We reload our Junior ammunition with a surplus powder, WC-844.  It is available only once or twice a year and we jump on an opportunity to buy 24 or 32 pounds in a single purchase just in case it doesn’t show up again.

But, unlike commercial powders which are manufactured to be consistent from container to container, military powders do not have the same lot-to-lot consistency.  Different lots may vary and when the military arsenals load ammunition, they vary the charge weight in the cartridge to get a specified velocity within pressure limits.  So, an M193 round loaded at Lake City in 1998 may have used 24.3 grains of WC-844, but an LC 2015 cartridge might only have had 23.8 grains.  When we use powder from pulled down ammunition, the powder can be a mix of who knows how many different powder lots – we only know that it is WC-844.  We need all of our powder to be the same for accuracy and safety reasons.

We need all of this powder to be the same. Time to do some mixing!

As the picture shows, we had five different jugs of WC-844.  Now, they might all have come out of the same drum of surplus pull down powder — but then again they might not. To make sure that all the powder is the same, I have to blend it together – a process not terribly different from mixing flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to make a cake.  You pour a little out of one jug, add in some from another, and stir well (with a wooden paddle).  Then you repeat until you have all of the powder from the five jugs in one big bucket – all mixed up into a consistent batch.

That is when you realize that you have about 35-pounds of smokeless powder sitting in an open bucket in your garage – pucker time.  You pour it back into the black anti-static plastic jugs with a glass cup and once it’s all back – you give a big WHEW! 

Now we have our powder blended for the summer of 2023.  I have to do test loads to make sure that we are not going to have any pressure issues – but that should be done by mid-November.  Mark Walters and I have looked at many fired cases, and we think we will reduce our load by a half-grain for 2023 – a basic load of 23.5 grains from the 24.0 we used in 2022.  That should not have any real difference in zeroes and muzzle velocity, but it will make life a bit easier on rifles and cases.