Well it happened...

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USMC22

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Swapped out tool heads on my 550 today to load some 223. Loaded the powder funnel with CFE-223 and then some in the RCBS Chargemaster. Wasn't looking for anything special, just wanted the gun to cycle and have some plinking rounds. Worked up using Hornady's load data with the chargemaster and loaded a few rounds to check function and velocity.

Proceeded to adjust powder charge bar on 500 before going back to empty the chargemaster. Well I emptied the chargemaster (containing CFE-223) right into an 8 lb jug of HS-6 (only used about a pound).........

Glad I realized my mistake and all but talk about a tough pill to swallow wasting that powder....
 
For whatever it is worth I like to keep a one pound container of all my favorite powders as well as 8 lb or 4 lb jugs. I refill the the one pounder from the big jug and the 1 lb can is what I fill powder measures with and dump back into after a session. I haven't spoiled anything except the dregs of 1 container in 35 years but if I do it won't be over a pound.
 
I hear you and I've read that before. Thing is I didn't have any powders on the bench and reached for the wrong one in a fog. I've got a 15 month old who is protesting sleep at the moment. Lesson learned.
 
I like the one pound idea, maybe employ that in the future as well.
 
I wont reload if im tired or going to be distracted just one mistake "double charge" or any other mistake can have a very bad outcome , for me reloading is fun and relaxing and I get quality ammo BUT it requires 100% attention or it can have poor results
that's how I look at it, be safe :)
 
USMC22 said:
Well I emptied the chargemaster (containing CFE-223) right into an 8 lb jug of HS-6 (only used about a pound).........

Glad I realized my mistake and all but talk about a tough pill to swallow wasting that powder....
Click to expand...

Being a type 2 reloader, I wouldn't dump it until I'd tried to work up a recipe for practice/plinker pistol loads. If well-mixed, the burn rate of your new custom powder will be different, but homogeneous.
 
Years ago, I had to toss the powder from my dispenser because I couldn't remember for sure what I loaded last. Ever since, I make it a point to keep the powder jug next to the dispenser and keep all other powders off the bench to make sure I don't mix them up.
 
I second decanting the 8 # jugs into 1 # containers. I also write the powder on a piece of painter's tape and put it on the measure. That way I know what's in the measure and it becomes a check as I go to pour back in the container.

I've learned these lessons the hard way as well when I mixed up two and poured from the measure into the wrong jug.
 
HHmmm possibly risky but maybe if it hasn't been shaken cut the 8lb jug well down with a razor knife and slide in a piece of tag board and throw away the top half???
So you could possibly save a couple lbs??

Not recommending this course of action just a random thought.

Of course a trip to the ER costs a lot more than 8lbs of powder.

Bummer it happened.

I always like to take a lb out of the my 4lb jug to load from and keep the rest someplace else.
 
edwardware wrote:
I wouldn't dump it until I'd tried to work up a recipe for practice/plinker pistol loads. If well-mixed, the burn rate of your new custom powder will be different, but homogeneous.
Click to expand...

On Hodgdon's burn rate chart, HS-6 comes in at 42 while CFE 223 comes in at 105. Mixing powders is one thing that every manufacturer explicitly says to not do.
 
Just wondering...could you use a vacuum cleaner to pull the top 1" of powder out? Is that even safe and could you tell if you did not get ALL of the "intruder".? I'd hate to loose that much powder but wouldn't want to blow up a gun ( or the shooter !) .

Mark
 
I bet you wont do that again.

It happened to me once too. Just a one pounder though. Now I check over all my stuff like three times before dumping any powder into a container.

And I often times STILL experience a brief moment of panic as I return the unused powder. It just makes me uneasy now.
 
hdwhit said:
. . .Mixing powders is one thing that every manufacturer explicitly says to not do.
Click to expand...

Of course they do. And using handloaded ammunition is one thing that every (firearm) manufacturer explicitly says to not do.

hdwhit said:
On Hodgdon's burn rate chart, HS-6 comes in at 42 while CFE 223 comes in at 105.
Click to expand...

And there is your first piece of modeling data. Based on the description you have a ~1:7 mixture of CFE223 (the slower rifle powder) in HS-6 (a fairly fast pistol powder).

Because the chemical reactions of combustion of the two powders are the same basic reaction, you're not going to see any inversions (i.e. adding a slower powder makes the combustion progress faster). There is a density difference that's going to skew the final combustion rate from a direct linear average, but I would be expect it to be <10% of the delta (so ~1.5%). Remember that the CFE is slowing the HS-6, but only by 15%; this is still pistol powder territory, no where near slow enough for rifle. It would be important to maintain homogeneity; that may require mechanical mixing to enforce.

If you're not a type 2 reloader, this all sounds like frightening foolishness. With a little background in physics and chemistry, a willingness to read data like burn rate charts, and think about comparisons like co-varying case volume/bullet weight/charge weight, it's easy to make a test plan to find out if there's a suitable charge of the new powder in a caliber you shoot.

It's science, but it isn't rocket science!
 
Last edited:
If you mixed each and every charge individually, you might be right.

But what we have here is 1:7 ration on AVERAGE, throughout the entire container. One powder drop to the next could vary wildly in composition. Without studying each and every charge, it is a crap shoot.
 
USMC22, ouch. And a tough lesson.

Unless someone will accept any liabilities for the OP, we can only convey what we would do.

I would set it aside with a label of the circumstances. It can be fertilizer later if you decide.
 
An expensive mistake.
Relatively inexpensive to correct compared to possible consequences.
Dump it for sure!
 
Hardtarget said:
Just wondering...could you use a vacuum cleaner to pull the top 1" of powder out? Is that even safe and could you tell if you did not get ALL of the "intruder".? I'd hate to loose that much powder but wouldn't want to blow up a gun ( or the shooter !) .

Mark
Click to expand...
Or the vacuum cleaner? I'm not sure if static electricity would cause a fire with the powder in the vacuum, but I wouldn't want to be the one to find out.
 
Tinybob said:
Or the vacuum cleaner? I'm not sure if static electricity would cause a fire with the powder in the vacuum, but I wouldn't want to be the one to find out.
Click to expand...

I've been vacuuming up spilled powder from forgetting to push the handle forward to seat a primer and other mishaps... no fires yet so I'm either lucky or it's an accident waiting to happen. I wouldn't think the static electricity would be enough to create the spark needed but I could be wrong.
 
Hardtarget said:
Just wondering...could you use a vacuum cleaner to pull the top 1" of powder out? Is that even safe and could you tell if you did not get ALL of the "intruder".? I'd hate to loose that much powder but wouldn't want to blow up a gun ( or the shooter !) .
Click to expand...

As it pulled out the powder, I think it would swirl the powder remaining in the jug and mix it up even more. I don’t think I would want to take the chance.
 
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