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375RUGER
04-25-2012, 10:54 PM
I didn't want this to turn into a hijack of a thread someone else started so here is a new thread in I believe the most appropriate forum.
My original comment:
Originally Posted by 375RUGER
The only powder I've had shelf life problems with is AA # 7 or 9. I just don't shoot them anymore.

QUOTE=uscra112;1689060]Have either of them been around long enough to exhibit shelf-life problems ?[/QUOTE]

I guess so. Now that I'm home I can look at my notes. It was AA7, loaded in 9mm with 124g j-words and new starline brass from 1995-1996. Everything was fine with these they shot great. I loaded for myself, my dad, and 3 friends at the time. 2 of the friends and my Dad are the only ones that didn't shoot it all up. In about 2000 1 friend shows up and says his P89 is not shooting as good as it use to. So I shoot it with the loads I made for him which were quite for a 9. They are all over the paper. I'm thinking its the gun.
Fast forward to 2011. My dad gives me back the Firestar and the ammo that I loaded for him-all that he didn't use which is quite a bit. 2 loadings- the one mentioned above + 115g LRN with 700-X(this load is even more accurate than 124s). The Firestar is a very accurate 9mm. The 124s are all over the place and the Firestar won't even cycle on firing. The 115 greasers shoot the same as they did in 1995 when I loaded these for Dad.
I have pulled the bullets and fired just the primers in the dark. Loud with a nice flame out the muzzle.
I piled the AA7 on a lid, it lit up fast but took longer to burn than a similar pile fresh from the original container which did not light up as fast.
I don't have any 9mm dies now, but when I get some I want to duplicate the load and see if the canister powder performs as it originally did or.......

I really feel bad becasue my friend traded his P89 which I hand picked for him and it was a great shooting gun.

I don't think there was a storage environment problem because Dad and my friend both stored their ammo in the house.

POSTING A CORRECTION HERE "I WAS WRONG"

Here's what happened.

I recently bought a set of 9mm dies because my boy just loves the Firestar and I think he should shoot it more.

Also I wanted to investigate more the root cause here.
I began to disassemble the ammo and noticed the powder did not look like what I thought was supposed to be AA7.

When my Dad gave back the ammo previously mentioned there was a small bucket of the 124s and a small bag of what I thought was the same, only a handful in this small bag.

As it turns out the ammo in the bucket was loaded with HS6.

When I first pulled a couple of rounds it was from the small bag which was AA7. I had been shooting out of the bucket.
It turns out the HS6 is the faulty powder.
I pulled enought j words to assemble a couple of mags full with AA7, using the original load I developed, and off to the desert.
They performed flawlessly.

Here's another kicker. Many years ago I used the same container of HS6 to load up some midrange 180g 44mag ammo. I still have it around and it shoots fine.

So I still don't know why the 9mm loads went bad.

I am glad though that it turned out the AA7 is good. That is an excellent powder for the 9. I will use up the rest of the AA7 to remake the loads I'm about to pull and then buy some more. Maybe I should say the loads my son is about to get an edumakashun in pulling.

finishman2000
04-26-2012, 05:23 AM
aa7 has been my go to powder for my 147gr 9mm for 6 years now. i usually load several thousand of everything i reload, shoot through them and start over. i have never had any issues with this powder and doubt it is the powder. it is possible you may have gotten some bad stuff and should have contacted the manufacture. i wouldn't choose the aa7 for 115's or 124's, i use aa2 for those.

375RUGER
04-26-2012, 09:24 AM
If you will read again, I didn't have any issues as long as I shot the ammo I loaded in a reasonable amount of time. It was 4-5 years sitting as loaded ammo that the problem occured.
And as I mentioned, I have yet to load any replacement with the same lot for lack of dies.

I should also note that in 2000 the ammo still cycled the action fine it was just inaccurate. It is only the 15 year old stuff that won't cycle properly.

mpmarty
04-26-2012, 02:59 PM
That's not good to hear. AA-9 is my "go to" powder in 10mm and is the cleanest burning powder I've ever used. Loaded in new Starline brass the insides of the fired cases look the same as the unused new ones.

375RUGER
04-26-2012, 03:17 PM
MP,
please note that I clarified above that it was AA7. In the other thread I said 7 or 9 becasue I was at work without load notes and couldn't remember. The powders do burn clean, one of the reasons I was using it.

This experience has made me aware that if I start seeing unusual symptoms where they did not exist before that all components need to be examined and not to just assume.

375RUGER
09-24-2012, 11:48 AM
just posting a correction about how I was wrong about this powder. SEE OP.