Pulling the bullets of some 300 win mag brass that had I loaded up 5 years ago and I am finding that the powder is sticking to the side of the case wall after pulling the bullets. Loaded with AA3100 and 180 Nosler Partitions. I have never had this happen before. Any clue why it would happen? Thx in advance.
Powder sticking to inside of case wall
- Thread starter 370bc
- Start date
That was my first thought.
No. It was a compacted load, but I never have seen sticks of powder stick individually to the wall. I will vibratory clean to make sure it's all out.
If you're certain it was not a lubricant issue, the only other possibility I can think of is a moisture issue when the cartridges were reloaded.
I've found the same thing with compacted loads of N550 that have been loaded for a time.
My first thought was lube too. Moisture makes sense too. Might humidity have played a role?
Powder deterioration? Does it smell bad?
I store all my powders in the same location, for the last 20 years. I have never had this situation arise before. Anything is possible though.
Smells ok. I have changed my methods over the years. I was using Hornaday spray lube for a time. Maybe that's the culprit.
I pulled 20 rounds of new factory ammo
To get the brass for a load I wanted to
Try ,it was a compressed load also.the powder was stuck to the inside of the
case in this also . It was Federal fusion
150 grain 7 wsm ammo
WyleWD
Silver $$ Contributor
+1 on John's post. I bought a 6ppc off a fellow that had loaded 100 rounds about 3 years before I bought it. When I pulled the bullets, I found the same thing the OP found powder stuck to the walls of the case and the powder would not reliably come out of the case. So of course I was obliged to shoot those rounds rather than take a chance of not getting all the powder out of some of them by trying to tap and pick it out. Those rounds had N133 in them and were stored inside a very comfortable home. JME. WD
Not at all unusual with compressed charges of large kernel extruded powders. I've pulled down more than a few .25-'06 rounds with compressed charges of AA3100 and had the same thing happen. There was nothing wrong with the powder and there was no lube in the cases.
Toolbreaker
Gold $$ Contributor
I had the same thing happen about a year ago, myself. Newer lot of IMR 4350 compressed, brass SS tumbled after sizing, loads & powder stored indoors and cartridges broken down maybe 6 months after loading. I just wrote it off to a combination of powder compression along with the existing moisture content in the powder. The previous same loads had fired fine.
I will guarantee the powder in my cases is stuck . My loads are 108% full . I load that way for a reason I don't have any air space .
Larry
Larry
I also use One Shot for lube and I have seen this "sticking" before on my hand loads.
At the suggestion of a forum member I wash all my brass right before I load them.
A sink with hot tap water and a little Dawn for dishes, let soak for 10 minutes, rinse off well. roll them in your wife's good dish towels while she's not watching, lay them out flat in a big cake pan and place them in a preheated oven at 250F for 20 minutes.
I no longer have sticking powder issues.
At the suggestion of a forum member I wash all my brass right before I load them.
A sink with hot tap water and a little Dawn for dishes, let soak for 10 minutes, rinse off well. roll them in your wife's good dish towels while she's not watching, lay them out flat in a big cake pan and place them in a preheated oven at 250F for 20 minutes.
I no longer have sticking powder issues.
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