Any more experienced handloaders out there that know if its ok to mix two different lots of green dot powder? in my pacific 366 press when the powder hopper gets down to the last 1000 or so grains the power charge weights become low so I try to keep the hopper above a certain amount. Ive mixed different lots before with no problems but I was told today by a friend that you shouldnt mix two different lots of powders even if they are the same powder. But if powders were that different from lot to lot than alliant would have to reprint new data constantly. also Im not to keen on the idea of having to trash 1000 grains of perfectly good powder.

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For consistency you shouldn't mix, however if it's the same same powder type it should make any difference. You should add a powder baffle to your powder hopper. The baffle makes a huge difference, or you can simply trickle it in by hand.

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Don't Bogart

Generally, you should NEVER mix different lots of powder.

got a reply back from ATK today heres what they said:

We do not recommend mixing entire cans of different lots together into
one can, but pouring one lot in on top of another in your hopper is
okay. Thanks for your note and have a nice day.

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i've never had any trouble doing that. i think the deal is if you are mixing large amounts and hit a bad lot would be the issue, more of a covering their butt kinda deal.

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when they come for my guns, all i have to do is get two of them before they get me and they'll never get even

after their email reply this is my thought exactly

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Yes if you keep lots in their respective containers then if you have a problem you know which lot it came from that way if you have more powder from that lot you can not only avoid using it but also let the manufacturer know so they can both work out what the problem is to fix it and also recall it from sale.

When they say pour it in the top of your powder measure they would mean that you should not shake it up to mix it, ideally you would also make a note of which rounds begin using the new batch so if you do have problems you can set those aside that way when you notify the manufacturer they may ask if you have any loaded rounds you can send them along with the powder to help work out the problem, they should reimburse you for them as well as the powder you have left as that would help their reputation.
It can also help you to avoid a gun shattering kaboom.

I buy my powder by 8 LB keg at a time.For my rifles. This will keep you from having to re test your load from different lots. On my hand guns I do not.

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man that loves guns Big Little X NAVY 375 Dan 357 M 41 M 44 M Long guns 22 223 243 25.06 270 30.06 Black powder 45 cal 50 cal hand and longe guns. I load all that I shoot

I would think that with different lots you will get different characteristics... we all know that... however... in a hypothetical situation... lets say you mixed TWO 8 pound jugs of powder "X"... you mixed it all well... you now have 16 pounds of a powder that is going to have its OWN characteristics, which will be slightly different than EITHER of the original 8 pound jugs.

As per the OP question... if you mix a little of the last remaining batch into the new... chances are you will NEVER know the difference, or even NOTICE any difference...

Mixing lots of the same powder isn't a problem. If your a nats ass target shooter you probably don't want to do it. The chemical make-up of a powder is so well controlled that it shouldn't make any difference for the typical day at the range unless you have a bad batch of powder. I have never had a problem with throwing in the leftovers with a fresh batch of powder. For that matter I haven't had any problems using old powder when stored properly.

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Don't Bogart

yep on the old powder I acquired a few pounds of 2400 from the 1960's in the old square tins with the pop top lid. it was stored correctly and works like a charm in my magnum loads.

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i been mixing red dot for years
for shotgun reloading
never had any problems

I load with a lot of pulldown/mil surplus powder, and mixing different lots of these powders is strictly a no-no. Bad juju. However, I have mixed ends of one can of powder with a new can of the same numbered powder with different lot numbers and never noticed a difference. Of course I'm not a benchrest shooter either.

Same kind of thing here ... use lots of 3031 and 4064 and when i get down to low quantities of either falling short of a precision loading job at hand, place odd quantifies off to the side.

Then mix em all up, shake well and use it for plinking rounds at an @ 15% reduced load based of both load weight averages of each powder. Burns up the odd powders and never had issue ... Tho being smart about what ratios are in the blend.

Bad juju if you listen too the manufactures ... but in application what some of us long time reloaders do stretching dollars with calculated risk

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Older and slower ... but Well Armed
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