Mixing different lots of Varget
- Thread starter Tony1320
- Start date
While not with Varget, I did shoot over 4,000 rds of .284 last year so that was over 32lbs of powder for me.
As to the OPs question, I used to take the last couple pounds of powder and mix it with the next 8lbs but I stopped doing that. As others have said, there’s virtually no way to ensure it’s all mixed correctly even if it’s all the same lot. I always thought I felt more confident doing it that way but I ended up hating having any doubt that a random flyer was because of me doing that. Given that 8 pounds does take about 1000 rounds for me to use it’s just easier to go shoot a few rounds of the new powder and make any adjustments as needed rather than guessing whether the mixing is working or not.
As to the OPs question, I used to take the last couple pounds of powder and mix it with the next 8lbs but I stopped doing that. As others have said, there’s virtually no way to ensure it’s all mixed correctly even if it’s all the same lot. I always thought I felt more confident doing it that way but I ended up hating having any doubt that a random flyer was because of me doing that. Given that 8 pounds does take about 1000 rounds for me to use it’s just easier to go shoot a few rounds of the new powder and make any adjustments as needed rather than guessing whether the mixing is working or not.
To me it would all depend on your application. I don't shoot varget but I use 4350 & 4831sc and I have found that from lot to lot you can get a variation of 1 grain to maintain same speed. Although this is at the extreme end it does happen. For me shooting long range fclass where ES is king I would never take that chance. I wouldn't be confident that one case would have 20% more of one lot of powder compared to another. I base my assumption on mixing equal amounts of different lots. Now for a hunting application I would have no problem.
bozo699
Gold $$ Contributor
I’ve done it for match powder, I don’t when I have plenty of the same lot but I have mixed a lot if it and felt I did fine but you bring up a valid point as almost all my varget is used at 1000 yards and a small slug of one lot or the other not mixed thoroughly could jump your single digit es to double digit and there was your flyer!?.... I have a lot if varget, I’ve got probably 16 lbs of mixed lots mixed together but have several times that much not mixed I think maybe I’ll use the mixed stuff for my 308 and 708s they will never know the difference.
Wayne
Ned Ludd
Silver $$ Contributor
I have mixed different Lots of Varget on a few occasions. Like Drew (skiutah02), I believe it has to be mixed uniformly for best results. Also similar to Drew, I am a biochemist, so mixing/blending materials is not an unfamiliar process. I have been loading from a batch of about 20 lbs of Varget "Mix" for the last couple years, and it works just as well in my hands as a single Lot.
I purchased a plastic 5 gallon paint bucket at Lowes with a lid that has a rubber o-ring seal and closes tightly. I basically "layered" each of four different Lots of powder successively in the bucket, one pound at a time, in repeating order, one on top of the other until all the powder was in the bucket. In other words, the mixing process actually started long before I began shaking the bucket. After all the powder had been layered into it, the bucket was perhaps 2/3 full. It's VERY important to leave plenty of extra room in the bucket for the powder to move around so it can mix uniformly. I snapped the plastic lid with the rubber o-ring into place, then taped it off with packing tape so there was no way it was coming open. I began the mixing process by mixing/inverting the bucket end over end. Then I would roll it a few turns. Basically, I left the bucket sitting on the floor in the middle of my living room for a couple days, and would do the end over and rolling thing for a few shakes every time I walked past it. It was quite well mixed by the time I was done. I also took samples from various regions of the bucket and compared them for velocity in loaded rounds, which turned out to be quite uniform. Using a large automotive plastic oil funnel, I dispense the Varget from the bucket into an old 8 lb jug as needed.
It is possible that like many things I do with respect to reloading, this approach might be a tiny bit, shall I say, "excessive". Nonetheless, it works. I should also point out that I did not vigorously or roughly shake the mixing bucket. A gentle tumbling or rolling is all it takes, and if you're going to mix the powder periodically over a couple days like I did, shaking the bucket too vigorously can actually damage the kernels. So there's no reason to overdo it.
I should also add that prior to mixing this particular batch of Varget, I had determined velocity for each individual Lot in side-by-side testing, so I had a pretty good idea that all of the different Lots were generating velocities for a given charge weight that did not differ by more than 15-20 fps total. In other words, they were fairly close Lots to start with. Mixing together two Lots individual that represented High/Low extremes with regard to burn rate and velocity might be a little more problematic, but with uniform mixing can still be done.
Regardless of whether you're dumping the last little remainder of Lot into the new Lot of powder, or purposely mixing together pound quantities to create a single large batch, uniform mixing is the key to making sure the resulting mixture behaves as a single homogenous and consistent batch of powder.
I purchased a plastic 5 gallon paint bucket at Lowes with a lid that has a rubber o-ring seal and closes tightly. I basically "layered" each of four different Lots of powder successively in the bucket, one pound at a time, in repeating order, one on top of the other until all the powder was in the bucket. In other words, the mixing process actually started long before I began shaking the bucket. After all the powder had been layered into it, the bucket was perhaps 2/3 full. It's VERY important to leave plenty of extra room in the bucket for the powder to move around so it can mix uniformly. I snapped the plastic lid with the rubber o-ring into place, then taped it off with packing tape so there was no way it was coming open. I began the mixing process by mixing/inverting the bucket end over end. Then I would roll it a few turns. Basically, I left the bucket sitting on the floor in the middle of my living room for a couple days, and would do the end over and rolling thing for a few shakes every time I walked past it. It was quite well mixed by the time I was done. I also took samples from various regions of the bucket and compared them for velocity in loaded rounds, which turned out to be quite uniform. Using a large automotive plastic oil funnel, I dispense the Varget from the bucket into an old 8 lb jug as needed.
It is possible that like many things I do with respect to reloading, this approach might be a tiny bit, shall I say, "excessive". Nonetheless, it works. I should also point out that I did not vigorously or roughly shake the mixing bucket. A gentle tumbling or rolling is all it takes, and if you're going to mix the powder periodically over a couple days like I did, shaking the bucket too vigorously can actually damage the kernels. So there's no reason to overdo it.
I should also add that prior to mixing this particular batch of Varget, I had determined velocity for each individual Lot in side-by-side testing, so I had a pretty good idea that all of the different Lots were generating velocities for a given charge weight that did not differ by more than 15-20 fps total. In other words, they were fairly close Lots to start with. Mixing together two Lots individual that represented High/Low extremes with regard to burn rate and velocity might be a little more problematic, but with uniform mixing can still be done.
Regardless of whether you're dumping the last little remainder of Lot into the new Lot of powder, or purposely mixing together pound quantities to create a single large batch, uniform mixing is the key to making sure the resulting mixture behaves as a single homogenous and consistent batch of powder.
Thanks everyone for the input
I'm going to mix the lots like this when I do
I have one jug of Varget left and only thing I can find are 1lbs
I've seen where sometimes powder is recalled for some reason, now you've mixed recalled powder with good powder and maybe ruined or changed how the powder performs. I've been tempted to mix but don't as I don't want one more thing to have on my mind when I pull the trigger.
10XSHOOTER
Gold $$ Contributor
I had 4, 8# jugs of different lots of Varget. put them in my plastic cement mixer.
Ran it for an hour and had 32# of all the same lot.
I normally use the mixer for cleaning brass. with walnut shell. Dumped out walnut shell. Used air hose to blow out dust. and poured in powder.
Ran it for an hour and had 32# of all the same lot.
I normally use the mixer for cleaning brass. with walnut shell. Dumped out walnut shell. Used air hose to blow out dust. and poured in powder.
Yeah, these guys have me paranoid as well. I mixed two lots of two pounds each according to how a SR and LR BR shooter told me. I don't think it's mixed enough for competition use. I will probably mix all the other misc Varget I have to that and then spend several days mixing it. A 375 H&H won't be affected by a few fps change in velocity. However, a 6BRA might. That leaves me 3 lbs of one lot and an 8 lb jug of another for competition.
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bozo699
Gold $$ Contributor
I shot my best group ever at 1k with mixed varget but there was a post or two that made me think about it as far as my competition powder and mixing it in a plastic mixer would scare me with static charge, I will continue to do it if needed but I have plenty of factory lots for competition
Wayne
I work in an industry that deals with extrudates and spherical shapes (catalyst industry) which have looked extensively into blending techniques. Roughly 1/2 X 1/2 mixtures poured 3 times thru a funnel is the most random blending that can be accomplished. Yes, there's a little variation for the amounts poured thru the funnel size and the size of the receiving container size but after the fact, after the 3rd pour-thru the data was indiscernible as to the amount of variation.
searcher
Gold $$ Contributor
My experience has been a 30 to 60 FPS between lots in small calibers (.20 to .224). The best time to test the lots is when they are all new and previously unopened. Tough to compare an old jug getting to the bottom with a new jug just opened. The moisture content differential alone will usually create very noticeable velocity differences.
John,
How many rounds do you usually shoot before you move on to the next barrel?
Ben
1600...ish
All my 6mm Dasher barrels have been put on the shelf at 500 rounds. My load is 32.4gn of Varget & my bullets are 105gn. Sounds like these barrels may have some more life left. My goal has been to shoot 1.5” groups or less in 5-15 MPH winds at 500 yds. Always use wind flags & I shoot frequently.
Ben
Ben
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