I have 2 plastic jugs of Reloader 15, one is unopened, and the other one has about 2oz. left in the jug. Is it o.k. to pour the smaller amount in with the full jug? They are the same powder after all.

Richard.

IF they are the same lot number, AND if you are NOT operating at the absolute maximum safe pressure for your rifle, the short answer is YES.

If you are oprating at absolute maximum pressure already, AND they are NOT the same lot number, the short answer is NO.

With any other combo of conditions & lot #s, the answer is MAYBE.

I have always read that that is a very bad idea but I do it. I do so long as both cans are fairly new. Idealy they are supposed to be from the same lots. Years past I'd mix a bit of N205 with a new can and that stuff was famious for varying greatly from lot to lot.

So, I do it but don't recommend it.

Benchresters have been doing this for years. 2 oz. of powder is nothing to a pound. Mix it together and tumble the jug in your hands for two or three minutes and all is good. I would load up two or three cartridges of you current load and test fire to make sure those two onces (?) don't in fact make a difference. As Mac says I would bet my next retirement check that you will not be able to tell.

"They are the same powder after all."

I would not jump to that conclusion at all for Alliant powder which was orignally made by Hercules and now made in Sweden. The powder from Sweden is made by BoFors and seems to change more often that one would expect.

I have several lots of Reloder 7 powder that are simply not the same powder.

The "RL" series propellants starting with RL7 have SFAIK have NEVER be anything other than repackaged Norma propellants imported from sweden

RL19, RL22, RL25, RL15, RL10 have never been anything other than imported propellants.

The name change between "hercules" and "alliant" is essentially irrelevant to the discussion, the RL propellants are and always have been propellants produced by someone else.

Of the current Alliant products Hercules only domestically produced their famous dual-based flake pistol/shotshell propellants Bullseye, RedDot, GreenDot, Unique, Herco, Blue Dot and 2400.
Bullseye is the oldest smokeless propellant that is still produced, it was introduced 93 years ago
(Bullseye in 1913, Herco in 1920)


There were some OLDER (discontinued for ~20 years)
Reloader propellants that I am not sure of the origin or history of, not that it is currently relevant except for the lingering confusion (over origin) that their exsistance cause today.

AllanD

I never mix my leftovers, I just use them up to the last load then go to the new can.
As some of the more experienced guys noted 2 oz is nothing when reduced into a pound, in my opinion they are absolutely on the money except as noted by the early posters if you are at the redline already.

quote:

The "RL" series propellants starting with RL7 have SFAIK have NEVER be anything other than repackaged Norma propellants imported from sweden

Now I didn't know that. My all time favorite powder was N205 and it was notorious for being inconsistent lot to lot. Do you know is RL25 about the same burn rate? I might try it!

Some interesting posts here.

Assuming you work up a new load when you start a new lot of powder there's no reason to not mix a very small amount of old with new of the same powder. Just be certain it's the same stuff!!!

I use a 1 gal ice cream bucket.

Keep it clean.

Add both powders together at the same time.

Pick the bucket up at a 45 degree angle to the bench and roll it around like a cement mixer.

I do this all the time with small left over powders or if I have 2 new ones of different lot numbers. If I have to work up a new load I'd rather do it for the new mix of 2#'s than 2 x's for 1 lb.

I don't know about RL25, I own nothing that can use it efficiently, RL22 is as slow as I can practically use.

My brother however has both a 257wby and a 30-378wby, so HE can use RL25... Comparing it to REAL, Normal labeled
propellants? Not particularly meaningful, because I have no retail source for Norma propellants to aquire them for comparison... then again, I don't have the time either, so...

AD

quote:

Originally posted by Allan DeGroot:
The "RL" series propellants starting with RL7 have SFAIK have NEVER be anything other than repackaged Norma propellants imported from sweden

Both RL and Norma powders are made by Bofors, apparently.
- mike

If I buy two cans of the same powder I always mix them. Then when I buy a new can of the same powder I throw that in the mix...and so on. It is a continuing buy and mix process. All you experts may say it's wrong but I have not had a problem since about 1990.

quote:

The "RL" series propellants starting with RL7 have SFAIK have NEVER be anything other than repackaged Norma propellants imported from sweden

I hesitate to show my age by commenting, but the RelOdeR (Rx) series of powders (Rx-7, Rx-11, and Rx-21) were all produced stateside by Hercules. RelOdeR (oddly placed capitals original with the trademark, and Rx symbol for "prescription" to indicate that they were "just what the doctor ordered") powders other than Rx-7 (now referred to as RL-7) have ebbed and flowed through the years. Rx-11 and Rx-21 are long gone and the later RL-12 is now gone and a new RL-10 introduced more or less in its place.

Bottom line: Old Rx/RL-7 and new RL-7 might indeed be entirely different powders.

As to mixing two different canisters of the SAME powder, it's actually a very good idea. In the first place, if the two are of the same lot, then it is irrelavent. If the two cannisters are of diffent lots, then you're going to have to reconfirm and possibly adjust your load anyway, so first mixing the two lots gives you have a larger quantity of powder with which to work, and a powder that should be a little closer to what you were using originally.

I recently consolidated all of my IMR 4350. This consisted of 4 or 5 cannisters of varying lots (but from the same manufacturing facility), each containing from 1/4 to 3/4 pound. The resulting batch of powder, after a reasonable amount of mixing to assure homogeneousness, behaves as a single lot and allows me to load a significant amount of ammunition with the confidence that the behaviour of the powder will not vary from one cartridge to another.