Mystery powder....

[DeanWinchester]

Jug won't help. It's surplus powder. They're all black and rely on the label for ID.

[Prospector Howard]

I've never had your problem, but a thought came to mind. You might try burning some on the ground next to some known powders you have by making small trails like 6" long by 1/4" wide. Light the trails at the same time. I'd bet that slow rifle powder would burn alot slower than fast pistol powder. It might get you in the ball park? before you do anything like load it in a case and shoot it. I've never tried anything like this but it was a thought.

[sdcitizen]

I think your 357 handi idea is a good one, just did something similar with a fine short cut extruded. I selected combinations that kept load density around 100% working through the burn rate chart from fast to slow. Maybe the lightest boolit you can find for 357, that way its almost a guarantee to be too slow for the first couple tries.

[beezapilot]

Answered an ad on Craigslist today- guy "getting out of reloading". He had a huge 55# drum of powder that he was selling off by the pound to people. Bring yer own milk jug... Really??? Apparently people are buying it... seems a wee bit too shady for me.

[dubber123]

Answered an ad on Craigslist today- guy "getting out of reloading". He had a huge 55# drum of powder that he was selling off by the pound to people. Bring yer own milk jug... Really??? Apparently people are buying it... seems a wee bit too shady for me.

I can't remember the exact company, it may have been Hodgdon, who got their start selling surplus powder. I believe it was sold in brown paper bags from a large bin.

[Shiloh]

I can't remember the exact company, it may have been Hodgdon, who got their start selling surplus powder. I believe it was sold in brown paper bags from a large bin.

It was Fred Hodgdon. He bought up warehouses full of it after WWII and Korea.

Shiloh

[DeanWinchester]

I was gifted 8lbs of HS-7 last year. It came in a cardboard box with a plastic bag liner.

That was tedious getting it into an empty jug without spilling it. God bless the man what started puttin' powder in a plastic jug!

[country gent]

I have used alot of surpluss powders but it was all either labeled or came from ammo I pulled down to salvage components. The labeled cans of powder came with what it was and what data to use for it. The pulled down I wieghed several (10-15 charges for average) and knew what caliber they were to start with so had a good starting point. With now real starting pointto work from things get alot trickier. Some slow powders dont respond well to reduced loads, some ball powders are the same they dont respond to reduced loads. Some have ignition issues with alot of airspace in the case. It can be done starting very light and working up watching velocity, primers and case head expansion. One of the ohler strain gage set ups would be a big plus to have here also. Be very cautious and I wouldnt use a family Hierloom or a speacial to you firearm.

[bangerjim]

Smokeless powder does not make fertilizer.....it makes fireworks!

Black powder does.....sulfur+salt peter+charcoal.

banger

[9w1911]

Id be all over that guy and the 55gal drum!!

[Watergoat]

What does the powder used in military blanks look like? They used EC Blank 50 years ago, but I don't know what the new blanks have. granulated TNT, for all I know. I wouldn't toss it either, but be VERY careful.

[Bullwolf]

Smokeless powder does not make fertilizer.....it makes fireworks!

Black powder does.....sulfur+salt peter+charcoal.

banger

Maybe you should tell that to the potted plant that is thriving on my reloading bench.

In all seriousness the main three ingredients in most fertilizers are....

Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and Pot Ash, or Potassium (k)

The Nitrogen (that's what makes stuff green) in fertilizer almost always comes ammonia (NH₃).

I'm no scientist mind you, but ammonium nitrate fertilizer also comes to mind.

Here's a US Army report on how to dispose of excess nitrocellulose gunpowder
at the Radford plant in the 1970's. You will be surprised at what you find.
(For the full PDF you must click on the link ADA046362.)

Rather than argue about it on the internet however, I suggest that you "Google" nitrocellulose fertilizer, and draw your own conclusions. The potted plant that's thriving on my reloading table has already proven this to me to my complete satisfaction.




- Bullwolf

[Tatume]

The powder is the photo is not WC820. Most likely it is a 50 BMG powder such as WC860 or similar. Using your 357 Handi as a bomb calorimeter may give you some useful information, but I doubt you can positively identify the powder with that cartridge.

[9w1911]

it does look like wc857 I have, I have burned it on the ground and it does burn slow

[biffj]

I've got ball powder that ranges from fast burning to 25mm powder and I can't tell any of it apart. 700gr in my 24mm gun works great if I use the WC890 but the same would blow the gun to bits if I used the little rifle powder. For surplus ball powders I've got WC860, WC867, WC 868, WC 872, WC890 and they all look enough alike that its not reasonable to do the try it in the 357 and see what happens. Just because its slow it doesn't make it safe. There are some possible issues with powder that is too slow like pressure drops of a magnitude that allows the bullet to basically stop in the barrel and then pressure spikes that ring barrels or damage them. Might be fine in a revolver where your barrel length is basically zero and it vents out the gap. I'm not betting my eyesight or good looks on it. You can do what you want however as we are just internet gumbies who you asked a question to. Hope it works out ok.

Let see.....eye surgery probably starts around $5k to see the doc, ambulance trips are about $2K if they're not too far. Life flights are $5-10K and so on.
Saving $48 on 8 lb of powder makes a good balance to any of that so have at it.....hee hee hee...

Frank