i bought powder!.....but am curious...(this is a jug question.)

[mozeppa]

recently i did some searching for the black 4 pound plastic jugs EXACTLY like all the major players use.
peeled a label off the factory 1 pound jug and re-glued it to the new 4 pound jug.

my reason? ......... shelf space. i do have a lot of powder types and several of each in those little round or square bottles.

so i carefully condensed each powder type and brand to one jug for that label.
example: 4 little bottles of h110 powder now has its own 4 pound jug! .....less foot print.

and i'm o.c.d. enough that i like everything to be uniform....close to being "Monk" ......but not yet.
its a gift...and a curse.

yesterday i bought a 8 pound jug of ww296 ................and a 1 pound bottle of same.

this behemoth of a jug was the size of 1/2 a bed pillow ....i'm sure you all know of what i'm describing....

so i get home and prepare my 2 brand new 4 pound jugs to receive....hope fully my new "9" pounds of powder.

imagine my surprise when all 9 pounds of powder went into only one 4 pound jug???

why that huge jug then....if they only fill it 40% full?

[imashooter2]

So when it sits on the shelf at the store, the consumer thinks he is getting a large quantity of powder. Also, they size their 8 pound jug for their least dense offering, and denser powders will have more free space.

[blaser.306]

I think it comes down to a stocking issue? Carry 1 container that will receive a given volume of the bulkiest product and then put everything into it. Same goes for the outer cardboard boxes. Less sizes means less stock to carry. What you do with it when it is in your hands is your dilemma!

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

That is a head scratcher. Did you weigh it? It may have to do with the density of the powder. They may make some powders that are light and fluffy enough that they require a jug that big. And since they want to remain consistent on the jug size, the more dense powders don't fill up the same jug. Either that or it is a marketing gimmick.

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

Wow, I'm third in line! I guess I need to type faster?:mrgreen:

[mozeppa]

actually...i did weigh it.

8.79 pounds:evil:....i'm not happy about that either.

[mozeppa]

must be what blaser said....however, i did buy H-6 in the 4 pound jug size....and sure enuf there was 8 pounds in it.

[swheeler]

mozeppa I don't think you are OCD or you would have mentioned lot numbers on the one pounders you mixed together, now you've created your own lot;-)

[Airman Basic]

Vaguely remember reading something about powder cans providing enough airspace to allow the can to split and relieve pressure before exploding in event of a fire. Could also be a sales gimmick, though I guess.

[butch2570]

Everything now days is like this, look at potato chips....

[RED333]

Everything now days is like this, look at potato chips....
This is one of my pet peeves, the very reason I do not buy chips unless I can see through the bag, so clear bags for me.

[Dusty Bannister]

so i carefully condensed each powder type and brand to one jug for that label.
example: 4 little bottles of h110 powder now has its own 4 pound jug! .....less foot print.

I would say that you also have made the newest powder equal to the oldest powder in that container. With the recent threads on degraded powder, what is the benefit of having one large container repeatedly opened and closed. With small containers, that can remains sealed until needed, this does not become a problem. What is the benefit of shorter shelf life?

[jaysouth]

I am sure the powdermakers have enough inventory to keep up with now. Imagine if they had to size every jug to the powder it contained. They just make one big jug to fit all.

[dragon813gt]

I hope all those combined bottles were from the same lot. Otherwise if there is a recall you have no way of knowing. It could also effect the burn rate.

As far as bottle sizes. They are sized for the bulkiest powders, almost. It makes sense to have one or two bottle sizes instead of one for every powder type. One of the exceptions is Trail Boss. You get less than a pound in a one pound container. But the weight is clearly marked on the label.

[mdi]

I figger the first two fellers are right. One container, mebbe too big for one powder, but just right for another, but only have to buy/stock one size. Quite common with today's manufacturers.

I worked on HD construction equipment as an equipment electrician and when replacing an engine wiring harness on a fairly new crane, noticed there were extra connectors and wires that went nowhere. After talking to the rep., I found out the company used one harness for 4 or 5 different models. Harnesses were designed for the equipment with the most accessories/components and used on everything

[bedbugbilly]

The last time I was able to buy powder at the LGS I sometimes haunt, I bought a pound of Red Dot and also what I thought was a pound of 700X. The salesman pointed out that if I only purchased a pound of powder, the 700X was the better buy as it was a $1 cheaper than the Red Dot. Well, I was just happy to find powder so I bought both the Red Dot and the 700X. (This is the first 700X I've ever purchased). When putting it away at home, I had to laugh . . . yea, the 700X WAS $1 cheaper than the Red Dot . . BUT . . . the container also states that it is 14 ounces and not 16 ounces like the Red Dot.

But hey . . . I'm not complaining as I was happy to get it . . . but it will teach me to pay more attention to the quantity listed on the container.

[10mmShooter]

That's funny I'm OCD in the other direction, to avoid needless opening and exposing my 8lbers to air and mositure, I will open the 8lbers and fill my smaller 1lb bottles of powder(I NEVER re-lable I just use an empty of the same powder) then I use the 1lbers on the bench( as noted the 1 lbers in most cases hold nearly 2 pounds), so I'm not exposing my big 8 lb jug to air, every time I top off the powder measure or need to switch powders,

Less opening, less humidity gets to the powder :) Got to keep your powder dry :)

[mozeppa]

just to set everyone's mind to ease....yes i am ocd.

yes they were all bought by the brands from the same production run.

i'm not stoooopid![smilie=p::happy dance:

[mozeppa]

as for "shelf life"....heh...heh....there is way more "shelf life" in my 110 pounds of powder than there is "shelf life" in me!!!!:holysheep:groner::violin:

[beex215]

the 4lb container has half of it full of powder

[alamogunr]

I've wondered the same thing as the OP. I've got several 8 lb'ers and none of them come close to filling the jug. I don't really care about uniformity of the containers. I would like to have 1 lb containers, labeled correctly, of the same powder as the 8 lb containers, so I could decant 1 lb at a time and not get out the big jug every time I wanted to charge the measure. I don't know what I could do about the surplus powders.

[Patricklaw]

I'm in Idaho so humidity is not a problem. I'm ocd enough to appreciate a row of consistantly sized powder jugs. If you're excited about powder densities Google the Lee dipper chart. Its kinda fascinating actually. I like that you're using actual labels from 1# cans. Attatch them well. Many of you so kindly share your experience of filling a paper bag from the barrel of 4831 at the hardware store. I'll wager those bags were not factory labled.

[hickfu]

I buy in 8lb containers and fill up a 1lb to use until empty and then fill it up again... I do this just in case I do something stupid like have different powders on the table at the same time and accidentally put the wrong powder in, I wont waste an 8lb tub

[fredj338]

Uniform cost of manuf. Powders range in density quite a bit, imagine swapping machinery to accept 3-4 diff use jugs. I keep 1# jugs around to refill from 8#. Most will hold 2# of powder.

[blackthorn]

That's funny I'm OCD in the other direction, to avoid needless opening and exposing my 8lbers to air and mositure, I will open the 8lbers and fill my smaller 1lb bottles of powder(I NEVER re-lable I just use an empty of the same powder) then I use the 1lbers on the bench( as noted the 1 lbers in most cases hold nearly 2 pounds), so I'm not exposing my big 8 lb jug to air, every time I top off the powder measure or need to switch powders,

Less opening, less humidity gets to the powder :smile: Got to keep your powder dry :smile:

^^^^This.
On another note---I had 2 one-pound cans of 4350 thrown in on a deal I made for some reloading equipment. No idea how old, or how it had been stored. When I opened them (still factory sealed) there was red dust. I threw the powder on the lawn and looked into the now empty cans. There was rust? inside so I chucked the cans as well, rather than using them as refillable. I did this as I did not know if the rust? would affect any "new" powder poured into that can. Anybody know if there was a chance that would happen?

[dakotashooter2]

Trail boss is a good example... It is so bulky they can only get 9 oz in a 1# container...........

[olafhardt]

Blackthorne decomposing powder looks like rust and I use it for fertilizer. When I ran an ordnance lab we had very special containers to put powders in. Some containers can spark. I don't put powder in any kind of container that did not come from the factory with powder in it.

[alamogunr]

Blackthorne decomposing powder looks like rust and I use it for fertilizer. When I ran an ordnance lab we had very special containers to put powders in. Some containers can spark. I don't put powder in any kind of container that did not come from the factory with powder in it.

Somewhat difficult to do in these times of powder shortages and impossible with surplus powders.

I sometimes use "non-powder" containers to avoid handling the 8 lb'ers especially when only loading a few rounds(less than 100). This may be risky because I don't know which containers can spark. Any suggestions?

[mozeppa]

theses containers i used are the exact ones used by the powder company.

p.s. i saved all my 1 pound bottles to dispense from.

i have 2 dozen of those....i throw nothing away.:bigsmyl2:

[blackthorn]

Yes I know. But the powder I threw out was in the original can! My question was whether the "rust" visible inside the can would promote deterioration in new fresh powder if it were stored in that can?

[jonp]

I think it comes down to a stocking issue? Carry 1 container that will receive a given volume of the bulkiest product and then put everything into it. Same goes for the outer cardboard boxes. Less sizes means less stock to carry. What you do with it when it is in your hands is your dilemma!
Much easier for a manu to buy one size of jug for every powder as volume discount and stocking becomes an issue.

[olafhardt]

That's funny I'm OCD in the other direction, to avoid needless opening and exposing my 8lbers to air and mositure, I will open the 8lbers and fill my smaller 1lb bottles of powder(I NEVER re-lable I just use an empty of the same powder) then I use the 1lbers on the bench( as noted the 1 lbers in most cases hold nearly 2 pounds), so I'm not exposing my big 8 lb jug to air, every time I top off the powder measure or need to switch powders,

Less opening, less humidity gets to the powder :smile: Got to keep your powder dry :smile:

^^^^This.
On another note---I had 2 one-pound cans of 4350 thrown in on a deal I made for some reloading equipment. No idea how old, or how it had been stored. When I opened them (still factory sealed) there was red dust. I threw the powder on the lawn and looked into the now empty cans. There was rust? inside so I chucked the cans as well, rather than using them as refillable. I did this as I did not know if the rust? would affect any "new" powder poured into that can. Anybody know if there was a chance that would happen?
Yes the residue of decomposed powder can hasten further decomposition of other powders with which it comes in contact.

[olafhardt]

I also need to add that an hour or so on google did not give any idea as to what is safe to use for re-storage. Here are some things I did learn: 1) Don't use glass. 2) Be sure the jugs totally block light. 3) Jugs should be of light weight material so they split before they explode when gas pressure builds up. Some years ago I read of reloads failing because the powder was stored in the plastic reservoir of the powder measure so don't automatically assume plastic is safe. So I am sorry but I haven't really found out much to tell you about to use. The lab containers were there when I got to the lab and this was over 40 years ago. One of our lab ovens blew up when a tech heated up a can of green beans for lunch without opening it.

[mozeppa]

my lots are of all the same lots per powder.

[MaryB]

I know Red Dot almost fills an 8 pound jug. I need to find some 1 pound containers and split it up. I can make labels with lot # etc and glue them on for safe storage.

[triggerhappy243]

mozeppa, those shelves are screaming