Grains in pound of powder

[Semorjh]

How many grains in a pound of Alliant Unique, Do I have enough powder vs bullets, primers. Doing the math and the inventory before I'm off to the gun show this weekend.

I would like to thank everyone on all the gun forums for all the years of enjoyment I've had reading and the knowledge you have all shared

 

[W.E.G.]

7000

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&sclie...owder+per+pound&oq=grains+gunpowder+per+pound

 

[Semorjh]

Powder

All powders are the same? Thanks

 

[W.E.G.]

Grains are a unit of WEIGHT.

A pound always weighs a pound whether its a pound of lead or a pound of rice.

 

[cfullgraf]

There are 7000 grains in a pound. It does not matter if it is gun powder, flour, dirt, bolts, or "you fill in the blank".

Grains is a unit of measure indicating a weight just like pounds, ounces, grams, kilograms, tons, stones or a bunch of other weight/mass units.

 

[Walkalong]

Yep, 7000 Grs in weight, gosh knows how many "kernels" or flakes. That would vary, but the weight will remain constant at 7000 Grs.

A 7 Gr pistol charge will get you 1000 loaded rounds, etc, etc.

 

[Certaindeaf]

It's not per kernel or flake. All powders are different. One flake/particle of one type of powder may well weigh many, many times more than another, different type of powder.
However, there are still 7000 grains weight in both (or anything, really) of those different types of powder per pound.
A scale (well, at least the one's we commonly use) are calibrated in grains and parts, usually tenths, of grains.
For example, if you weigh 100 pounds, you also weigh 70,000 grains.

 

[germ]

Me-thinks ya missed a zero. 100x7000=700,000 yes?

 

[Certaindeaf]

^
You're right. My calculating brain and or typing fingers apparently hadn't had the USRDA of coffee yet. Coulda swore I counted five zero's when I hit send..

That's why we have different units of measure, goldurn it! lolz

 

[marksg]

All powders are the same? Thanks

Its kinda like "Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead".

Both weigh the same, just a lot more feathers.

 

[LiveLife]

All powders are the same?

Not all powders will yield the same number of rounds depending on the burn rate.

If you are looking to economize your pistol loads, note that faster burn rate powders will typically use 3.5-5.0 gr powder charges while moderate burn rate powders will use 4.0-5.5 gr and slower burn rate powders will use 6.0-8.0 gr.

Another thing to consider is accuracy. While I can use mid-to-high range load data with faster/moderate burn rate powders (Bullseye/Promo/Red Dot/Clays/Titegroup/W231/HP-38/Universal etc.) and still obtain accurate target loads that burn fairly clean, I need to use high-to-near max load data with slower burn rate powders (HS-6, WSF, AutoComp, Blue Dot etc.) to obtain accurate full-power loads that burn clean (at mid-to-high range load data, these powders will burn dirty).


Here are some examples of how many rounds you can get from a pound of powder depending on the burn rate:

45ACP 200 gr SWC:

W231/HP-38 - 5.0 gr charge will yield 1400 rounds
WST - 4.8 gr charge will yield 1458 rounds
Promo/Red Dot - 4.0 gr charge will yield 1750 rounds



9mm 125 gr RN:

Blue Dot - 8.0 gr charge will yield 865 rounds
Power Pistol - 6.5 gr charge will yield 1076 rounds
WSF/AutoComp - 5.2 gr charge will yield 1346 rounds
Universal - 4.7 gr charge will yield 1489 rounds
W231/HP-38 - 4.4 gr charge will yield 1590 rounds
W231/HP-38 - 4.0 gr charge will yield 1750 rounds
Promo/Red Dot - 4.0 gr charge will yield 1750 rounds
Clays - 3.6 gr charge will 1944 rounds

 

[Certaindeaf]

Semorjh,

Do you understand? Do you have a reloading manual? If no, get a good one or two and read it. Notice all the different powders and weights per charge etc etc? Don't be afraid to ask questions.

 

[Jim Watson]

Which is heavier, a pound of feathers or a pound of gold?
Feathers.
Gold is traded in Troy weight and the pound is only 5760 grains versus the Avroidupois pound of 7000 grains.

Which is heavier, an ounce of lead or an ounce of gold?
Gold.
Gold is traded in Troy weight and the ounce is 480 grains versus the Avroidupois ounce of 437.5 grains.

Stuff like this might make you wish for the French System... almost.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Yea but a pound is a pound and an ounce is an ounce.. unless you're talking troy ounces.

 

[Elkins45]

Which is heavier, a pound of feathers or a pound of gold?
Feathers.
Gold is traded in Troy weight and the pound is only 5760 grains versus the Avroidupois pound of 7000 grains.

Which is heavier, an ounce of lead or an ounce of gold?
Gold.
Gold is traded in Troy weight and the ounce is 480 grains versus the Avroidupois ounce of 437.5 grains.

Stuff like this might make you wish for the French System... almost.

That don't make an ounce of sense

Get it? cents, sense....sometimes I crack myself up!

 

[buck460XVR]

Yep, 7000 Grs in weight, gosh knows how many "kernels" or flakes. That would vary, but the weight will remain constant at 7000 Grs.

Man......and all these years I alwas wondered why folks needed a scale instead of just counting on their fingers. Load recipes in full grains were easy, but cutting those little balls of H110/296 to get half a grain was a real pain.

 

[cfullgraf]

Gold is traded in Troy weight and the ounce is 480 grains versus the Avroidupois ounce of 437.5 grains.

Then there is the short ton and the metric ton.

Clear as mud?

 

[opus1776]

Then there is the short ton and the metric ton.

Clear as mud?

And don't forget about the long ton.


======================================
Member, Friday the 13th.
"Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" K. Moss
You can NEVER be too rich or too thin.
Life is not a journey, but a series of unplanned detours...
Perfection: is not a goal---it's a demanded expectation.

 

[Semorjh]

Am I equal

Shooting Kahr PM9, Kahr P40, Sig P938, AR-15 223 and 7.62
Lee Progressive loaded around 4200rds 380,9mm,40.
Been selling off factory ammo to buy more reloading.
Lee and Lyman books, just bought a Chrony

Alliant Unique 8 lbs, Alliant Bullseye 1lb, IMR 8208 XBR 2 lbs, Hodgdon Tite Group 1 lb.

Rainer 9mm 115 gr HP 500 rds
Rainer 9mm 115 gr rn 500 rds
Win 9mm 124 gr FMJ 1000rds
Win 9mm 115 gr FMJ 250 rds
Berry 9mm 147 gr RN 1000 rds
Berry 9mm 124 gr RN 250 rds
Sierra 9mm 115 JHP 100 rds
Hornady XTP 147gr BTH 50 rds
Hornady XTP 158 gr .357 100 rds
Rainer 40S&W 155 FP 1800 rds
Win 7.62 123 GR PP 100 rds
Midway 7.62 123 gr 100 rds
Rem 224 55 gr FMJ 500 rds
Midway 224 155 FP 250 rds
Win 55 gr FMJ 500 rds

Small Pistol Primers 12,000
Small Rifle Primers 4,000


Starting a work sheet to see if I'm even, primers-bullets- Powder before the election

 

[Certaindeaf]

Well, it sounds like you've got the bit in your mouth. loz

Also, you don't have to/want to describe them as "rds" when they are not. They are/you have fully described the article without that.. meaning a bullet/a part of a round.

Also, rifle powder goes way faster/loads less rounds per pound than pistol powder, normally.

 

[BullfrogKen]

I'm seeing about 1,500 rifle components and 2 lbs of rifle powder. You don't have enough rifle powder to load up all the bullets you bought.


I don't use IMR 8208, but the powders I will use to load .223 ammo run anywhere between 20-25 grains of powder per round.

A quick calc tells me you need 5-6 lbs to have enough powder to let you load all those rifle bullets.

Once I know I'm loading rifle bullets in volume, I just buy an 8lb keg of what I know I'll use, because eventually I will use it all.


Are you going through this exercise just so you can have a big pile of loaded ammo that you can perch yourself upon like you're a dragon sitting upon his heap of gold?

Or are you going to actually shoot? Because if you're actually going to shoot all this ammo you're going through the effort of loading, it doesn't matter if you buy a little too much extra. Soon enough you'll use it up and need more anyway.



Forgive me but it sounds like you're very new to reloading. Perhaps a wiser approach would be to just get a pound of what you want to use first and make sure it will actually function and work across all your calibers and all your firearms.

 

[anothernewb]

off topic - the "grain" as a weight standard, was supposedly 7000 grains of wheat to equal one avoirdupois pound - which is the 16oz pound that we use in the US today. Apparently it was set as a standard in something like the 1300's because the merchants argued between the various pound weights like the tower pound and pound sterling. Guess they had alot of wheat handy - and not so much of the other stuff.

I wouldn't have wanted to count out 7000 of them to verify a merchant's scale though... ugh.

 

[Semorjh]

Reloading

Been reloading around 18 months. Last 8 yrs shoot around 3000-4000 a year of 9mm, 380, or 40. 60 yrs old, might still be shooting in 5 yrs. I shoot at a Membership range outdoors 8 miles from the house, I try to stop by a couple times a week but keeps getting more expensive. How much are primers going to cost next year. I load up 2-3
hundred at a time. Got a chrony now to start adjusting the loads and shot less but better. I knew there had to be something I needed to add to the list, rifle powder thanks
want to add a # or two of diff pistol powder to.

 

[BullfrogKen]

Hmpf. 18 months?

You haven't seen what we saw for component increases from their prices 3-4 years ago. Or even 15-20 years ago.


If you're worried about how much they'll cost "next year", stop trying to use algebra to make all the variables "equal" each other.


The approach I usually take is I'll buy the quantity of bullet components I know that I'll go through over a given time period - say a year - right now.

And I'll get powder and primer components in at least that much, if not much more.


Lets say I know I'll shoot about 4,000 rounds of .223 in my matches and practices next year, so that's what I decide to buy - 4,000 bullets.

To load that I'll pick up at least a complete case of primers - 5,000.
I'll get somewhere around 2,200 rounds out of an 8lb jug of powder. So I'll get at least two of those.


If I can't get enough, I'll get what I can and go back another time. If it's a great deal, I'll get more than I need.


If you're actually going to shoot what you load - and not sit upon it like a dragon and his treasure - then don't look at it as having an "end date". You're continually buying components that you continually use up.


Look at it like . . . food and toilet paper.

 

[LiveLife]

FWIW, I used to keep enough components to load for 1-2 years.

After 2008 shortage, I increased my inventory to 3-5+ years and stocked up whenever I saw good sales/deals. I arranged group buys to save on HazMat fees (3-5+ buyers and it becomes irrelevant) and called/texted/emailed each other whenever we saw good prices at gun shows/yard sales/classified etc. and bought for them to save on gun show fees/gas money.

If I were to buy the same amount of components now, I would have to spend additional $1000+, essentially more than enough to pay for the Sig 1911 I bought last year.

It was tax refunds well spent.