4831 in .223 by accident

K

krickit

Inactive
I screwed up last night and loaded about 100 rounds of .223/ 55grain fmg with 4831 thinking it was 3031. The load was 24grains of powder. My problem is that I dump all my loaded rounds into a plastic coffee can. I have about 300 rounds in the coffee can and can't tell the difference between the rounds loaded with 3031, and the rounds loaded with 4831. I know it was a stupid mistake.

I do know that 4831 is a much slower burning powder, and I have only found one load in .223 using 4831 and it was for 22.0 grains. I did find this load on the internet and do not know how much a I trust it.

Do anyone have any experience shooting 4831 in .223? I would like to know before I throw out all these bullets.

FYI I shoot my .223 through an AR.

Matt
 
There's a reason for a good bullet puller and I've sure used mine. You can salvage all but the powder and start over.
Another option is to give Hodgdon a call.
 
I wish my computer that has QuickLoad was working. :(

Ah well, unless that load is over what someone has published somewhere, you'll have to wait for someone with QuickLoad to come along and answer your question. IMR/Hodgdon is of no help.
 
While I am not specifically trying to be rude, you have a problem at your bench that goes well beyond about 100 rounds of .223.

The kind of mistake you have made is precisely the kind of mistake that blows up guns and gets people hurt. Not putting a slower powder in by mistake... but loading charges of the wrong powder.

A good penance would be pulling every single loaded round in that can with a kinetic puller. Hopefully, the nightmare of doing that amount of work would be enough to remind you to be more vigilant at the bench.

Your best bet otherwise would be to send an e-mail off to the techs at Hodgdon and see what they think will happen if you discharge those rounds.
 
You're lucky..... :eek:

2zrdvmx.jpg


But even cats have only a certain number of lives.
:(
 
I don't believe there is a any possibility of overload using a slow powder like 4831, I also don't think there is any way you can stuff enough 4831 powder in a 223 case to cycle your AR. If you wish to take a few rounds and shake (next to your ear) you should be able to hear or feel the powder in the case move if it's 3031. I'm betting the 4831 powder is compressed and you will hear nothing nor feel the powder move. To confirm the above pull the bullet in a few cases and pour the powder out for inspection. I'm kinda like Sevens though you need to be inconvienced a bit to encourage you to develope good loading procedures to make sure this doesn't happen again. William
 
You are talking IMR powders? there is a difference in the size of the grains between IMR4831 and IMR 3031,BUT ,if you mixed the two powders together things could go from bad to worse. No sense risking injury or material loss.



Pull em all ,throw the powder in the flower garden and learn from your mistake.
 
See post#7 above.

It's gonna be real slow (2,300 w/ an 18" barrel).
It'll probably cycle the bolt too.

But you're not going to make a whole lotta friends with the muzzle flash.

:barf:
 
Here's a suggestion you should consider. It's what I learned to do.

Every batch of handloads is marked on the box/bag/can it goes into. Caliber, bullet, brass, load, date loaded, number of times the brass has been loaded, etc. This information is kept with the ammo as long as I have the ammo. In the event of any kind of a problem (like yours) I can easily identify the ammunition involved.

Another suggestion: Invest in a Forster collet puller. Well worth the few bucks, and it sure beats the heck outta using a kinetic puller.
 
It's pretty tough to overload a .223, there's just not a whole lot of room left over with even standard loads. Assuming you didn't overcompress it, I seriously doubt your charge will be over your AR's compression specs. That being said, THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I would shoot a questionable reload out of anything i own. I'm willing to tell you you'll "probably" be ok, but If it was me, i'd pull all of them and start over. A Million successful rounds can be erased with one failed round.
 
I would pull the bullets and learn from the mistake. You probably need to review your procedures and make sure you have a fail safe way of dispensing the correct powder all the time. The next time it happens, you may not catch it and KA-BOOM!
 
" I know it was a stupid mistake. "

Much worse than that; in this event the effect is harmless but the reverse is NOT!

Unless you have reason to suspect another powder was included in the mix-up, shoot 'em at short range as plinkers - 100 yds or so - and never have more than one powder can on the bench again.

Willy-nilly taking a more than start load off the net, or any place else, is as potentially hazardous so that makes two bad "mistakes."
 
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