Powder question .... why 8 pounds?

[Toddmack]

Ever seen an Alliant 8lb jug? You could fit 24lbs of powder in it.

It's the same with their 1lb. "cans". At least twice the size of a Hodgdon 1 lb.

 

[MN50Shooter]

Does anyone know if it's possible to purchase containers larger than 8 lbs from Alliant? I know several of us that would love to be able to get Reloader-50 in larger than 8 lb containers.

 

[sandwarrior]

Here's the quote, note that it says, "some smokeless propellants", not "all".

1910.109(a)(3)(ii)


"Class B explosives." Possessing flammable hazard, such as propellant explosives (including some smokeless propellants), photographic flash powders, and some special fireworks.

The sticker I referred to was on a 20lb can of IMR4350 (post # 11). That is NOT an explosive. It is a single base powder. However, due to it's packaging (weight or steel container) it may be considered explosive?

What I got in that had a sticker on it was an 8 lb. jug of N133.

I'm just wanting to make sure something didn't change without the public knowing.

 

[Jeffrey Tooker]

Back to the jug size.
Probably alot of it relates to convention and ergonomics. Such as a gallon jug is convenient to pour from, both in size and weight. Smokeless powders tend to have SGs slightly under that of water. So your 8 # of powder is analagous to your gallon jug of milk.To think government and beauracracy will develope dedicated scientific designs for anything certainly gives them far too much credit.

Also having plastic (probably recycled) is cheaper. Also the plastic will melt making any containment go away, and the powder just burns making a cloud of smoke and no explosion.

My wife and I get flax seed capsules in plastic (brown) bottles
which are the same size as the 1# bottles that powder comes in. It is the same plastic, just brown. It keeps the light out and seals. Some have flip top lids. Put on a label and they
work quite well.

Jeffrey

 

[rogn]

Also having plastic (probably recycled) is cheaper. Also the plastic will melt making any containment go away, and the powder just burns making a cloud of smoke and no explosion.

My wife and I get flax seed capsules in plastic (brown) bottles
which are the same size as the 1# bottles that powder comes in. It is the same plastic, just brown. It keeps the light out and seals. Some have flip top lids. Put on a label and they
work quite well.

Jeffrey

Quite a few years back a fellow was loading at a BR match in PA, I believe. He was a smoker and did the neat trick of dropping a lit butt into an 8#jug of ?, maybe 322. This resulted in a big smoky mushroom cloud and a scorched overhead, Supposedly he wasnt even burned badly. Probably only his back(I would have been running). The jug especially with the lid off couldnt produce much containment or pressure. So that was as bad as it got.
I wonder about different types of plastic bottles, since many powders contain nitroglycerine and it can migrate. Look at the powder reservoirs on a lot of measures and you can see that something has discolor the plastic. I think this is why they tell you not to leave powder in a measure for any period of time. I dont know if powder containing plastic is resistant or not.
I will admit that I did decant some 1 # lots of single base powders into 1 qt oil jugs, this quite some years ago. No problems or ill effects seen out side of a barrel failing in accuracy in the midle of a match once- I needed something to blame.

 

[okie]

View attachment 1189376

lmao

 

[Hohn]

Ever seen an Alliant 8lb jug? You could fit 24lbs of powder in it.

Indeed, a very useful attribute when you want to even out lot-to-lot variation by blending powder from different lots in different kegs.

You know, the way painters mix the paint from multiple gallons to get even color.

 

[divingin]

God help you if you have a fire that requires the Fire Marshal to make an investigation. What will your insurance company do? Will they use six pounds of powder storage as an excuse not to pay a claim?

A guy I know has somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 lbs powder at his home. He was talking to a fire chief (also a shooter) and mentioned his stockpile, and asked if he should do anything special about storage. The chief said to keep it all together such that if it did go up in flames, it ALL went up.