what do you know about 8208 ? butch ?

[mike in co]

i just picked up another lot of 8208.
here is what i have so far:
1)white bleach type bottle, red thunderbird on white label.8208 stamped on the thunderbird. no lot no date, THUNDERBIRD CARTRIDGE CO, INC

2) white bleach type bottle,white lable,TCCI,8208,no lot, no date looks like the bottle in the reloader article on "T-8202" but that bottle clearly is labled t-32.

3)white bleach type bottle,small white lable,imr8202,lot a068/tw-18188-y, no company listed.

4) white square gun powder type bottle, 8208, lot 18143, no company listed, but i bought direct from bartlett( ?) about 2 yrs ago.

i have not shot 1 or 2, still in sealed 8 lb bottles. lot 4 is slow, i cannot get any where near the amount of powder you guys get in a 6ppc case(even slowllllly). lot 3 is a little faster, marginally by a tenth of a grain or two.

somewhere in the distant past, reloader magazine had an article on thnderbird cartridge co, inc and 8202 powder, but the bottle in the article is clearly marked t32, not 8208.( i have a copy, but no date on the article)

i will shoot some of 1 and 2...maybe. i may change the gun to 6mm beggs first.

so fill me in on some history. since there are no lot numbers on 1 and 2 , what is it? is it the magic powder ? should i blend something with lots 3/4 to speed them up ?

butch ...what lots do you have ?

mike in co

 

[Butch Lambert]

Mike,
I have lots 18166 and 18167 from Bartlett. They both chrono about the same in my rifle. I do not know how they compare to others. I think this has been posted before, you might do a search.
Butch

 

[Tony C]

Mike

Jerry Sharrett has done quite a bit of research on 8208. Maybe he will chime in.

I believe Gene was having good results with H4198 in the 6 Beggs.


Tony Carpenter

 

[Dan H]

Ask Joe Krupa he has about a thousand pounds of 8208 or not that much maybe he will help out a bit. How about it Joe I know u r out there.

 

[jackie schmidt]

8208

A bunch of us were talking about this at Tomball this week end. Gene Bukys, Gary Walters, Vic Smith, and myself were discussing how different powders, (mainly 133 and 8208), are used in different parts of the Country with different success.

I don't think Gary Walters would mind me saying, but since he put the 8208 away and started shooting 133, his aggs, and success, have improved quite a bit in our Region. He has learned, (with a little help from his friends), the quirks of 133.

I have 40 pounds of 8208, (the 166 lot), I have never even openned it. Never saw a need to.

If Lou is successful with his bid to re-introduce T-32, the 8208 thing will probably become a moot point.

And those that shoot 133 will probably just continue with what they are doing.......jackie

 

[mike in co]

white bleach type bottle, red thunderbird on white label.8208 stamped on the thunderbird. no lot no date, THUNDERBIRD CARTRIDGE CO, INC

shoots very good same as t32

2) white bleach type bottle,white lable,TCCI,8208,no lot, no date looks like the bottle in the reloader article on "T-8202" but that bottle clearly is labled t-32.

t-32 is t-32 what color cap and what does jug weigh [weigh it].

3)white bleach type bottle,small white lable,imr8202,lot a068/tw-18188-y, no company listed.

lot 18188 is just like t also it shoots very well

4) white square gun powder type bottle, 8208, lot 18143, no company listed, but i bought direct from bartlett( ?) about 2 yrs ago.

18143 is slower I don't care for it.

the new powder project is going good.

lou...
thanks
the bottle has a white cap, sealed with a pc of strapping tape. and tho it is labeled 8lb, it weighs 7 lbs...(6.95)
put me on your list of buyers for the powder project.
thanks
mike

 

[Joe Krupa]

Last year I tested nine different lots of pulled 8208...

... in my rail gun at 200 yards. I shot three-shot groups at 53.5 clicks with a 68 grain Hottenstein bullet over a chronograph. The results were somewhat eye-opening. These are the results:

Lot # 18165 29.2 grs. 3,333 fps .380 group

Lot # 18166 29.4 grs. 3,322 fps .320 group

Lot # 18167 29.2 grs. 3,285 fps .270 group

Lot # 18189 29.2 grs. 3,217 .140 group

Lot # 12105 29.1 grs. 3,248 fps .270 group

Lot # 6193 29.3 grs. 3,324 fps .240 group

Lot from Allied 29.3 grs. 3,374 fps .120 group

Lot from Hoehn 29.2 grs 3,391 fps .290 group

Lot # 45710 29.2 grs. 3,364 fps .420 group (too hot)


I have won most of my matches shooting # 18165 when it was cool or # 18167 when it was hot. I won the unlimited at St. Louis last summer when it was 100 degrees shooting 54.5 of the Allied lot, but it didn't shoot well in the same barrel last year at Kelbly's in August when it was a bit cooler. This lot seems to be the closest to the little bit of T-322 that I had both in velocity and how the groups formed.

I also shot two .16XX aggs. with # 18166 on the same day through two different guns. # 45710 has been a real mystery to me - it will shoot very small then blow a monster group without giving any warning that it is getting too hot. I wouldn't shoot it above 28.5 grains any time. This powder isn't pulled - rather it came to me in a 100-pound keg marked Dupont IMR 8208M with the date 1970 on it.. I understand from talking with Walt that this was the lot number that the original T-32 and T-322 jugs were loaded from.

Three conclusions that I would draw: 1) there is as much as a 174 fps difference between different lots of pulled powder, 2) I shot my two smallest groups through the same barrel with the same click value, bullet and seating depth at velocities 157 FPS apart, and 3) you need to tune the gun by shooting groups in varying conditions, not by reading a chronograph.

I believe that the reason that there is so much difference between the varying lots is how the ammo was stored (i.e. how much abuse the powder was put through) between the time it was loaded in the 70's and when it was pulled earlier this century. I also believe that this powder in its purest form (i.e. out of the original keg # 45710 - not somewhat abused, then pulled) is a little bit too sensitive to stay on top of unless you shoot it a little lighter than the pulled powder likes to be shot.

Dan - I wish I had 1,000 pounds of it.