hoosierman

Just wondering if anyone encountered a situation I'm about to describe.
I've been reloading since the mid 80's just for plinking and informal target
shooting. My wife and I were at the club shooting her Colt Woodsman .22
and I had one of my S&W 1905 4th change 38 specials. I reload a 158 cast
RN over just shy of 3 gr of Bullseye. Pulled the trigger and did not get the report
of a 38 special...more of a whooot. Shooting at 25 yards you could actually see
the bullet go down range. When I got home I pulled the bullets and weighed the
charges..then I remembered that I opened a new container of Bullseye so I loaded up a couple of rds and went out back in the woods..same thing. I took the powder back And
later found out it was a bad production run..that was when it was made by Hercules. Sorry about the long post but was wondering if anyone else has experienced the same thing.

Rich

Machinist

Never had that but I know it can happen. Reloading powders are different from that used in production ammo. When a factory starts a new lot of powder they test the results and adjust the charge weight to get the desired pressure and ballistics. Because reloaders can not do these tests the powders must be extremely consistent, batch after batch and year after year, so like whiskey, they blend different lots to get the characteristics they want. As powders from different lots are being mixed, there is more opportunity for a bad batch of one powder to contaminate a lot of reloading powder. Very rare with good brands but it can happen and does.

Glad you had no harm from it. Good job on awareness.

tx gun runner

I buy all my powder normally in 8 lbs kegs so there is no change in lots . I keep over 10 lbs of Unique on hand . I've used Unique since 1968 in rifle shooting cast bullet for light loads and in all my pistols light , target or hunting with NO problem . The book below will give you cast bullet loads for 175 different calibers in rifle and pistol using Unique powder and others powder too . . When the SHTF Unique will do it all in all your guns . Unique is not the best in all caliber but there is no other powder that safely works in rifle and or pistol .

Terry_P

I had a shotshell load that I didn't drop powder into that didn't go bang but the rest have gone bang. I am not a fan of bullseye and don't load it very often. Not for the OP's reason but usually gravitate toward a little slower powder like Power pistol, Unique or Blue Dot.

Dennis H

Sure it's happened to all powders at one time or another.

Terry_P

It is kind of scary that if it were a defect of manufacture that it made it to the street. The stuff must have been old as it's been Alliant not Hercules since 1990. If they know it is a bad batch then there must be a recall on it.

gemihur

I appreciate the TX Gun runner's perspective.
When I started reloading and being the cheapskate that I am, I found that you could get more loads per pound from using Unique than any other powder.
I like the slow burn of a stick, but a lot of my barrels are short (10") so I've use Unique quite a bit... a little sooty tho, I might add.

tx gun runner

You need to get the Lyman cast bullet handbook . If the SHTF you can get a Unique load every rifle and pistol you own .