspective for the OP. The mere thought that I would willfully jeopardize my good standing within the reloading community, and especially on within this upstanding forum, simply to get a cheap shot is repugnant to my very nature! Perish the thought, sir. )

 

[jcwit]

Ya, Right!

 

[rogn]

Well the safe, peace of mind decision is to use the powder as fertilizer, however if you mix most ball powders with extruded powders the diference in size and shape will allow you to use a selective sized mesh or screen to separate them. This wont work with some of the "chunky" ball powders like HS6 and seven. The fine round grained powders are easily removed. Finding screens at everyday stores is a problem. The other factor is that ballpowders are nitroglycerine enriched. If they remain in contact with the single based extruded powders for an extended period of time, the nitro can migrate into the stick powder and change its burning rate. If I had a 4 pounder with 400gr of ball, I would screen it within one or two days, then never look back. Just look for any change in burning rate. If I had a quarter pound with 400 grains of ball mixed with it for 3 or 4 days it would be donated to lawn health.

 

[animator]

I don't have a garden and this TX drought has killed my lawn, so all my unused powder gets poured into a large pile in the driveway and BURNED... because fire's cool and stuff

 

[Jim Watson]

A friend dumped a measure into the wrong can and combined AA2520 and Varget.
I checked with my old lab and borrowed some testing sieves of different screen mesh and was able to get a very good separation. No visible AA2520 in the Varget on the screen and only a trace of Varget passing through the screen with AA2520. No doubt some extruded granules of Varget went through endwise with the ball process AA2520. He did not think it would affect the shooting with two grades of powder so close in burn rate and it did not.

The OP could do the same if, big IF, he could find the screens.

If not, best to consider it a form of self flagelation to reinforce the policy of not having two cans of powder out at the same time.

 

[Cherokee]

Dump it....

 

[codefour]

Pour it out on the driveway and write your wife's name with the powder and then light it on fire... Just kidding... Throw it away..!!

 

[sig220mw]

Not doubting your math GaryL, just hoping for a source with lower powder prices. Didn't mean anything by it.