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.
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.