mixing powder?

J

JDR

Guest
I have been reloading for 50 years and from time to time have heard of mixing powder, something like 4189 and h322, is this a joke or is it really being done?
 
Yes it is done, but not talked about for obvious reasons. One big thing....you better know what your are doing. For instance I have tried various mixes of H322 and Benchmark. The problem to me seems to get a good blend so that you don't get more of one than the other in your loads.

Donald
 
It's really being done.

This ain't'cher normal forum... it's a racing forum, and this is just one of the reasons why The Wilbur frowns severely on anyone posting loads..... ANY loads. The loads used for 99.9% of the competition Bench Rest loads won't be found in any book.

No one's ever been hurt mixing powder as it's done here, by pro's for competition, BUT.....

al
 
The really good chefs don't use the Betty Crocker cook book.
 
A glance at any spherical powder with its mix of round and a few flattened granules suggests that factories tune powder to a standard for sale. I can't recognize the same approach visually in extruded powder but it probably is utilized there as well. If blending powders by reloaders presents consistency challenges does it make sense to use a duplex load strategy to tune for benchrest. Anyone use say X gr of Benchmark and XX gr of H322 in the same case?

Greg
 
Powder Mixing

Some very well known Benchrest Shooters do indeed mix powder, but do keep in mind, they do it for a very specific reason. That being, they believe that a wider competitive tuning window can be had.

In 99 9/10 percent of the shooting world, this is of no consequence what so ever. Unless you have a all out Benchrest Rifle, attempting to shoot at a consistant sub .200 agg level in a Competitive Inviroment, then these types of practices are of no use what so ever.

A number of years ago, I tried mixing 133 and 130, it loaded like 132, if there was such an animal.

This is an insatnce where a practice that is used in 100-200 yard Benchrest does NOT translate into the rest of the shooting world.........jackie
 
Some cautions on powder mixing;

Only mix powders that are the same in grain structure-ball, flake and stick will not mix evenly nor will it stay mixed over time as it is juggled about.

And, only mix powders that are close in burning rate. What you are trying to accomplish is to slightly modify burning rate and therefore performance.
For sure you can't mix Bullseye and IMR7828 and come up with a mixture of, say, Varget performance!
 
If you look at H322 and Benchmark they appear to be the same powder. I have measured the granuals and they are so close as to be the same size, both in diameter and length. I believe the difference between these two is in the coatings. I have tried 50-50 and 75-25 and finally settled on a mix of 70% H322 and 30% Benchmark, by weight. If ones uses this start out like it was H322 and work up. In reality its a waste of time and barrels. I have shot some very good groups with it but it is not consistent. Like maybe in one load you might get more 322 than BM or vise versa. These two powders are so close in size, color, etc., that when mixed, you cannot tell which is which. So I just shoot Benchmark and load'em up. But my go to powder is still 133. By the way, you can't depend on the burn rate charts. They are all a bit different.

Donald
 
Not sure but I seem to remember a warning against mixing powders in the old book "the Gun and its Development".
I have a PDF of that book so I can look it up.
It may have been refering to BP grain sizes though.

Composite loads of one more sensitive powder near the base meant to ensure complete ignition of the main charge of a less sensitive propellant has been used before with mixed results.

If powders are mixed I'd expect best results would be of carefully weighed charges of each mixed on a per case basis. No way you could expect the powders to mix properly in a large container and maintain the same percentages from one loading to the next.

Personally I would not consider it a safe practice.
 
Some of the old guys would mix powders in order to use up some strange surplus powder which wouldn't work otherwise. Slow powder in a straight walled case, you need to put something in with it to get it cooking. These weren't high performance loads, just economy efforts.
 
what about layered?

With the 6ppc cases, 28.8 gn. and up loads are slighty compressed. has anyone used a layered style? for instants pour 14 grains of h322 and 14.8 of benchmark on top?
 
I know that some of the big factories mix powders. I have pulled down factory 45ACP loads that had 2 different powders in them. They weren't even close to the same dimension or color.
Ted
 
Back in the 1950's someone wrote Jack O'Connor this question, "I bought a batch of surplus government powder. The powder granules are about the size of a biscuit. I ground some up in a sausage grinder to make it easier to measure. How much of this should I use in my 30/06 with a 180 grain bullet"??

Jack O'Connor's reply was "I wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot pole".

As to mixing odd lots or justifying mixing odd lots "just because a big factory does"- my answer would be what Mr. O'Connor said, word for word.
 
Jerry
I agree with you. I wasn't advocating the practice. Just stating what I had seen.

But ..... I admit to mixing the last few ounces of a jug of HBM with the last few ounces of a Jug of H4895 and I shot a 500 at the ARC with it in the unfamous 257TED.
 
Yes I know it has been done, unless it's your full time job and you have the testing equipment and the back ground, I would stay away from the subject. Winning if this is the only way to do it? I would find another sport to get into.
 
Mixing powder

It is a dangerous practice. P O Akcley mentions in his book what he calls duplex load if memory serves me right, that is a combination of faster powder that the primer ignites first to raise the pressure and then ignite a slower burning powder. Dont go there either.
 
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