I bought a pound of H4831 and a box of Hornady 130 grain Spire points. The can of powder is empty and I have 6 bullets left out of a hundred. My load, for a 270 is 59 grains of the H4831. I may have spilled 29 or so granuals and there was 41 grains of powder left at the end of the container. It was factory sealed when I got it. Anyone else experience this? I should have been able to load at least 116 shells with a pound of powder.

I one bought a bag of Ruffles that only had about 6 chips in it.

Anytime you have an automated process like filling powder cans, you're liable to have a low fill like yours. But no, I personally have never encountered a low filled can.

I once had a stats professor who would track the milage of her car with the stated quantity of fuel she purchased. Her theory was that all gas pumps are not properly calibrated. I figured her driving style would be the primary variable but,

At 21.55 a can I feel that getting shorted enough powder to load a box of shells with is excessive. I could accept plus or minus 1% (70 grains) but more than 1/7th of a pound is ridiculous. Actually I can account for right at 5600 grains of powder that is 1400 grains short.

Are you sure it was a 16 ounce container and not a 14 ounce?

Not all powders come in 1-pound containers...

I just looked and it is the standard Hodgdon one pound container.

I've not payed much attention to the weight but I did find a bug about the size of a BB in a new can of Retumbo last year.

I would telephone them and ask to speak to someone in management. You will more than likely get a refund or a voucher for a free pound.

[ 11-01-2003, 04:08: Message edited by: Nitroman ]

Recently I bought a bag of Winchester wads for 12 gauge shotshells -- these were the gray wads for loading 7/8 oz. loads in 12 gauge. The bag was short by 5 wads from the amount it was supposed to contain. I wrote a complaint letter to Winchester, and they sent me a $5 voucher good on any Winchester ammunition products. I used it when I bought a bag of 50 pieces of .270 Winchester brass.

[ 11-01-2003, 20:22: Message edited by: LE270 ]

I know Hodgdon 1lb cans are all the same size, but the different powders have different densities, so different powders will be at a different "fill level" for one pound. I am impressed that you can track your usage load by load and know when you should have run out. In theory I could do it, but never thought about it. Mike.

Before I let the dogs loose I would check my scale. A 0.7 gr error would have the results you describe.
Good luck!

I know that Hodgdon "Clays" shotgun powder comes in 14 oz. containers, not 16 oz. Bill T.

I normally wouldn't be able to track my powder usage but in this case I only load one load for my 270 and I only use H4831 for it and no other cartridge. I bought another canister, though a different lot number and weigh the empty one and the full one and see if the discrepency is the same.

Are we to assume that your box of 100 bullets was a box of 100? I weigh all my bullets and seperate them when I get a new box, and more then once I found myself a "bonus" box of 4-5 extra bullets.

And, you are loading by weight, not volume right?

How about the frequency of calibrating your scale (check weights)?

There are a few things I would make sure of before a call is made, but if your bases are covered - tear into 'em. Can you post the lot #, maybe someone else has a new pound with the same problem.

"Tear into them." Why?

The canister loading process is automated. Not everything works exactly as it should. Given that your scale is correct (and I'm certain you can count your loaded cartridges), you're correct about the number of cartridges you should have been able to load. Given that, just drop Hogdon a line with your full name and address and let them know that a canister, LOT # such and such came up short for weight. I'm certain that they'll make it up to you. I understand about the cost of powder, I pay that much as well.

I honestly don't see the point of getting all in a sweat over this.

You should have gotten at least 23 more rounds out of that pound! I have never checked on this, but now that you have brought it up, I will start watching for "short" pounds!!

Yea, don't go gettin' in a dither over it. Let them know, I'm sure they'll respond. They need to know there was a problem. If the same problem replicates itself enough times, the onus is then on them to fix something, but they need to know. btw, even though Hodgdon is in business to make money, they support the shooting sports big time. Be nice. sundog

As soon as I weigh this new canister out I am going to email them at their website and act reasonably about it. I mean if they are off 20 percent in just filling their canisters where are they on formulating their powders?

This canister is right on the money,hmmmmm.

Rick, I think it was a fluke. The Hodgdon people are very nice. (While you're on their website, check out their company's mission statement.) Let 'em know and I'll bet they make it right and then some.

I'm willing to bet that it was a fluke. I had a stat teacher that loved talking about this kind of thing. He loved to point out that most filling processes have a relative standard deviation of 1-2% and that they closely follow a normal curve. This means that 1% of the products will be either 3 std. dev. heavy or light. With the # of containers filled the number that ship considerably light or heavy is notable, though they constitute less than 1% of total volume shipped. I'm sure they are well aware of this and would be more than happy to give you a voucher of some sort.

Carl