Is there a lab or commercial reloader who could identify a powder type if I sent them a round or two?

I have some loads that shoot well in my rifle. They came with the purchase of the rifle at the Tulsa gun show and were loaded for the previous owner.

I have pulled a bullet and weighed the powder but cannot tell for sure what it is. I looks like RL 15. The powder weight is within book value for RL 15 but when I loaded some up with RL 15 they do not shoot the same as the rounds that came with the rifle.

I would like to duplicate the rounds but do not know who originally loaded them.

what caliber and I dont know of a lab, BUT?
Why not work up a load using RL15 and compare.
That would be more fun.
Dave

You are a braver man than I. I flat out won't shoot anybodies relaods in my guns. I don't even like to use factory ammo anymore. Personally, I'd pull them apart, scrap the powder and recyle the components into a known load.

hivelosity,
It is a 375 h and h. Actually I did load up 5 rounds being careful to set the ogive length and overall cartridge length the same as the old rounds.

I used the same bullet (Swift A frame 300 grain).

I used the same brass - from previously shot rounds.

I am not sure about the primer in the original rounds. I lightly crimped them as it appears was done in the originals.

I know some powders look alike.

Maybe this is 4064 or ? I do not think it could be RL 19 because the weight of the powder would be about 10 grains more.

Rusty,
Well - probably not braver but I would admit that you make a good point.

The only thing is that now that I know these rounds shoot so good I want to know why.

quote:

Originally posted by Palmer:
Rusty,
Well - probably not braver but I would admit that you make a good point.

The only thing is that now that I know these rounds shoot so good I want to know why.

Is there a possibility that via the previous owner you could find the person who loaded them and find out what powder he used? I personally keep a written record of every round I load, to include writing the powder type, weight, bullet type and primer type on the box as well, so twenty years hence I can duplicate the load if necessary....

Can you put a few over a chronograph? That might help you narrow the powder choices.

The primer question is wide open. There are some clues though. Gently remove a primer and look at the foil over the pellet. Different companies use differnt color foils, Winchester has different foils for the different primer levels too.

Too bad there isn't any load info with the ammo.

El Deguello,
There is still that possibility. I have called the previous owners house and found out that he is in the hospital with lung cancer. I hate to bother him about it right now. His wife does not seem to know anything about it.

Rusty,
The old rounds are running 2456 fps average out of a 22 inch bbl. if that gives any clues. I wasn't able to check the ones I loaded because when I got set up I found that the battery was dead on the chrono - should have checked that before I left the house.

I would be very hesitant to judge any powder by its appearance. I use French and Finnish powders (Vectan and VihtaVuori) and have seen other American and South African powders from time to time. I have also taken apart both German and Czech factory ammo. There are so many, and they can look so similar, that it would dangerous to come to any conclusions from visual analysis alone.

Thanks for the reinforcement Wink. Not trusting visual analysis is understandable to me.

I was really wondering if there was a lab that could look at the powder - perhaps test it? - and tell for certain what it was.

Lacking that, I will just keep experimenting until I find something that works as well. It may not be the powder type anyway. It could be the primer or just a different batch of the same type of powder that behaves differently.

Amazing that something so straight forward can have so many ramifications

quote:

Originally posted by Palmer:
El Deguello,
There is still that possibility. I have called the previous owners house and found out that he is in the hospital with lung cancer. I hate to bother him about it right now. His wife does not seem to know anything about it.

Rusty,
The old rounds are running 2456 fps average out of a 22 inch bbl. if that gives any clues. I wasn't able to check the ones I loaded because when I got set up I found that the battery was dead on the chrono - should have checked that before I left the house.

I'd go visit him and ask.

Talking about shooting and reloading rather than his problems would likely make him feel better...

quote:

Originally posted by Palmer:
El Deguello,
There is still that possibility. I have called the previous owners house and found out that he is in the hospital with lung cancer. I hate to bother him about it right now. His wife does not seem to know anything about it.

Rusty,
The old rounds are running 2456 fps average out of a 22 inch bbl. if that gives any clues. I wasn't able to check the ones I loaded because when I got set up I found that the battery was dead on the chrono - should have checked that before I left the house.

What was the measured charge weight? I use RL15 in the 375 H&H and the load might be close to one of mine.

510wells,
I pulled bullets on 4 of them and they average 68.3 grains

Allan,
I do plan to call him later however he is not doing well at this time according to his wife and he is in a hospital not near my location. Meanwhile, I have a trip planned for this rifle in July thus this post to try to find the identity of the powder.

quote:

Originally posted by Palmer:
510wells,
I pulled bullets on 4 of them and they average 68.3 grains

Allan,
I do plan to call him later however he is not doing well at this time according to his wife and he is in a hospital not near my location. Meanwhile, I have a trip planned for this rifle in July thus this post to try to find the identity of the powder.

Allen,

It might well be RL15. I'm getting 2563 FPS with Win brass, 70.5gr RL15, 300gr. Hornady (#3720) softpoint, Fed 215, out of a M70 24 in. barrel.

If it's not it's pretty close in burn rate, and with the rule of thumb of the 25 FPS per inch of barrel...

Roi