What happens when you load pistol powder in a rifle cartridge?

[BAMCIS]

Hint: It ain't good.

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...-you-load-pistol-powder-in-a-rifle-cartridge/

Ouch is an understatement

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[The Heretic]

I've used pistol powder in rifle cartridges with good results - 5 to 10 grains of Bullseye with dacron filler on top, and a light bullet.

But yeah, that was an ouchie.

 

[jbett98]

What about .300 Blackout. It uses pistol powders.

 

[etrain16]

Damn!

 

[Steve M]

The bottle does say "A little goes a long way". It hurts just to think of how at that burn rate the rifle bullet made the cartridge into a bomb.

 

[U201491]

Hint: It ain't good.

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...-you-load-pistol-powder-in-a-rifle-cartridge/

Ouch is an understatement

OUCH YES...................

 

[spectra]

What about .300 Blackout. It uses pistol powders.

I use it all the time to and no issues. Just need to make sure of what you are loading into the case.....

 

[orygun]

That's not a good way to disassemble your rifle... or your hand!
He's very fortunate, especially when that happened so close to his eyes.

Scary.

 

[rick benjamin]

Douglas Ridge Rifle Club, Annual Public Hunter Sight-in
Several stuck bolts, owners swore their ammo wasn't reloads.
Two rifles dis-assembled as in post 1.
One of the owners said he bought some "factory" ammo at a gun show.
Both owners declined an ambulance but accepted club bandages on their faces and hands.

I started reloading in 1975, bought a Chrony to validate my loads.
I am still using it, works as it did in the beginning.
Chrony F model is still below $100. Walmart has one for $84 free shipping.

Clear your bench of everything before you start.
Confirm your loading data.
Assemble your components.
Verify again and again and again.

Or don't...

 

[Steve M]

What about .300 Blackout. It uses pistol powders.

The 300 BLK uses 10-20gr of the slowest burning pistols powders there is. Titewad is almost the fastest burning powder there is and he had 40.5gr of it stuffed into a 7mm-08 case. The issue isn't using pistol powders in a rifle case, but what happens when you grab the wrong jar of powder and don't realize it. You would be very sorry if you put 15gr of Titewad in a 300 BLK.

 

[jbett98]

The title of the thread is a little misleading, as it infers that any pistol powder will be a mistake in a rifle cartridge.

 

[P7M13]

They say he was an experienced reloader, but I say he must be a blind and deaf experienced reloader. There's a world of difference between a flake powder like Titegroup and extruded kernel Varget. He _really_ was not paying attention.
They look, sound and meter differently.

 

[FortRock]

It is important to slow down, check, check, and re-check. Knew a older guy who inadvertantley used AA#7 in a .308 load instead of RL-7. Lost a nice rifle and minor injuries. On the other hand, I used pistol powder with Dacron filler in a .30-30 load years ago and it worked ok. Not that great a load so didn't experiment further.

 

[Steve M]

He says that he's been reloading for 30 years without incident.

1. Read the label on the jar, check and double check then set jar in front of you while you reload.
2. Varget is a greenish stick, Longshot is a grey squashed sphere that looks like a small flake powder.
3. 40.5gr Longshot is bulkier than 40.5gr Varget and would fill the case higher than expected by about 0.2" in my estimation (I don't have a 7mm-08 case).
4. Longshot will meter smoothly while Varget will tend to crunch and cut the powder a bit.

He missed a few opportunities to catch the mistake so I think complacency was to blame and we can all fall into that same trap after 30 years of routine.

Edit: I just had an "oh duh" moment. I was thinking about Longshot but he used Titegroup. Still, I think the above differences would remain.

 

[jim97701]

That is a good example of why I wont even consider buying reloads from people no matter how long they have been at it, You never know if a mistake has been made and the consequences can be tragic. Heck I even saw a guy on here selling some .30 carbine ammo for a killer price that I would have loved to have but they were reloads that he had accuired from elsewhere and he didnt know anything about them, Thats just plain scary!!.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Not willing to get into something and realize (like this guy did) and have a brain fart. I'd rather find a killer deal on factory ammo every once in a while & BUY, BUY, BUY!!!!!
Besides I already have 3 other hobbies that take up a lot of my time....
Be safe Gentlemen!!!

 

[Member 34319]

Tiny flakey granules vs long shaft like granules. I can see why he got them mixed up!*



*Must be read in most sarcastic tone.

 

[FOWELKILLER]

this is why we should all be storing our pistol powder away from our rifle powder.1 on one shelf the other on the other shelf.glad the guy was ok,seen a gun blow up at my range,3 benches down, super spooky stuff.that guy was mixing powders together.

 

[bolus]

As someone not familiar with reloading, does the pistol powder burn faster? What property gives it the power to blow a rifle apart compared to the same weight of rifle powder?

Considering that, could you overbuild a large caliber rifle to shoot rounds with pistol powder to make it more powerful?

 

[WillametteWill]

Yes, typically pistol powders are faster, sometimes much faster. You may only use a few grains to push a 158 grain bullet where rifle powders, with a similar grain bullet, may use ten times the amount of the proper powder. As a few stated earlier and I agree, it's about using the right powder, not just rifle vs pistol. Many shotgun powders are for handguns as well.