unknown powder

[jraney]

i recently bought some of the wolfe or herters ammo basically just for releiving my itchy finger. after shooting several round i had some that did not want to extract so i stopped shooting them in that gun, it is a H&R single shot 223, i figured it might just be dirty and not wanting to eject properly. then i bought a new gun it is a stevens bolt action in 223 also so i figured i would shoot these rounds in that gun i soon noticed that the bolt was a little hard to release, so again i stopped using those rounds. well after pulling the bullets i found that of the 4 i had leftover none had the same charge wieght and the 55gr bullets were more like 57 to 57.5. so i saved the powder and bullets in a container for later use if i could some how identify the powder. if not it is really no big deal to dispose of it . also i decided to weigh some of my sierra bullets to see if they too were not all the same weight but to no surprise they were exactly what the box said they were. so can anybody tell me what powder they use in this ammo?

 

[jonbearman]

Put it in the garden for fertilizer.There is no way to ever know what the heck they used for propellant. I would buy some blc-2 or h335 for your reloading or even benchmark. These 3 will work fine and you know what you have to begin with.I use all three with absolutely no problems. Hope this helps.By the way,are these rounds you had reloads or fresh factory ammo with all new components.If you have any left do not shoot the stuff as you found what I call extreme variances that could cause you serious injury or possibly death. Only use known ammo made by the american companys.Black hills makes fine reloads for plinking and are safe.

 

[TheSnake]

Unless someone knows exactly what this is, I would dispose of it and go with something I know. Most ammo companies go with special blends for powder and I doubt you will find any data to be able to use it. Much better safe than sorry or worse.

 

[CJ6]

The NEW Herters brand is made in Russia. I'm not sure which factory makes it or it's componant use.

 

[jraney]

these were infact factory loads, that is the only reason i shot more out of another gun, i thought they would be just fine, i have never had this problem with the same ammo before. well thanks for the info, i only had 4 shells so not much powder to dispose of so that should not be to much of a problem. is there any books that tell the factory loads of other ammo like the major brands not the cheap stuff like i had?

 

[dmickey]

To be correct, sprinkling smokeless powder on the grass does not become fertilizer! Black powder, however, will become high nitrate fertilizer with the next rain storm. Smokeless powder when it becomes wet is just as potent after it dries as it was before it became wet!

 

[TheSnake]

is there any books that tell the factory loads of other ammo like the major brands not the cheap stuff like i had?

I don't think this information is published in most cases and is probably considered trade secrets. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Say It'll make great BBQ starter.

 

[tenring]

Many years ago, a friend found three 8 lb. containers of unmarked powder in his deceased uncle's cellar. He thought it was IMR 3031, and I bought 2 lbs. It shot terrible in a few 222's. Stopped using it and wrote to DuPont (then the manufacturer), enclosing a few grains, asked them to ID it. I got a letter back saying they cannot do that excepting via a bomb test. They take a premeasured amount of powder, enclose it in a tightly sealed container with instruments to measure pressure (I think) and explode it under water. That should answer your question.

 

[CatShooter]

"... and explode it under water. That should answer your question."

Smokeless powder does NOT explode under any circumstance.

Meow