powder on the bench

[amlevin]

I'm in a good place. RH in my basement hovers around 50-53% year round.

Same here. The RH runs around 60% year round in the area where I live.

I wouldn't live in a place where the humidity ran higher. Only took one three day visit to an area where the temp ran 100 degrees and the RH was 99% around the clock to realize that wasn't for me. I prefer a "powder friendly" climate 8) 8) 8)

 

[dcali]

I dump mine back in the jug every session. Not because the powder won't be fine, but because leaving unlabeled powder around is how accidents happen. I only ever have one container of powder out of the closet at a time, and it sits right next to the chargemaster when I'm using it. When I'm done, the powder goes back in the can and the can goes back in the locker.

I am admittedly more anal about this than most people I know. But I believe safety comes from the accumulation of lots of small processes. Make the little things idiot proof and the big things are harder to screw up.

 

[savagedasher]

Safety first always. When reloading. I don't reload any thing but my Dashers. Haven't shot anything but H 4350 in over a year. Only one powder has ben in my charge master that I use for my Dasher. 76 years old here so no children to worry about.. The reason I leave my charge master half full is not for safety reasons I like my powder to stabilize for ES and SD reasons.
All my powders are stored and loaded in stabilized air condition room.
If anyone is loading different powders always return the powder to the container and remove it from the bench. Larry

 

[mtang45]

I always dump mine back into the container. I don't want to take the chance of it losing it's humidity content and getting too dry, nor have it absorb too much humidity. It only requires a few seconds to dump it into the container. There is also the possibility you might forget which powder you have in the hopper, and top it off with a different powder if loading for a different cartridge.

I have had that concern as well, so my container that the powder came from sits right next to the Chargemaster and is the only powder allowed on the bench. When done the remaining powder gets dumped back into the container sitting by the Chargemaster and then that container gets put away in the cabinet. Next powder....repeat

 

[XTR]

I load with several powders, some are quite visibly different from others, and others (like H4350 and Varget) look pretty much identical. The thought of accidental loading a case with the wrong powder is enough to have me empty the charge master after each session.

 

[amlevin]

The thought of accidental loading a case with the wrong powder is enough to have me empty the charge master after each session.

How hard is it to just put a piece of masking tape on the reservoir/lid with the powder number?

Do that and the risk of loading with the wrong powder is eliminated unless you ignore your own label.

 

[JRS]

The thought of accidental loading a case with the wrong powder is enough to have me empty the charge master after each session.

How hard is it to just put a piece of masking tape on the reservoir/lid with the powder number?

Do that and the risk of loading with the wrong powder is eliminated unless you ignore your own label.

And by dumping the unused powder back into the original container, you mitigate the chance of drying it out, or absorbing too much humidity. Other than the convenience of having it readily available in the hopper, the disadvantages far outweigh that convenience/laziness.

 

[savagedasher]

The thought of accidental loading a case with the wrong powder is enough to have me empty the charge master after each session.

How hard is it to just put a piece of masking tape on the reservoir/lid with the powder number?

Do that and the risk of loading with the wrong powder is eliminated unless you ignore your own label.

And by dumping the unused powder back into the original container, you mitigate the chance of drying it out, or absorbing too much humidity. Other than the convenience of having it readily available in the hopper, the disadvantages far outweigh that convenience/laziness.

;D ;D I Dry out a pound or better in 90% humidity every week. ;D ;D
If I'm not shooting I'm reloading. The charge master has never ben turned off.
The only powder it has seen is H4350. Larry

 

[amlevin]

The thought of accidental loading a case with the wrong powder is enough to have me empty the charge master after each session.

How hard is it to just put a piece of masking tape on the reservoir/lid with the powder number?

Do that and the risk of loading with the wrong powder is eliminated unless you ignore your own label.

And by dumping the unused powder back into the original container, you mitigate the chance of drying it out, or absorbing too much humidity. Other than the convenience of having it readily available in the hopper, the disadvantages far outweigh that convenience/laziness.

;D ;D I Dry out a pound or better in 90% humidity every week. ;D ;D
If I'm not shooting I'm reloading. The charge master has never ben turned off.
The only powder it has seen is H4350. Larry

Ditto here. Some find it hard to grasp that concept though. If I were loading small amounts of powder, using different powders every time, I'd use a regular powder measure and scale. I bought the Chargemaster for "production".

Leaving the powder in the chargemaster is not a matter of lazy, just a matter of "not necessary". A pound of powder doesn't last that long and it's "freshened up" with another pound frequently.

 

[JarheadAZ]

I may be approaching this from a different angle.

I have made the "cross hands" mistake of unintentionally blending different powders. Therefore I have laid down a few unbreakable rules for myself.

!) There is only ever one container of powder in play (i.e. visible anywhere in the facility) at the bench at any given time.

2) When the loading's over for the session, it goes back in that single powder container before the session can be called complete.

The point here is that I require myself to always positively understand the identity of any powder in my facility.

A safe bench is one that cannot be otherwise.

Consider this; were are working with high energy components in the sincere hope that none of them ever turns out to be a bomb, however small.

Yes, it is that serious.

Greg