Stupid Things I Do

[Bearpaw]

Just loaded up a box of 45 Colt with 8.0 gr. Unique and 255 gr. Dardas with which I have been having good success. Stupid thing is when I dumped my powder measure I put it in a full bottle of Power Pistol. Probably 3 oz. in measure to a full pound of PP. The burn rate chart lists Unique and Power Pistol at about same burn rate, what should I do, sacrifice a new bottle of PP or use it at lower charge loads. Any thoughts on my mistake would be appreciated.

Bearpaw

[ericandelaine1975]

If it were me I'd trash it. I know that's a wasted cost but better to lose $30 than your pistol or worse. I may be to cautious but it's what I'd do.

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[Ed_Shot]

Please throw the mixed powder in the trash! The lesson is to never have more than one bottle of powder (the one you are using) anywhere near your loading bench.

[dondiego]

I'd shoot it with light loads. I'd pour out the first 4 ounces to see if I could get to pure Power pistol too though.

[Hamish]

Work it up using the load data of the faster of the two powders. Come on kids, let's use a little logic here,,,,,,

[OS OK]

Chalk it up to a brain fart and pour the powder into the flower bed...walk away shaking your head and try to kick yourself in the but a few times.

Either that or....well I ain't going to go there.

[ShooterAZ]

Personally, I wouldn't use it. Iv'e done it before too, so don't feel bad! I always err on the side of caution, I disposed of it when it happened to me. The lesson for me was to just try and make sure the measure is empty before adding a new powder.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

I would not just pour it out but cut the top off and scoop the top or just trash it and be done with it

[sureYnot]

Surely, you have a stump that needs removing....

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[Silvercreek Farmer]

The two powders are obviously different. I'd probably scoop out the PP until I got down to the Unique, then inspect it very closely for flakes. I'd chuck the Unique.

[Larry Gibson]

Work it up using the load data of the faster of the two powders. Come on kids, let's use a little logic here,,,,,,

+1, agree 100+% with Hamish........

[tazman]

The issue here is the two powders have very different densities. If you use it, you will need to weigh each charge in a scale to have any idea what you are throwing.
I like the idea of skimming off the top.
The next best solution would be to mix them thoroughly and work up a load with the blended powder.

[OS OK]

+1, agree 100+% with Hamish........

"Either that or....well I ain't going to go there." . . .

I thought to myself, depending on accuracy of what the OP said about the volume of contaminated powder...that this would be a good resolve if I blended the two together as best I could. Nothing to fear here in this instance...BUT...we would be setting a president here where Newbs might think that this resolve would work across the board.
They may have contaminated a fast pistol powder with a slow magnum pistol or rifle powder...if they ignorantly use this logic, how would that work out for them?

I think this is why we have had long standing rules, general rules that would protect the Newbs from what an experienced loader might attempt to do.
You have to keep in mind all the readers here that blindly follow along...'Monkey see, Monkey do'...they hardly ever post or comment but think that CB's information is the gospel. And it ain't!

[cas]

"The solution to pollution is dilution."

Mix it with a few more pounds of pistol powder! ;)

[OFFSHORE]

I would not just pour it out but cut the top off and scoop the top or just trash it and be done with it


"The solution to pollution is dilution."

Mix it with a few more pounds of pistol powder! ;)

Salvage as much as you can of Unique, then mix the rest of the Power Pistol back in with more Power Pistol and call it good!

[popper]

THat's ~20%of almost the same powder. I'd use it vs tossing but maybe scoup what you can of the unique into a separate container - mark as such, try to dilute both. The measuring is the big problem. In a large rifle case, no real difference.

[Cherokee]

Learning experience...I've done it. I tossed the powder into the yard.

[country gent]

While burn rates may be the same or very close that's only part of the equation here. Smokless powders are chemical in nature make up , coatings and retardants. How these different chemicals will interact with each other in the new blended powder mix is the question I have.

I would destroy it and count it up to experience or learning

[sutherpride59]

I’m with Larry start very cautiously and work your way up, if you get **** results just toss it out into the flower bed. If you mix alcohol with gasoline it’s not going to create a bomb just like to pistol powder of similar nature won’t. You will just have a different burn rate, pressure, etc.

[OldBearHair]

I would use a vacuum, not anything electric, not disturbing any powder that is below and take out more than you poured in. That is only if the container has not been moved around at all..... then throw it out, maybe pour it down a ground dwelling yellow jacket(hornet) nest. If you try pouring it out it seems that some of the last powder put in will be in the last powder you pour out. Now back to the thread about tree stump removal.

[Bearpaw]

After thinking about my mistake and not wanting to set a president of unsafe handloading practice the prudent thing to do is dump the Power Pistol powder in the garden and be more careful in the future. The Alliant website states to never mix powders, I'll stand by there advise and thanks everyone for replies .
Bearpaw

[gwoz]

Good advice regarding having only one powder at a time on the bench. Maybe keep powder in a different room than the bench.

Also as others stated here, besides burn rate there's a number of other difference between PP and Unique. Regarding density, there's a 23% difference in densities for PP vs Unique. I looked at the charge weight capacity chart for the Lee Autodisk. The same volumes of the two powders would give you 23% more weights of PP compared to Unique. Looking at the 2017 Alliance Reloading's Guide, the powder with the maximum charge weight depends on caliber and bullet weight. The maximum charge weight is usually higher for PP, as is velocity.

Seems like a lot of factors to account for, and a lot of time to mix and load. Has anyone actually mixed powders and used it? Toss the mix in the garden.

[Shopdog]

Tossing it is the right thing to do. You just got a @40$ handloading lesson.

Couple of things to consider and reconsider....

First,bet you never do it again. Second,reconsider how it happens. Take this safety lesson and build on it. What,in a best practices sort of way,can you implement that makes this NOT happen again. You need to figure this out for yourself...... obviously, only one powder on the bench at a time.But it should also help develop a safe/r powder storage protocol. Good luck with your project.

[Texas by God]

Even mixed 50/50 it won't blow a stump[emoji16]it's a propellant not an explosive. It might start it afire; though.

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[Johnch]

Didn't mix powders
But I was given a bunch of powder that were not in powder jugs , but paper bags

No name or numbers on the bags

I just spread some of it out on the gravel drive and burned weeds and the rest I mixed into the garden

Didn't want a BOOM from guessing

John

[Echo]

+1, agree 100+% with Hamish........

I second the motion. I have some "Slow Red Dot" I accidentally made by pouring some Herco into a Red Dot container. Shoots just fine...

[robg]

imagine you used it and got fantastic accuracy .now how would you reproduce that load ? that would drive you nuts .bin it

[sureYnot]

Go ahead and put 10gn of TG under a 147gn pill in your 9mm and let us know if there's an explosion, or if it just burns really fast. I lack your confidence, so I'll just wait over here....waaaaaay over here.
Even mixed 50/50 it won't blow a stump[emoji16]it's a propellant not an explosive. It might start it afire; though.

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[megasupermagnum]

Maybe you just found a way to make Power Pistol actually shoot good. That is the only powder that consistently disappoints across the board.

[bedbugbilly]

I had a friend who used to buy reject condoms because he didn't like to "waste money" -I'm guessing that your mixed powder has about the same percentage of something going wrong as he did with the products he purchased. By the way . . . . did I mention that he and his wife are about ready to have their ninth child? :-)

There are solid "do" and "don'ts" in reloading - mixing powders is not a "do". All I can think of is a newbie reading this thread someday and having the same problem, but with different powders, decide to go ahead and use it . . . with results less than wanted.

Dump it on your flowers and take it as a life lesson. This is the very reason why I never have more than one powder container on the bench when loading - the other types are in the cabinet.

[2400]

Surely, you have a stump that needs removing....

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Go ahead and put 10gn of TG under a 147gn pill in your 9mm and let us know if there's an explosion, or if it just burns really fast. I lack your confidence, so I'll just wait over here....waaaaaay over here.

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I think you're confusing black powder and smokeless powder. Black powder would work for stump removal, smokeless powder you can burn in an ashtray on the kitchen table.

[ericandelaine1975]

I think you're confusing black powder and smokeless powder. Black powder would work for stump removal, smokeless powder you can burn in an ashtray on the kitchen table.Yep. The only way it would explode is to have it in a sealed container where the gas can't escape and be able to ignite it.

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[redhawk0]

For the peace of mind...dump it in the garden...the plants will love the extra nitrogen. I'm a better safe than sorry guy. I still have all 10 fingers and 10 toes.

redhawk

[WRideout]

Even mixed 50/50 it won't blow a stump[emoji16]it's a propellant not an explosive. It might start it afire; though.

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When poured on a stump, the nitrogen in the powder stimulates the growth of bacteria that eat up the cellulose. The stump remover at Lowes is nitrate-based. A little oxidizing may be at work too.
Wayne

[Gary Wells]

Not to interfere with the intent &/or subject of this thread but hopefully everybody on this forum is aware that Dardas closed his doors about 1 month ago. I had used his bullets for several years and I will miss his H&G#130 "button bullet".

[sureYnot]

I think you're confusing black powder and smokeless powder. Black powder would work for stump removal, smokeless powder you can burn in an ashtray on the kitchen table.Not confused at all. If you try to contain rapidly expanding gases, the container explodes. I didn't say a pile on the ground would explode.

https://youtu.be/3rghBLLBW5g

Things not classified as explosives can blow.

[Bearpaw]

Yes, Matt Dardas has retired. His shop was about 20 miles from me and I used a lot of his bullets, sorry to see him close his doors. Good product at a fair price.
Bearpaw

P.S. No longer have my mixed powder, it burned pretty yellow in the driveway.

[GregLaROCHE]

I would not just pour it out but cut the top off and scoop the top or just trash it and be done with it

The same thing happened to me once and the powders weren’t that similar. I cut the container below the powder and removed the foreign powder and an inch below where I figured it ended. What was removed was thrown away, but I managed to save over a half pound of powder, with no issues using it.

After that I moved all my powder to the far side of the room. Now I have to get up to get some. I only keep one type nearby when reloading. Never had the same problem since.

[tazman]

After that I moved all my powder to the far side of the room. Now I have to get up to get some. I only keep one type nearby when reloading. Never had the same problem since.

I do something similar. I have powder in a couple of spots around the reloading room. I only have one container of powder open at a time and it is located in the same spot on the bench every time. When I switch powders, I put the one I am not going to use away and get out the new one.
I once forgot which powder I had in the measure since I had two bottles on the bench at once and it had been a few days since I had loaded. I threw the powder in the measure away rather than cause problems for my self. Never happened again since I then instituted the one bottle at a time protocol. It has been 42 years since that happened.

[Ecramer]

Dumping the powder is the best advice...but powder companies mix powders all the time, and someone works up those loads. It COULD be done. Not saying it should.