Mixing Powder (Same type of course...)

[miningshawn]

Buying powder lately has been difficult. When I see a pound or two at the local store or order it online I end up with many different lots. Let's use Win StaBall 6.5 for this example - I have 15 pounds of Win StaBall 6.5 that I have managed to buy over the last 4 months. I have 7 different lot numbers. I will be using this powder to work with a new .260 Rem and want to use this powder for the life of that rifle barrel.

I would like to mix this all into 1 lot. If I do some simple math (7,000gr*25pound/41gr/cartridge = 4,250ish cartridges) then I can have the "same" powder for quite some time. I have some initial ideas but I would really like to have some input from the benchrest guys on best practices. What container do you use, how do you mix it, do you label it by type or by rifle, do I toss some desiccant packs in there, is there anything I am missing, etc...

I could just throw it all into a 2 gallon bucket but I am certain that there is a more elegant solution. It appears that this is going to be the way it is for at least this year, if not this entire administration.

Don't even get me started on primer lots.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Mix it up in a paint pail or sand pail. Or use a plastic tote. Wipe it with a dryer sheet first to get rid of the static

 

[biggun2869]

+ 1 nothing wrong with that

 

[LVLAaron]

Find a friend with empty 8lb jugs. Especially if they shoot Alliant powders. Those bad boys can hold 20lbs of powder!

 

[Idaho-Lefty]

Yup,.. Stir slowly and,.. BLEND,.. IT !!!
Put it in PLASTIC Cans and be sure to Label boldly and put clear tape over, Label !

 

[Bc'z]

Mix it up in a paint pail or sand pail. Or use a plastic tote. Wipe it with a dryer sheet first to get rid of the static

I should have used a dryer sheet on a 2gallon ziploc I mixed my last batch in.

 

[Evan]

Find a friend with empty 8lb jugs. Especially if they shoot Alliant powders. Those bad boys can hold 20lbs of powder!

Yeah the one "8lb" jug of RL-16 I have is basically a 2 gallon bucket. Their "1lb" and "4lb" jugs can all hold almost 3x their fill weight.

 

[brcman]

The best way to get a thorough mixing of different lots of powder (pretty much anything else also) is to mix in small amounts and then mix those small amounts into larger amounts. For example- slowly pour together at the same time 2 one pound bottles into a larger container. Repeat this with 2 more one pound bottles and so on until you now have half as many bottles. Then if you have a rotary tumbler, tumble each of those 2 pound bottles for a good blend for about 20 minutes. After all of the 2 pounders are tumbled you can start mixing 2 two pound bottles together and repeat this until you have them blended. I have did it this way myself, it is some work but is satifying when finnished.