Foreign Object

[jimbo728]

I was scooping a charge of Reloder7 into the beam scale and spotted was looked like a clump.
Cleaned it out and discovered a spent small pistol or rifle primer.
It had been in the powder for a while judging by the discoloration.
After a thorough investigation I determined that it was in the powder container and not from my operation.
Keep your eyes peeled. Ya never know.
Jim

 

[Fishinfool]

Was the powder purchased second hand / opened? Powder manufacturing / primer manufacturing are two completely different entities, and I don't see how this could happen at the factory.

Larry

 

[gwpercle]

Excellent Catch !
There is a lot to be said for being observant in the powder charging stage and for scooping powder charges !
I scoop most of mine for this reason , I want to eyeball that powder that goes into the case. I usually do it to make sure I get 1 charge in there , not 2 or 0 , but looking for "foreign objects" is another excellent reason. It is a real possibility .
Thanks for the warning and the reminder to be observant !
Gary

 

[Nemo288]

Being a small quantity reloader (box of 50 at one time), I drop powder into a metal weigh pan and weigh it before dumping it thru a funnel into the case.
This way anything extraordinary should be apparent and all the charges weigh the same.
Every once and awhile I will catch one that is more than +/- .05 grains and I dump it back into the powder hopper.
I am not sure a large primer would make it thru the dispenser but a small one might.

As expressed above I cannot imagine how a primer could enter the powder distribution chain
except as a gross violation of policy and practice at a repackaging facility.

I try to make sure I keep track of ALL my primers, even the used ones, to minimize lead exposure.
Since getting the Harvey hand-held deprimer, it is easy to get them all to land directly into a plastic bag lined waste basket.
No contact at all with the residue.
Harvey Deprimer
Kind of fun to use and you can deprime in the comfy chair away from the bench if you want.
I am a leisurely kind of reloader.

 

[jimbo728]

Was the powder purchased second hand / opened? Powder manufacturing / primer manufacturing are two completely different entities, and I don't see how this could happen at the factory.

Larry

New powder. Spent primer. Primer manufacturing not a factor.
Incidental contamination the probable cause.
It was badly discolored from being in the powder for a while.
Found a piece of coat hanger once in a bottle of soda once.
Coat hangers are not part of soda process but it was there.
Probably will not happen again but I will continue to be watchful.
Jim

 

[Alk8944]

You can deny all you want, but if you bought the powder from a dealer, in a new, factory sealed container, the primer got into the canister on your bench!

Soda bottles have been found with all sorts of debris in them, wire, paper, bugs, mice, you name it. This is because they were recycled and the cleaning process often did not remove objects that came into the plant in the bottles if they did not easily pass out of the neck. Cockroaches and mice were probably the most common as they can crawl through holes smaller than their bodies. This is not a good analogy.

 

[m657]

Barely 2 months ago I discovered a foreign body in my powder measure.

1) I'm sure it was not some coincidental object from my loading bench;

2) it was mottled/greyish same tone as the powder;

3) it was best I can tell, a skeltonized rifle bullet jacket from something in the .223 range;

Cofactors of confusion;

1) I have not reloaded any rifle anything in years and have absolutely no similar item any where;

2) This was a brand new powder measure as of around 90 days prior to the incident;

Truly a once-in-nearly 40 years event.
Given, there has been a couple times I retrieved items that were identifyable; once a 240 g SWC cast lead slug got in my 38 power measure some how. Once a largish ball bearing beamed in somehow.

The appearance of the above item however, remains unsolved.

Agree, we should remain wary and alert.

 

[jimbo728]

A description of the discoloration eluded me. The description of the objects color you described as mottled greyish fits.
Jim

 

[scooter123]

Folks seem to think that the powder packagers have infallible quality control concerning stray materials in their bulk powders. They do NOT. I use Hodgdon Longshot to load SD practice loads for my 40 caliber Sig P239 and it meters poorly so I hand weigh each and every charge thrown. One day after about 60 rounds into charging 100 cases I saw something that looked odd in the pan on the scale. It actually looked like a large flake of rust so I grabbed a magnet that I use to keep on overhead heating vent in my basement held open. Turned out that flake was actually magnetic. Then I spent at least 1/2 hour sifting through that bottle of Longshot with that magnet and didn't find anything else. Note, this was a new bottle purchased from Fin Feather and Fur in Ashland, Ohio so I am quite certain it was a sealed bottle direct from Hodgdon.

As for where that rust flake could have come from. I have a vague memory of a story that stated raw powder is shipped into suppiers such as Hodgdon in Railroad Cars, steel Railroad Cars. If you haven't noticed it is rather typical for Railroad Cars in this country to tend to have a bit of rust on them. Actually about the only people that seem to be repainting railroad cars today are Grafitti "Artists".

 

[jimbo728]

My intent in my o p was to always be watchful.
I have usually been skeptical, As ALK is, of reports such as mine.
This is a first for me in 39 years of reloading. My powder handling and charging habits make it impossible for a spent primer from my bench getting into the powder. So Im confident it was already in the powder container.
Just have to keep eyes open. That was my intent of the post.
Jim