Blending lot numbers

[Rooster]

I was wondering if anyone here has taken different jugs of surplus, 4895 in my case, and mixed them together to get one consistent lot. Would this not then make it OK to use it as a new, unique lot # and therefore I would only have to work it up one time? I'm about to finish my jug off and I have at least three lots in inventory that I would like to combine into a single group.

My questions are:

Is this safe, practical or just plain crazy?

Should I just leave them be and resign myself to working up those several different loads and never mention it again in reloading circles?

How does one mix them to get a uniform, consistent blend? Techniques, procedures and caveats please.

[MtGun44]

If they are typical lot to lot variation, why not? The differences should be on the order
of 5% or so. If you have a LOT it could be dangerous if you have a spark, so that
sort if thing would be what I'd worry about the most. Non-sparking tools, don't do it
in the middle of winter in a heated house that crackles with static electricity, do it
somewhere safe, an outbuilding or outdoors in case you get a fire with a large qty,
like blending 4 or 5 8lb jugs.

Be safe.

Bill

[Kskybroom]

I do, Makes one consistent lot. But each lot is different so the bigger the lot the better. If your mixing 16 lbs of powder like mtgun44 said be VERY carefull. Ive had to adjust my loads form lot to lot Learned the hard way to test each lot Before mixing. Mix 16 lbs of bad powder.

[mike in co]

yep....just use reasonable cautions. no sparks, no static. re-label.
i have done this several times.
when small lots are on hane an a big lot needed.

i blended 3 lots of 2230c to a single lot for my 223 blasting ammo.

mike in co

[looseprojectile]

found any measureable difference in the stick powders lot numbers. I would probably keep the "H" and "IMR" separate. Though I have thought mixing them.
When the hopper on my measure gets low I go for another can of the same and refill it.

Life is good

[Rooster]

This is just a few 8# jugs of PD 4895 from Hi-Tech glory days that I still have. I was alson going to do it to some 2200 if it passes muster. I've got an empty fiber drum from Unique that would hold everything for blending with plenty of room to spare. I was going to pour them in at the same time (all of 'em bottoms up) and put on the top and roll it around for a few minutes. But doesn't that sound a little lame on the complete mixing of it all? I'd hate to blow up things by being a lazy a$$ especially if someone has done it before (and still has all their digits).

[leadman]

looseprojectile, at one time H was IMR as Hodgdon was selling war surplus powder only then.
Won't matter in this case since Rooster's powder is a different surplus.

I had a partial 5 pounder? of Unique and several open one pounders that were given to me by trusted individuals. I blended it all together and relabeled so I would not have to work up loads again.

Just pour slow and keep the container you are pouring from in contact with the receiving container. I had my receiving container on the moist ground to help stop static electricity.

[Shiloh]

Never done this with surplus powder. I have though, mixed remnants of the old, in with the new.

Shiloh

[mike in co]

found any measureable difference in the stick powders lot numbers. I would probably keep the "H" and "IMR" separate. Though I have thought mixing them.
When the hopper on my measure gets low I go for another can of the same and refill it.

Life is good


ok...lets make this clear

mix lots of the the SAME mfg of powder......DO NOT mix diff mfg of powder...that is an entire diff subject......

[MT Gianni]

When I get down to less than 1 lb in a jug I test the next one. If it chrono's with in 3%-5% on a similarly temperature day I add the two together. I have never had a new jug with a different lot # fail to do so.

[JesterGrin_1]

ok...lets make this clear

mix lots of the the SAME mfg of powder......DO NOT mix diff mfg of powder...that is an entire diff subject......

I have to agree even though I thought on a site like this that would not have to be mentioned as to me it is a given lol.

But maybe that is also the reason preperation H says not to take orally lol. :Fire:

[rhead]

You can get a better mix by adding 1 pound from each jug in succession to the container you are going to mix it in. You might want to check a small batch loaded from the top, middle, and bottom of the container to be sure of a good mix.
Be careful during the mixing, as the individual grains get broken the burn rate will increase slightly.

[Lloyd Smale]

ive mixed lots of the same powder and even simular powders from differnt manufactures. Ive had no problems doing it. Just treat it like the fastest burning one of the bunch and youll be fine.

[Idaho_Elk_Huntr]

I have 30+ or new 1 lb bottles of Varget that I have been buying from wally world. Only way I see for me to mix that much would purchase one of those cheap cement mixers from Harbor Freight. Most are 2 or 3 bottle matching lot numbers. I do have 6 8 lb justs that match so I could keep them and sell that 1 lb'ers I guess

[Rocky Raab]

I've never seen a canister-grade powder that varied more than 3% from lot to lot. Surplus, pulldown or powders from other unknown sources may not be that good (which is why I avoid them).

But with canister-grade powders, mixing lots numbers is unnecessary, really. If you aren't loading maximum loads, just use the new batch as is. If you ARE shooting absolute maximum loads, you don't believe cautionary advice anyway.

I recently wrote a piece that details a test method for changing any single component. If you use this technique, it can take you as little as five shots to know if the new component is cooler, hotter or the same. And removes any guesswork.

Read about it here: http://www.reloadingroom.com/index_files/95S.htm

[Rooster]

Rocky, do you think it wise to blend the lots on the 4895 then? My plans are to do it this weekend, but I could wait, as I still have a good amount of the one jug to work through.

[USSR]

If you were talking about commercial IMR4895, I would say fine. However, the burn rates of various lots of surplus IMR4895 vary greatly (that's why LC M72 and M118 Match ammo used various amounts of IMR4895 from one year to the next). Personally, I have 3 different lots of surplus IMR4895: fast, medium, and slow. I would not do it.

Don