Inline FabricationReloading EverythingLee PrecisionRepackbox
RotoMetals2MidSouth Shooters SupplyLoad DataWideners
Titan Reloading
Results 1 to 12 of 12

Thread: What is it?

  1. #1
    Boolit Man
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Durango,Colorado
    Posts
    88

    What is it?

    I just got back from a local gun show where I thought I had made the score of the week. I bought 450 .32-20 handloads for $60.00. The brass looks like once fired Starline and the projectiles or a hard cast 115 grain flat nose. My problem is the power. I pulled a couple of these apart and this is what the powder looks like. Very funky, it almost looks like sawdust mixed in with powder. I put some on my anvil and lit it off and it’s properties were more like black powder almost an instant poof rather than a slow controlled burn. I don’t think I got hurt in the deal because I can pull them all and reload them. But I just wonder if anybody’s ever experienced this before? Click image for larger version. 

Name:	48BEB831-808C-4974-BCB5-326566EE171E.jpg 
Views:	69 
Size:	51.5 KB 
ID:	284918Click image for larger version. 

Name:	75CD8BFA-302A-4FF0-954D-79B3EF333AB8.jpg 
Views:	95 
Size:	79.9 KB 
ID:	284919

  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy
    Buzz Krumhunger's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2018
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    432
    I believe that powder has gone bad. Might be good to check the brass with a strong light to make sure the powder hasn’t corroded it internally.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
    dtknowles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Southeast Louisiana
    Posts
    4,858
    Looks like it could be black powder and filler. Does it fill the case to the bottom of the bullet. Might be reduced black powder loads.
    Tim
    Words are weapons sharper than knives - INXS

    The pen is mightier than the sword - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

    The tongue is mightier than the blade - Euripides

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Eureka MT
    Posts
    2,513
    It looks like someone used black powder with sawdust as a filler. That's just a guess. Did it smoke like black powder when burned? If so, it's probably black powder with something as a filler. Separate the light colored stuff and see how it burns.
    If it burns like wood, it probably is wood. If it burns like smokeless powder it probably is but what type I don't have a clue.
    I'm thinking someone was making a mouse load with bp and used a filler. Bp I believe is supposed to fill the case or be used with a filler so there is no free air space in the case. Just my random thoughts and I could be way off.

    I guess I type to slow.
    Last edited by rbuck351; 06-22-2021 at 12:30 AM.

  5. #5
    Banned

    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    South Texas
    Posts
    1,419
    Looks like BP with sawdust as a filler put together by an amateur!

  6. #6
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Lynn Ma
    Posts
    825
    When the powder burned did it smell like sulpher burning and have a copious amount of smoke if so definitely black powder.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
    JoeJames's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Location
    Arkansas Delta
    Posts
    1,468
    Someone yesterday asked me why I would not buy someone else's handloads. The above post could be the poster child of the risks involved. Just never know.
    Britons shall never be slaves.

  8. #8
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    66
    That is the sugar-based black powder substitute. I had a box of 45 Colt loaded with that stuff. I don't know when it was loaded, but every case cracked upon firing. That stuff corroded the inside of new brass. It was sold under the name Clean Shot and private labeled for Alliant and someone else. It's ok for short-term loads, but I would not leave a box loaded for very long.

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy alfadan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2020
    Location
    Augusta KS
    Posts
    475
    I wonder if the sawdust (or media) was on top of blackpowder or substitute and just got mixed up when the load was dumped. Did you use an inertial puller? Might have been an attempt to remove or reduce leading if the bullets are really hard cast.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master trails4u's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Upstate, SC
    Posts
    1,364
    Based on the incredible variation in grain size/shape....homemade BP? And maybe some unknown filler?
    "Do not follow where the path might lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" Ralph Waldo Emerson

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master
    rockrat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    5,311
    Pull the bullets and inspect the brass. Heck, just the primers and brass is worth a lot more than you paid for it.

  12. #12
    USMC 77, USRA 79


    Markopolo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    Remote island in SE Alaska
    Posts
    2,999
    I have seen this before... it surely is BP and instead of filling all the way to the base of the bullet, a filler is used and mixed in... cheaper and takes up space in the case.
    Any technology not understood, can seem like Magic!!!

    I will love the Lord with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check