Accidently contaminated powder

T

TruthTellers

New member
A few weeks ago I was using my automatic powder dispenser and had it filled with Unique. I emptied it (or thought I had) and long story short ended up dumping maybe 30 grains worth of it into my about full 9oz container of Trail Boss.

I know someone is going to read this and scream "NEVER MIX POWERS!" but, again, this wasn't intentional and I'm not intentionally mixing powders.

It seems that when I throw a 3.5 grain charge of Trail Boss I get anywhere from 3 to 8 flakes of the Unique powder with the charge. It's probably not even .1 grain worth of powder per throw, but it's there.

Can I still use the powder I have or is this going to cause unsafe pressures? For the record, I intend to use this can of Trail Boss in .327 guns. Hodgdon lists the pressure for min and max charges of this powder in .327 from 12-18 thousand PSI and .327 has a SAAMI spec of 45k PSI max.

I can't imagine a few flakes of Unique is going to cause pressures to spike above 45k PSI.
 
I tend to concur that if it is thoroughly mixed in it should render little to know problem at all considering the application and pressures. I do question whether it will stay effectively mixed during pouring and dispensing though. Size, shape and weight of grains will effect as it does in any container of mixed sizes...thus the small pieces often gravitate to the bottom etc. Will that render it dangerous? Likely not, but a consideration just the same.

Personally, I would toss the contaminated 9 ounces and remember my mistake so as to not repeat it. I do not wish to use powders mixed/contaminated at any time. To me, it is a slippery slope I need not venture upon. Your decision may be quite different, but I am real comfortable with my position. Considering the cost of 9 ounces of powder, it is too small to make any risk worthwhile. Yeah, you have to get a full pound to replace it, so you lost $25 bucks or a little more.
 
Don't sweat it. If anything, a few flakes of Unique displacing a few flakes of Trail Boss will result in slightly lower pressure.

Don
 
I would likely have scooped out the majority of Unique immediately and then decided whether to mix in the rest and use it, or throw out the contaminated Trail Boss.
 
One thing you might try is putting some of the mixed Trail Boss and Unique in a clear plastic cup and setting it atop a running vibratory tumbler or a fish tank pump and see if the vibration tends to settle it into separate strata. If it does, you have a way to clean the Trail Boss. If it doesn't, you have a homogenous enough mixture that settling in a powder measure or a cartridge case will be a non-issue. It is ¾% contamination or about 0.1 grains out of about 13.1 grains. It's not enough to have a dramatic effect if it is a homogenous mix.
 
I did something similar one time but don't remember what the powder's were. What I did was take the contaminated can of powder outside and burn it. Perhaps you can use it and perhaps you maybe shouldn't. This is a personal call you need to make on your own. Whats less expensive? A new can of powder or a shooting eye?
 
As everyone else has said, you should be okay. TrailBoss and Unique are reasonably close in burn rate; and they're both even kind of fluffy (especially TB). Point is, they're similar and getting a little of one mixed into the other shouldn't be a big deal.

I know it wasn't intentional. Things happen. But in the handloading world, we don't want "things" to happen unless we intended it. I always check my hopper before pouring powder into it. I don't know the in's n out's of your automatic powder dispenser, so my lecture stops here. Load safe.
 
It's highly unlikely 30 grains will matter. Think in terms of percentages. There's 437.5 grains to an ounce. 30 grains is approximately 0.07 of an ounce or 7 percent. 9 ounces is 3937.5 grains(a bit over half a pound.). 30 grains is about .008 percent of that.
"...get anywhere from 3 to 8 flakes..." There's absolutely no way you can tell that by just looking.
"...reasonably close in burn rate..." Not really. TB is #21. Unique is #32. It's more about percentages anyway.
 
This is the second "powder mixing OOPS!" I've read this morning. The OP here mixed some Unique and Trail Boss. On another forum I read someone mixed some CFE and Ramshot Hunter (5 lb!). C'mon fellers, it's plain old paying attention to what yer doin' at the bench. The "safety measures" when using gunpowder have been posted hundreds (thousands?) of times and I won't berate the OP just for an honest mistake ...

Personally, I'd dump or burn the powder mix. I like my guns and my fingers and while someone may devise a formula/method to use contaminated powder, I won't. Fortunately during my reloading I have not mixed any powders as I have my own safety regimen embedded in my mind and after 35+ years I doubt if I could change...

BTW; On the burn rate chart I have Trail Boss id about half way between Bullseye and W231, and Unique is slower than W231. I know burn rate charts are "relative" and offer little more than powders "in line" from fastest to slowest and should not be used for anything more than a ball park reference...
 
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Saying in the haz trade, dilution is the solution to pollution

Dump it all into your main container (1 lb?) , shake up the container each time and ok.

Or you can do 2 lbs and mix it.
 
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