First time gun owner. Is this thread about loading your own cartridge? or loading the magazine? a bit confused
"old Winchester 231 powder"
How old? Sometimes old powder gets far more powerful. (If the retardant degrades faster than the propellant chemical. I have 7# of old Tubal 3000 that blows primers HARD at minimum loads - good only for the firepit now.) I had to disassemble rounds loaded with this stuff and am thankful I started shooting the lower charges first. You might want to invest in a pound of fresh 231?
My very first firearm is a SP101 with a 2 1/2 barrelI recall loading some light load .357 in the first month of my hobby. I had forgotten to zero out the scale. They were not light loads. No damage to my Ruger SP 101. It was extremely difficult to pull apart the mistakes and 150 rounds went in the oil bin.
Initially I considered buying fresh gunpowder but I decided against it. I detect no foul odors. It was from my father and it’s in metal cans. I will be loading “light loads” with the powder until I become confident in my reloading abilities, the process and the supplies."old Winchester 231 powder"
How old? Sometimes old powder gets far more powerful. (If the retardant degrades faster than the propellant chemical. I have 7# of old Tubal 3000 that blows primers HARD at minimum loads - good only for the firepit now.) I had to disassemble rounds loaded with this stuff and am thankful I started shooting the lower charges first. You might want to invest in a pound of fresh 231?
Still in the metal canIf it looks and smells OK, it will probably be fine.
I have been loading some almost 25 year old 231 without any issues.
I have the Lee Powder Scale as well as a Hornady Digital.I agree with the others that your OCD and paranoia for your first loads is a good thing. The guy who thinks he is perfect and invincible is the one who gets hurt from reloading.
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The only thing I have to add is- are you sure your scale is accurate? If it is a balance beam type and you balanced it at 0.0gr, you should be good to go. I am happy to give you a hand if you're within a reasonable distance to Pikesville.
New reloader here (about 7 months in). I started off with 9mm too, and I am now starting to branch into necked cartridges such as 223, 7.62x39, 243, and 308. I was anxious about reloading at the beginning, especially when reading up on online references on things that could go wrong, overpressure diagnosis, "i blew up my gun", type of references.
Call me overkill, but I double check, triple check, and second guess all my reloads, especially if I am running them off my progressive. I try to explore and implement all types of best practices to assure on what I am loading will feed on my guns.
These are a list of best practices of what i can think of and what i do right now:
Make dummy rounds (for chambering/plunking/hand ejecting purposes)
add lights to visually expect the case necks (inspect for cracks) and check for powder
measure the powder charge every 10th round
use a sharpie to mark questionable/reject cases or reloads.
measure the case specs after resizing
start with clean and spotless casings
random sample analysis (weigh charge) pull a couple of rounds from a large batch
When in doubt, bin the case/reloadExplain!
Don't reload after dark.
I was telling my kids that just this morning.Old powder makes excellent fertilizer since it contains a lot of nitrogen.
Until I get to the range to shoot my first test rounds, no more than ten or so rounds of each caliber, I will be weighing each charge by handWhen you load fast powders that don't fill up the case, always take a second look under a light before you seat the bullet to look for accidental double charges.
It will be obvious when you see one twice as full as the others.
When you do high power rifle stuff those usually almost fill up the case so a double charge would be spilling over the top.
But good to check those little pistol rounds that use small amounts of powder.
Don't ask how I know...
I have the Lee Powder Scale as well as a Hornady Digital.
The Lee scale is great, provided you zero it, with the tray installed, at 0.0gr every time you start. Gravity never lies.
Yes, CCI 450 are small rifle magnum. I use them in my .300 Blackout subsonics and all of my 6.5 Grendel loads.
I don't know WIN 231, and you're likely fine, but hard experience has taught me the "smell test" for bad powder is NOT adequate.
And it's more fun to throw it on the bonfire than sprinkling it on the petunias.
I always enjoy threads like this - the paranoia some people bring to reloading I suppose could be healthy caution, but reloading isn’t rocket science, and modern guns are built to withstand a lot of pressure. Case in point, when they were testing the H&K USP when it was in development, they purposely lodged a slug in the barrel and fired another round behind it. It bulged the barrel, but it didn’t blow up the gun and it remained functional.
“Old Win 231” - properly stored powder literally lasts decades. Alliant has some Unique that’s over 100 years old that they test periodically and it burns within the original spec. If it isn’t smelling funky or isn’t discolored, it’s fine - use it according to the manual. With that said, she in doubt, throw it out - sprinkle it on the lawn.
Regarding bullet weights, remember that there is a range within a load that’s considered safe, and there’s often going to be variance on bullet weight. As long as you aren’t loading to maximum or minimum of what the manuals suggest, you’re going to be fine.
There is also allowable variance on overall length with straight walled pistol cartridges. Make sure you are within the min and max and you’ll be fine.
Keep in mind, im not saying to be cavalier about it - check, double-check and triple-check everything. The goal is always to make the most perfect ammo you can, but it’s not the end of the world if you spot check your powder drop and it’s 1-2 tenths of a grain off. What you most need to worry about are double charges, or no charges, which result in squibs, and can lodge a bullet in the barrel.
Pay attention, read the manuals so you understand what you are doing, double and triple check everything, but don’t stress it - it’s like making a cake. Measure your ingredients, follow the recipe, and it’ll be fine. As long as you do that, there’s nothing to worry about, at least where pistol cartridges are concerned.
Reloading for rifle takes more care and there are more steps, but reloading for pistol is pretty straightforward.
Ahhh, good point. Zero the scale before EVERY reloading session.
I’m having initial doubts with the stuff that I reload or at least until my first shot.
Old powder makes excellent fertilizer since it contains a lot of nitrogen.
And recheck the zero every so often.
Also double check the scale setting.
Something to add, touched on a bit by others, is to log everything you reload, and always label your reloads so that you know what they are.Good info, thanks!
Something to add, touched on a bit by others, is to log everything you reload, and always label your reloads so that you know what they are.
My log book has things like date, powder, powder charge bullet type/weight, primer brand, primer type (standard/magnum) and any other notes such as, “first loads with new dies.”
I also put a little card in the box/container with that same basic load info.
Thanks. I was just considering the simplest way to log, as well as identify my rounds.Something to add, touched on a bit by others, is to log everything you reload, and always label your reloads so that you know what they are.
My log book has things like date, powder, powder charge bullet type/weight, primer brand, primer type (standard/magnum) and any other notes such as, “first loads with new dies.”
I also put a little card in the box/container with that same basic load info.