Squibs, clumped powder

[badkarmamib]

Twice now, my father has had squibs in his .45-70. Both times, the bullet made it about 1/4" down the barrel. Primer has a good dent, H4198 IMR498 powder is clumped. Checked the powder in the jug, still loose. After the first one, I did find that the new Starline brass was shorter than trim-to length, so it needed more crimp than once-fired Federal. We corrected that, but it happened again today. I think the clumped powder may both have come from the same session, which he admits he put in the car the (very cool) night before. He also wiped the new Lee PPM out with a dryer sheet since then. So, I am leaning toward condensation, but I didn't know if that would still be a problem two weeks later. This is his first foray into reloading, and don't want him to get discouraged, so I am wondering if there is something else that I should check.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

Lube left inside the cases maybe?

 

[nettlle]

I reload in my garage and have to be careful about condensation when I rapidly heat up the garage in the winter.

 

[Englishmn]

I did something similar with pistol ammo. I didn't dry the brass long enough before loading after cleaning it squibbed some or didn't fire at all. Pulled all the rounds in question many had clumped powder. I didn't notice any moisture when assembling the rounds but usually wait 2 days before loading after cleaning and only waited one that time.

 

[243winxb]

Light neck tension. Bullet moved to soon? Try a mag primer for light starting loads.

Load and firearm info is needed. Hodgdon list 3 different classes of loads for 3 rifle types.

 

[badkarmamib]

Load and firearm info is needed. Hodgdon list 3 different classes of loads for 3 rifle types.

Henry H010 lever-action. Using the starting load for Hodgdon trapdoor (45 grains IMR 4198* under a Sierra 300 grain bullet), which is above Lyman lever-action data.

*said wrong powder before, corrected

 

[badkarmamib]

Lube left inside the cases maybe?

Lube was applied by hand just under the mouth, but still possible.

 

[rg1]

Bought a 100 round bag of new brass once and loaded the new brass. Later I wanted the new brass for another project and pulled those 100 rounds. Out of the 100 I found 8-10 with clumped powder. I think the new brass may have been contaminated with forming lube or oils?? Now I won't load new factory brass without tumbling to remove any contamination.

 

[badkarmamib]

I didn't dry the brass long enough before loading after cleaning it.

I can't remember if these were new brass or once-fired. If once-fired, I tumble in walnut.

 

[badkarmamib]

I think the new brass may have been contaminated with forming lube or oils??

Never even crossed my mind

I just ran a q-tip through a handful of random cases. I didn't see anything. Not a definitive test, I know, but nothing obvious.

 

[Walkalong]

What as the primer used and what as the charge weight of the IMR4895?

 

[243winxb]

Spray lube used for sizing the brass? (Spray your accuracy away.)

 

[billybob44]

Bought a 100 round bag of new brass once and loaded the new brass. Later I wanted the new brass for another project and pulled those 100 rounds. Out of the 100 I found 8-10 with clumped powder. I think the new brass may have been contaminated with forming lube or oils?? Now I won't load new factory brass without tumbling to remove any contamination.

" Now I won't load new factory brass without tumbling to remove any contamination."
^^^ I will not load new factory brass without SIZE and tumble to remove the lube..Just different..Bill.

 

[Havok7416]

I had an acquaintance who had this happen to him. I ended up pulling down about 300 .30-06 bullets for him and found a percentage with clumped powder. In his case I assumed moisture had gotten in the case at some point in the process. There was another theory I had which I have been unable to prove. If the load is compressed, it might be possible to compact the powder together to the point that it sticks together. This may take a year or two in storage or maybe it doesn't happen at all and I'm over-imagining things again (not the first time for that).

 

[nettlle]

I have used a lot of spray lube but do give it sufficient time to dry. I really have never had any issues with lube, regardless of method, over the decades. However humidity and condensation has caused me many problems until I learned to deal with it.

 

[BSA1]

Lots of possibilities here.

Where does he reload?

Does he empty the powder measure when he is done or leave it in the powder measure?

 

[Dill]

I had it happen to me in some 300 blackout subs recently. I had a batch of primers that were second hand pulls from old ammo. I ended up pulling the rest of the batch down and throwing the primers away. About 80% of them went off fine, 15% of them were weak with half burned powder every where, and 5% were squibs. I'd suspect your primers first.

 

[badkarmamib]

What as the primer used and what as the charge weight of the IMR4895?

CCI LRP, 45 grains IMR 4198

 

[badkarmamib]

Lots of possibilities here.

Where does he reload?

Does he empty the powder measure when he is done or leave it in the powder measure?

He uses my equipment, a detached garage. All powder gets put back in the jug immediately after charging, jug goes in a small refrigerator with industrial desiccant packs. After the first issue, we pulled the jug back out, no clumping in the jug.

 

[badkarmamib]

I have used a lot of spray lube but do give it sufficient time to dry. I really have never had any issues with lube, regardless of method, over the decades. However humidity and condensation has caused me many problems until I learned to deal with it.

Never used spray lube, use Lee applied by finger. Humidity / condensation is still my primary suspect, as this is literally the second-wettest year this area has had since they started keeping track.

 

[nettlle]

Taking a powder measure out of a warm house into a very cold garage is a guaranteed recipe for condensation and clumping. I have proven that out.

 

[badkarmamib]

Taking a powder measure out of a warm house into a very cold garage is a guaranteed recipe for condensation and clumping. I have proven that out.

Now that I have thought about it, after using scoops and a trickler to get a starting load, I had him order his own PPM, so he wouldn't keep adjusting mine. As soon as it showed up, we set it up, and when poured, you had to knock it to get the last third of the charge out of it, virtually every time. At the time, I assumed that the powder was bridging, due to static, and told him to wipe the whole thing down with a dryer sheet (like I said, it has been a VERY wet year). The next session, it dumped everything before the knocking (which I told him to do anyway, like I do), so I assumed that it must have been static. In hindsight, though...

 

[243winxb]

you had to knock it ( PPM) to get the last third of the charge out of it, I assumed that the powder was bridging

i would guess, this is the problem. Light powder drops.

Look into every case in a loading block to check the powder level, before seating a bullet.

Beware of the case with the EXTRA POWDER.

Lee - IMPORTANT! YOU MUST DO THIS BEFORE USE If using the measure for the first time, you must process at least one hopper full of powder through the measure to coat the nylon parts with graphite from the powder. This conditioning is important so static electricity will be bled off. Otherwise, you’ll find the measure continues to dispense charges progressively heavier. This need only be done once.   The lever should be turned at a uniform, slow to moderate speed to a full stop in both directions. If using a large charge you must pause in both directions to permit the metering tube to fill and empty. You will be able to see the powder move in the hopper while the tube is filling.

 

[Blue68f100]

The last time I had powder clump up was when the powder started going bad. The powder was from the 80's in a metal can. I don't know how old your powder is but this is only happens when it's not stored properly or due to old age (my case). Most powders will last 10 yrs +, but occasionally you will see a recall on one that it failing prematurely. You should bring the powder your going to use to ambient temp as well as all components to keep from having condensate form in high humidity conditions.

Dry tumbling brass to clean it works just fine. If you had polish added to the mix you could have clumps that did not get mixed up good prior to use. The clumps always find a way inside the cases. Over look it and you have contaminate added to your powder charge. This normally will have the powder look as a over charge though, or at least heavier than normal.

 

[badkarmamib]

Look into every case in a loading block to check the powder level, before seating a bullet.

I have always done this, all were good. For this particular run, EVERY charge was weighed, so we could verify powder measure variance (or lack thereof).