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357Scott
05-17-2014, 04:48 PM
Hi Guys,

I bought this powder about 1988. I got it from a guy who reloaded for the local cops and many others. He supplied me with all my reloading needs. I would go to his shop which was in his home. He had a 50 gallon drum of this powder. I would buy 10 LBS at a time. I quit reloading after 1990 and started back reloading in 2012. I had some left but now I am getting to the end. I guy who I bought it from moved away and I can not contact him. When I reload my 357 brass with this powder and load it in my Ruger, LCR, 357, I am able to hit the target in a 6" diameter at 15'. When I load my Beretta 92fs 6" barrel with Bullseye, 3.9 grains, I am not as accurate as I am with my stub-nose LCR. The powder I am asking about recommends using 10 to 13 grains for 357 brass with a 158 grain SWC. The powder as the picture shows is small round pellets. If this powder is still made I would like to keep using it. Any help would be appreciated!!!!

105226

Teddy (punchie)
05-17-2014, 08:45 PM
Some type of ball Powder. I have some Winchester Ball powders, I maybe can look at, if no one else speaks up.

gray wolf
05-17-2014, 09:13 PM
Is it me ? or does that look like to different powders, some round and some flat.
Could be just a powder i have never seen.

osteodoc08
05-17-2014, 09:24 PM
Nows the opportunity to broaden your horizons

merlin101
05-17-2014, 09:28 PM
It does look like some ball powder and some kind of fat flake powder. Or it could just be a bad run of ball powder and thats why the guy had a 55 gal. barrel of the stuff.
I took a quick look in my Hornady book and the heaviest powder charge they list for a 158gr SWC is 8.2 gr. Are you sure about the charge weight?

BigAl52
05-17-2014, 09:48 PM
Looks like one of the accurate powders to me. Maybe Accurate #5. Al

jonp
05-17-2014, 10:43 PM
looks like a mixture to me although if the guy bought it by the drum and reloaded police and others with it I doubt that is the case.

tomme boy
05-17-2014, 11:31 PM
Looks like HS6 or 7.

Green Lizzard
05-17-2014, 11:49 PM
looks like wc680 or wc820 mil surp but just a guess, i have wc680 that looks just like that,
wc820 is a little finer

Moonman
05-18-2014, 05:28 AM
Looks like FERTILIZER to me, JUST FOR SAFETY SAKE PLEASE!

Bjornb
05-18-2014, 05:57 AM
looks like wc680 or wc820 mil surp but just a guess, i have wc680 that looks just like that,
wc820 is a little finer

I'm with Green Lizzard, just got some WC872 in to try, this stuff looks identical. But I'd still consider it fertilizer....

zuke
05-18-2014, 06:54 AM
Look's like it's time-to-work-up-reduced-load's powder

Shiloh
05-18-2014, 07:50 AM
No way to know. Could be one of Accurate Arms ball powders, or anyone else's. AA#5 has the tiny spheres with flattened ones in the mix.

Shiloh

enfield
05-18-2014, 07:56 AM
looks a lot like wc735, two different shapes are in WC735 .

w5pv
05-18-2014, 08:46 AM
I have a speer reloading book(#8) with pictures of different powders and it looks similar to N1010 and states that N1010 is a new fast burning pistol powder,this was in 1966 or some where there bouts.With out researching a lot it was used in 38.s starting loads at 2.1 for 148 grain boolits.Good luck and hope this may jog the gray matter some.

375RUGER
05-18-2014, 09:30 AM
Looks like FERTILIZER to me, JUST FOR SAFETY SAKE PLEASE!

He already knows how to load it SAFELY since he's been using it since 1988. He just wants to know if it is a surplus or canister grade he can still buy.

375RUGER
05-18-2014, 09:34 AM
I'm with Green Lizzard, just got some WC872 in to try, this stuff looks identical. But I'd still consider it fertilizer....

I have WC872, 867, 844, 846 on hand and they are all very uniform in size/shape.

357Scott
05-18-2014, 10:14 AM
I have WC872, 867, 844, 846 on hand and they are all very uniform in size/shape. Thanks for your time! What does the WC stand for?

upnorthwis
05-18-2014, 10:26 AM
If this powder shoots 6" groups at 15' I'd look for something different.

mdi
05-18-2014, 10:42 AM
Is this thread real? Someone posts a pic of some gunpowder on an online forum and the experts guess at what it is? Not this guy! Fertilizer fer sure...

If the OP has records of his past reloading I would guess that he could reload it, but without specific data, nope...

No offense intended to either the OP or the experts.

Goatwhiskers
05-18-2014, 10:44 AM
I would advise swallowing my pride and buying a currently made suitable powder. This same question comes up from time to time. With the possible exception of Red Dot and Blue Dot, there is simply NO way to positively ID a powder by looking at it. An intelligent competent loader possibly might get away with trying the reduced load and work up route. JMNSOHO. GW

357Scott
05-18-2014, 10:57 AM
If this powder shoots 6" groups at 15' I'd look for something different. Learn to read!!!

pyrofx
05-18-2014, 11:17 AM
Just to straighten everyone out on fertilizer.
Smokeless powder is nitrocellulose. It is a water proof compound.
Gunpowder is Black powder. Potassium nitrate , charcoal , sulphur. This is fertilizer.

Over the years , people has confused the term Gunpowder with Smokeless powder .

Throw smokeless in the garden , it will be there next year.

Just a fun fact for the day

Greg

bangerjim
05-18-2014, 11:21 AM
Agree........fertilizer. And do not forget 4th of July is right around the corner! Makes good piles of flashy burning stuff.

I would NEVER use unknown powders in anything. But your body parts are more important to you than to me!

We are not psychics and have absolutely no idea on what this powder is/was/could be, just like the many pictures people post of hunks of "lead-ish looking stuff" they find and expect us to ID it for them!!!!!!


User beware! And..........have fun on the 4th.

banger

luvtn
05-18-2014, 11:36 AM
Learn to read!!!

Scott357 wrote: " I am able to hit the target in a 6" diameter at 15'." I also read that as an 6 inch group. I don't know what powder you have. Alliant 2400 is a very good powder and I shoot 13.5 gr of it under a 158 gr lswc, that is accurate and does what I need it to do. I hear Accurate Arms #9 is about the same, though I have never used it. Good luck!
luvtn

Teddy (punchie)
05-18-2014, 11:39 AM
Greg

I just laugh at that every time I see them saying "" Use It For Fertilier"" LOL

I didn't know what would happen to it outside, but I knew it was not good fertilizer. Hard carbon and nitro is not going to make things grow. Nitrates yes .

Teddy


Just to straighten everyone out on fertilizer.
Smokeless powder is nitrocellulose. It is a water proof compound.
Gunpowder is Black powder. Potassium nitrate , charcoal , sulphur. This is fertilizer.

Over the years , people has confused the term Gunpowder with Smokeless powder .

Throw smokeless in the garden , it will be there next year.

Just a fun fact for the day

Greg

Teddy (punchie)
05-18-2014, 11:45 AM
Me I would still try to find out what it is. He has been using it for years. Not like he just grabbed a bag of something off the floor and started to use it.

Don't mix powders, just a huge mistake. Ackley use mixes of powder to blow actions like the 6.5 Japs, 7.7 Japs. Would have to look up the rest of his tests.

Be Safe !! Read and learn !!

David2011
05-18-2014, 01:46 PM
Looks like FERTILIZER to me, JUST FOR SAFETY SAKE PLEASE!

Yup. It looks like Win748 to me and I use a lot of 748; just shows the fallacy of trying to identify powder by appearance. It's easier to say what it isn't than what it is.

David

Leslie Sapp
05-18-2014, 01:53 PM
Here's a handy web site for these types of questions. http://www.ilrc.ucf.edu/powders/sample_detail.php?powder_id=244

Pinsnscrews
05-18-2014, 02:44 PM
Using the link above for the National Forensic site, the powder looks like Accurate #9, even down to the odd thin stick like slivers. Going to Accurate's website for load data:
Accurate #9
.357 Mag
158gr Cast
11.2gr start 12.4gr Max

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c167/wyckedflesh/A31CFFCB-509C-4211-B833-C090332841F6_zpsqbsukfx2.jpg

bangerjim
05-18-2014, 03:30 PM
Here's a handy web site for these types of questions. http://www.ilrc.ucf.edu/powders/sample_detail.php?powder_id=244


AMAZING! Did know of that existing. Thanks for the link.

banger

bangerjim
05-18-2014, 03:34 PM
Greg

I just laugh at that every time I see them saying "" Use It For Fertilier"" LOL

I didn't know what would happen to it outside, but I knew it was not good fertilizer. Hard carbon and nitro is not going to make things grow. Nitrates yes .

Teddy


The "fertilizer" thing is a figure of speech.....at least for me it is. It means "just throw it away". Just like a corpse makes good "worm food". BP works great...... smokeless......not so much! :-(

banger

Teddy (punchie)
05-18-2014, 04:09 PM
Hey Leslie

Thanks !!

I have a pound of powder that is in a container, that is either 4831 or 4895 maybe 4064. This well help out for sure. Was going to take the old 30-06 and load light and test and compare to known powder; the recoil and primers and bullet placement, but this should make it clearer easier.

Thanks !!

Teddy


Here's a handy web site for these types of questions. http://www.ilrc.ucf.edu/powders/sample_detail.php?powder_id=244

jhalcott
05-18-2014, 04:27 PM
105226[/ATTACH]
As I read this ,the OP is asking IF he can STILL buy the stuff! He doesn't seem to be asking WHAT to do with it. I am sorry that I can not help him. I suggest he start with another new powder and work up a good load with it! As for the 6" group, was he saying it was from a bench OR running , off hand at a moving target?? I am truly sorry IF I offended any one with these comments.

dondiego
05-19-2014, 04:14 PM
It sure looks like the discontinued WW 630 to me. I used a lot of it and learned to like it and then they discontinued it of course!

swheeler
05-19-2014, 04:33 PM
"Can you ID this powder? " Absolutely, it IS a double base ball powder.

Dave C.
05-19-2014, 07:49 PM
"Can you ID this powder? " Absolutely, it IS a double base ball powder.
Grey.

Dave C.

fredj338
05-19-2014, 08:16 PM
It's almost impossible to tell 100% what a powder is by looking at it. Some, like Red Dot, are very distinctive, most powders look like other powders though. Most ball powders pretty much look alike. If you have a chrono you could do some extrapolation & get a ball park idea of what you have for future purchase, but when you remove powder from it's orig container, all bets are off.

str8shot426
05-19-2014, 09:06 PM
Looks like Scotts 12-12-12!

mdi
05-19-2014, 09:48 PM
Learn to read!!!
???? :holysheep

762 shooter
05-20-2014, 07:16 AM
I would use the Forensic site to visually narrow down your choices of what it might be. I think we can all agree that it is definitely not one of the 4895's or Unique.:lol:

Then I would get a Lee dipper set and weigh several size dippers (weight by volume).

Use the extensive Lee charts to narrow it down even further.

He has a charge he has been using for 25 years to tighten up his choices.

Then again it may be a powder that is no longer manufactured.

I would enjoy trying to figure it out.

762

jonp
05-21-2014, 08:11 AM
I'm wondering at the comments telling him to dump it. Usually good advice on an unknown powder for the less experienced however this guy has been loading it for quite some time. The guy that sold him the powder out of a barrel gave him loading information on it and he worked up data for himself. After using it for years the fellow moved and he would like to keep using it but wonders what it is. I'm sure the guy originally told him what it was or he saw a label because I can't imagine someone just handing powder out of an unmarked barrel and saying "here, try 6gr of this".

I also read it 6 inches at 15 ft. Not stunning accuracy but if he is happy with the groups, recoil and smoke who are we to tell him different?

rbuck351
05-21-2014, 10:51 PM
No telling what it is by looking as there are probably 50 different powders that look like that one. You can of course use the remaining powder as you have been. If you have a known velocity on the rounds you have been loading, you can pick a ball powder from a loading manual that gives about that same velocity with the same charge and be about as close to guessing what powder it is as you are going to get. But, no, nobody except the guy you got it from is going to know what it is. It could even be H110/W296 in which case loading light would be a bad idea.