I'm considering some surplus pistol powder wc820(h110) for $55 per 8 pound keg and a chronograph for testing purposes.anyone have any experience with surplus powder?

Sounds like a non-cannister grade of powder. Cost is the least of your worries... Do you have the chrony and the pressure testing equipment to play it safe....or do you plan on winging it??

Best fly the other way.
ShondorP

I picked up some surplus powder a little while back and have just started playing with it. I got some WC820, WC680, WC852f, and some IMR5010. I've heard that the WC820 can be loaded with H110 starting loads and also that it burns like AA#9, or is 13% faster than H110. I've tried some in a 30-30 with cast bullet loads. I also intend to use it in 357mag, 357Maximum, 357Herret, 44mag, 45colt, 454, I may try some in my 45-70BFR but it might be too fast for the large case. The WC852 is supposed to have two different burn rates. The place where I bought mine said the 852 had about the same burnrate as H380. I used H380 load data for some loads in my 30-30, but got signifacantly lower velocities. I was using cast bullets, so I don't know if that was the problem. Or maybe I got the slower burn rate? I'll have to test it in a 30-06 with jacketed bullets and see how it behaves there. I tried some WC680 in my 45-70BFR, with standard primers I couldn't get it to light off consistently. There were lots of hangfires and squib loads. I switched to FED 215M's and got consistant ignition. I also got 405gn cast bullets up to 1750fps!! I tried a casefull of IMR5010 in the BFR and got a fairly consistant 820fps. All the powder didn't burn and I ended up with some small holes in the display cover on my Chrony from the unburnt powder coming out the bbl. I think this powder will work best in my 30-378. After the first of the year I'll start loading the WC820 in my smaller revolver cartiges. I think I'll start with the 454 in case I accidentally run into higher pressures, then the gun should be able to handle it better. There is some load results with Surplus powder at

http://www.castpics.net/

I think It'll be fun seeing which powder they most resemble, and at $3-8 a pound it's very affordable.

I use mostly surplus powder when possible. The price of that wc820 is too good to pass up, less then half I would say. I use wc820 in my 357 Max and it works fine, I think it is a compressed load. it has been a few years since I loaded for it. I also like the pulled 4895 seams to work good in all the rifles I shoot.
Good luck
Steve

Do not know the powders you are referring to,but I suggest to be carefull, start low enough,ever seen a blown up gun? Scary!Good luck.
Hugh.

I dont really need to worry about the pistol,its a desert eagle.the h110 data calls for 30 to 32.5 grains of h110,and I have heard people loading above the maximum,although I dont see why.my loads seem to work best right about 30 grains.I have been doing some research into powders,and feel comfortable working with them using extreme caution and a chronograph.hodgdon reccommends not reducing loads for h110,so there is a very little window for the powder charge.I was thinking of starting at 29 grains a see what a few rounds chrono at.thanks everyone.

1badassmagnum,

I shoot WC-820 (Lot #47320) in the 357 Magnum and the 44 Magnum...AND there is NO WAY this powder could be loaded using H-110 data...PERIOD!

It is much closer to AA#9 than H-110. I am several grains under maximum recommended for AA#9 and I am already at or over the listed velocities from the Accurate Arms data for AA#9.

It is a good powder, but caution must be used developing a load. Good-luck...BCB

I shoot a bit of WC820, W680, WC860, and WC852s. I also have some surplus #107, but I haven't used it as much as the others.

You need to keep in mind that the surplus bulk powders are not regulated to any set burn rate and the burn rate will vary by lot #. Data which does not use your lot number is not very useful. A chronograph is necessary to calibrate the lot you buy to a known powder for which data is available for the cartridge of interest. Be careful of the WC852 as there is a large variation between the slowest lots and the fastest. That's why you'll often see the letter "s" of "f" appended to the designation WC852, for "fast" or "slow".

It's useful to know what the original application was as a general guide for use. WC820 was M-1 .30 carbine powder, WC852 was 30-06, WC860 was 50 BMG.
#107 was shotgun powder. The Castpics site has some data.

My lot of of WC820 is #47321. It tracks very close to H110 in the lighter bullets in the .44mag, with loads for the 180s and 200 grainers producing very nearly the same velocities grain for grain. However at 240 grains I begin to find the WC820 to be producing more velocity per grain and this difference increases as you go up in bullet weight with early pressure signs in bullets over 300 grains. I use this powder exclusively for bullets up to 260 grains in the .44. Heavier bullets get loaded on top of the WC860 which is a good bit slower. I don't think you can get enough 680 in a case to bring grief in the .44mag. It's really more suited to the supermag.

Surplus powders can be well worth the effort if you're willing to put the time into load developement and are planning to stick with those loads for some time. As you have to buy 8 lb at a time I would not recommend just "trying them out" without a definate long term use in mind.
BD

I shoot alot.300 rounds a week, usually more.1 pound gets me about 220 loads with h110.surplus would give me more shooting time for less money.I meant trying a few rounds from the keg to chronograph to get a good idea of the velocity/burn rate of the lot of powder.after getting my velocities close to the 1400-1500 range,I would feel comfortable loading the rest of the lot.obviously every lot would differ so I would need to retest each batch,which doesnt bother me.my range is 10 minutes away,and I take a few pistols shooting with me.I had a few rounds tonite which would not extract properly.I guess maybe my powder measure was off or the pressure was too low to cycle the action.this is the first time in over 1000 rounds that I've had any problems,and this was using authentic h110,any ideas?

I use WC820, 680, 844, 846, 852fast, 852slow 870, M-9 and 4831 (purchased in the 60s) and 4895 pull-down powder as well as PS-11.

All work well as they were supposed to and my lots are equal to, or slightly slower than canister powders. The 852slow is not as accurate as the corresponding load of 4831 Milsurp (from long time ago) in my 6.5X257 though.

They WC820 works well with the 300 grain HP bullet as listed in one of the manuals for H-110.
It is no the fastest load listed for that powder/bullet combo, but 300 grains of bullet lumbering along at an accurate 1500 fps will handle just about anything I am shooting at right now!

LouisB

LouisB, You didn't mention what barrel is giving you 1,500 fps with a 300 grainer in a .44 mag. That's about 200 fps faster than any published load I've seen out of a regular handgun barrel. BD