Yellow powder

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ole farmerbuck

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I was shooting 3 different loads this evening using H335 and Wolf small rifle .223 primers. 1st time using them. Anyway, i had one that didnt shoot. Tried it again and no go. So, i pulled the bullet and it had the right amount of powder but at the bottom of the powder, it was a gold/yellow color. I know the pic isnt good but this is what it looked like with regular 335 to the left of it to show the difference. Well, what went wrong?

badpowder.jpg
 
I've noticed partially-burned powder that started out black, looked yellow in the barrel. I have some .38 loads (can't remember at the moment what I loaded them with) that often leave behind unburned/partially burned powder and the individual grains appear yellow.

Given:
...at the bottom of the powder, it was a gold/yellow color.
Click to expand...
I would guess that the primer may have kind-of worked, at least getting things warm, but moisture or something caused the powder and/or primer to not actually ignite.

Not sure what really causes it, but I've seen "black" smokeless powder turn yellow.
 
Well i know nothing was moist. New primers and powder. It was the only one that didnt work. Boy if one messes up tomorrow while p-dog hunting, i might have to go to Russia and demand a refund!:) Cant have that.
 
I knew to avoid yellow snow. I'll add yellow powder to the list.
 
Very strange. Yep, the only powder I have seen that color was partly burned from a very light pistol load with a slow stick powder that did not burn completely, but it did get the bullet out of the barrel.
 
Ole FarmerBuck,
That is definitely one of the more peculiar things I've seen.

I appreciate the info.

Good luck on your P-dog hunt.

I bought some Wolf, but have not tried them yet. I got the LP LR & SR - SP was out of stock

I love how they "simplified" it here.

SMALL RIFLE PRIMER (part # QQQSR) - Used as a standard small rifle primer. Perfect for the 30 carbine and 223 standard loads. Many people use this primer in bench and other loads for the 223. This primer is a copper colored primer.

SMALL RIFLE MAGNUM PRIMER (part# QQQSRM) - This is the primer we had before for use in the 5.56 loads and hot 223 loads. A thick cup for the higher pressure. We sold a lot of these primers earlier this year. The new lot is brass colored instead of nickel.

SMALL RIFLE 223 (part # QQQSR223) NEW NEW This is the newest primer available in the Wolf line. It is ever so slightly hotter than the small rifle magnum primer and it comes with a brass colored thick cup. This primer can be used in place of the SRM primer or used when a different powder is used that is hard to ignite.
 
I have used a few of their sr primers for the AR with no trouble. I liked them for the color. Easy to tell which gun they are fired in when using 3 or 4 guns.
 
Raw nitrocellulose is yellowish. Apparently the primer flashed but did not ignite the powder, just blew the graphite coating off.
Click to expand...

I think Jim Watson has your answer.

Try soaking a sample amount in some WD 40, it will wash the graphite off and like Jim said you should see a yellow color under the coatings.

Jimmy K
 
IMO, it's another reason to use magnum primers with ball powders. You'll get a hotter flame front and more consistent ignition of the ball powder. Magnum primers seem to be more available too.



NCsmitty
 
NCsmitty said:
IMO, it's another reason to use magnum primers with ball powders. You'll get a hotter flame front and more consistent ignition of the ball powder. Magnum primers seem to be more available too.



NCsmitty
Click to expand...
From what i've read, these are as hot or hotter than their mag primer and have a hard cup. Suppose to be for the AR i thought.
 
This is the primer i was using.

SMALL RIFLE 223 (part # QQQSR223) NEW NEW This is the newest primer available in the Wolf line. It is ever so slightly hotter than the small rifle magnum primer and it comes with a brass colored thick cup. This primer can be used in place of the SRM primer or used when a different powder is used that is hard to ignite.
 
I also had hang fires and no fires with the Wolf 223 primers and H335. I have been using the same primers with BL-C2 and they all go bang. They just don't seem hot enough to ignite H335.
 
Well i had 5 more today. Its the primers.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear of your problems with the primers, ole farmerbuck. I thought that you were using standard primers from your first post. From previous posts here, I was under the impression that Wolf primers were good consistent performers. I've never used Wolf as I stick with CCI, and I'm fortunate to have a good supply of all versions.
Any problems seating the Wolf primers? Just wondering if there might be another reason besides defective.



NCsmitty
 
Bought a jug of "Russian" Unique as a surplus powder. The Russians don't appear to use the graphite coating. It is the graphite coatings that turns the powders gray black. Since Wolf ammo is Russian, the powder should be yellow. In your case it appears to be a simple misfire - probably due to the primer. The powder is fine
 
NCsmitty said:
Sorry to hear of your problems with the primers, ole farmerbuck. I thought that you were using standard primers from your first post. From previous posts here, I was under the impression that Wolf primers were good consistent performers. I've never used Wolf as I stick with CCI, and I'm fortunate to have a good supply of all versions.
Any problems seating the Wolf primers? Just wondering if there might be another reason besides defective.



NCsmitty
Click to expand...
Yea i have plenty of cci's and winchester. Guess i should just stick with them. The regular wolf small rifle primers worked just fine but everyone says they're too soft for the AR's so i thought i'd use wolfs AR primers. Seating? It was fine. I litely used a Sinclair uniformer and I use a Hornady hand primer, very nice tool.I had shot about 300 regular wolf sr primers in the ar with no problem whatsoever. I'm going to call powder valley and see if i'm the only with problems. I did have the trigger done by a guy in Colorado Springs and talked to him about it but we both agree after looking at the dent in the primers that it isnt the trigger. Especially when the Savage does it too.
 
Today i used Wol SRM primers without any failure. I called and talked to a person i know who works for Powder Valley. I'm going to call the company (pv) in the morning and see about trading for srm primers. Every primer i pulled that wouldnt fire hardly looked like it had been used.
 
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