Powder Stash had to be sorted

[Peter M. Eick]

Finally getting back to the press and I had to sort the pistol powder stash.



All of this was picked up since the first of the year, so powder is around if you look. I needed to get the distribution of powder adjusted for ease of access so I figured while I was pulling it in from friends houses and sorting I might as well grab a shot before I redistribute it back out of the house. I was buying enough that I sort of lost track what I had so today was inventory time and a bit of notes were taken one who has what and where.

I still have 40 lbs of 4756 (green label) (38 Super, 38/44 and if needed 357 Magnum) and the 24 lbs of 4227 (357 Maximum) so my favorites are covered. The little 4 lb bottle of Unique is the next one to get emptied out so I can load it up and toss it. I used to repackage the 4 and 8 lbs down to 1 lb on the bench for easier storage but I decided that every handling of powder and repackaging to smaller containers is a risk step and should be stopped.

So now my goal is to use up my 1 lb cans (I must have 30 of them around in partial states of empty) and then get down to just a few core powders like these.

Now if I could just find 24 lbs of 2400 I would be pretty well set for a bit.

Got to keep looking.....

 

[higgite]

Powder canisters beat the heck out of throw pillows for aesthetics. I'm sure that she who must be obeyed agrees.

 

[gonoles_1980]

That looks like bragging...

Great collection, I'm not jealous.

 

[Walkalong]

As much as Peter shoots, he needs that much. No sense buying one pounders when you shoot a lot.

 

[Claude Clay]

more than i'd go through in 3 years --

though having is better than wanting... enjoy

 

[Havok7416]

As much as Peter shoots, he needs that much. No sense buying one pounders when you shoot a lot.

Walkalong is certainly right. Your powder needs to match your shooting. Many people wouldn't use up Peter's stash in a lifetime. There are some here at THR who I'm sure could make short work of even his stash though.

I gotta ask Peter, is your powder representative of local purchases, online, or a mix?

 

[Peter M. Eick]

All local off the shelf purchases. I picked up all of it here in Houston.

I expect that I will burn off most of that powder in about 18 months. The 4756 will last me about 36 months at my current rate of consumption. I was just getting down toward the bottom as I went on a long steady reloading spell once I started to build the supplies back up. I was stockpiling brass to load as I shot the supplied down knowing I would have to do some adjusting if the problem continued.

Fortunately things improved and now I am stocking back up and loading like a fiend at times. I need to get on the press because 38 Supers are getting low and once you are behind the curve, it is hard to keep the pile reasonable. I don't ever want to be in a position where I come home and "HAVE TO LOAD". Nothing is worst than HAVING to load for this weekend, or next shoot or something.

That is when you start fighting the clock, making mistakes and KB's happen.

So for me, it is buy and consume into reloads reasonably quickly. Just looking at the picture, the 4 lbs of Unique, 8 lbs of 4756 and possibly the 800x will not make it to the end of June. That is all earmarked right now. The Reddot, Claydot and some Green dot 1 lb will go into the 12 gauge by end of July (it goes quickly in a shotgun) and by that time I will be into another jug of 4756 and Unique.

Remember here in the south, Summer is for reloading, Winter is for shooting. I don't shoot that much when it is 99% humidity and 95F like it is most of the summer down here. Even if you go out in the morning, it is still 99% humidity and 75F which is a recipe for rust!

So lately a lot of brass is getting tumbled and prepped to run across the Pro2000. Fun times begin soon.

 

[Lj1941]

You seem to have the propellent covered . How about projectiles and primers? As we should know- we need all three.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Lots of primers. My last order was 70,000 of them. I think I still have around 20,000 and I have an agreement with my buddy to access his 25,000 and use them up if I replace in kind.

During the great primer shortage of was it 2012? I went on a campaign to buy bullets from MBC and Lasercast for lead and Rem/Win for bulk. I have at least a years supplies of bullets in the garage and loading room. Soon I will inventory it and start to prepare to order again from MBC. Great company by the way!

 

[Havok7416]

That takes quite a bit of hunting to get all that powder. I agree it can be found, but sadly I have had to cut WAY back on my gun-related expenditures in an effort to save for a house -- which will undoubtedly be used to store even more components!

ETA: How much is a "years supply" to you anyway? I know you shoot quite a bit.

 

[morcey2]

I sorted my powder stash earlier today.





It took about two minutes.

 

[fields]

powder stash

While looking at the stash-what is the most powder that can be kept in one house?

 

[Havok7416]

30 pounds unless you have a TNT or similar container (you can build them). 50 pounds if stored in said container. These would be personal use numbers.

 

[KansasSasquatch]

That's not 100% true. It depends on local laws and ordinances.


Oh what I'd do for a 4lb jug if Unique and 4lbs of Red Dot. That'd last me about 2-3 years for pistol calibers. Of course I have found a few lbs of this and that, here and there to make up for not finding any Unique. I missed the only change I've had to pick up some Unique locally when I went by my local Cabelas a few hours too late.

 

[John C]

Peter;

What are you using the 800x for? Do you have any pet loads you could share?

I have some laying around I need to use up. I'm interested to hear about your experience with it, if you don't mind sharing.

Also, do you have a preferred method for measuring 800x?

Thanks,

-John

 

[jamrock]

Now I know why I can't find Unique anywhere. =)

 

[Potatohead]

I sorted my powder stash earlier today.





It took about two minutes.

lol!

 

[Potatohead]

Well, here's my stash. Sorry about the bad lighting, I was trying to stay with the bed theme and my 5 yr old was asleep in our bed..

 

[Mohave-Tec]

Curious, what is the purpose of this thread?

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Question time.

First off, why the thread? I was sorting and I just shot a picture to document. As was pointed out above, there are limits to how much you can store and I store in neighbors and friends houses in the area and I forgot who had what where. I pulled it all in, cataloged it and then distributed it back out so now I have a list so I know who has what where when I need it.

What is 800x used for? 10mm. I use a uniflow, a baffle and the measure runs on my pro2000. 90% or so of my 10mm loads are 800x now. It is smooth firing, nice push of shooting and excellent accuracy. It does have trouble metering for some, but I find that it meters well enough to be accurate so I just moved on. 10mm is my favorite round to reload and I go through a lot of them. I have an 800x (8 lbs) I bought last Nov. that is nearly gone as I had let my 10mm stash get decimated during the fall. It was a lot of fun, but I had blisters (now callouses) from the shooting.

The rules for storage are local and you should follow up with them. You can find the federal rules which in a nutshell say in a residential house, 50 lbs if kept in a 1" thick wooden structure. Make sure you make it an inch thick as dimensional lumber is not truly 1". Use "2 by's" for ease. One concern I had is while I only had less than 50 lbs, I have many near empty 1 lb containers. I am using them up and tossing them so there is no concerns I exceeded the limits. It really surprised me how many can's I had 500 grns or less sitting on the shelf. It takes a while to burn those up as each one is a separate run on the press.

On average for the last fifteen years I shoot 16,969 rounds per year. Figure an average load is 7.5 grns, so that is 127,267 grns/year or 18 lbs roughly. The problem is lately I am shooting a lot more shotgun (20 grns per pop) and 357 Maximum (22 grns per pop) and you can burn up a lot of powder quick that way. Last year I loaded 16.13 lbs of shotgun powder and 8.91 lbs of 357 Maximum powder. Keeping 3 Maxes in ammo is work! Fun but work.

 

[Mohave-Tec]

Alrighty. Thanks.

 

[grubbylabs]

I have picked up close to 40lbs my self since all this nonsense has started.

It more than I need for what I shoot in a year for a couple of my guns, but a few of my guns will be running thin.

 

[Dudedog]

LOL Potatohead.
Are you limited to what you can hide from SWMBO?
Peters stash make me want to cry

 

[horsemen61]

Peter I want to be like you when I grow up and I thought I was doing good with 38 lbs

 

[Havok7416]

Who's to say you aren't doing good with your 38 lbs? It all depends on how much you shoot. I actually shoot between 10,000 and 20,000 rounds a year, similar to Peter, and I need lots of powder to do so. Another person might only shoot 3,000 rounds a year and 3-5 lbs will cover them.