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How to know what powder is used in a manufactured cartridge

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Hello all, Just to give you ALL some info of interest, the powder we buy is held as best can be to 3% of the ORIGINAL tested powder, this is the canister powders we all know.
I know this cause I worked for ADI/Thales manufacturing what you all know as Hodgdon powder.
The powders that fall outside the 3% are sold to ammo companies as bulk powder. If this powder was supposed to be Varget, for example, it would ship as bulk #### lot and blended with other bulk #### lots to get the desired ballistics. If this powder doesn't work out, then another bulk lot of something totally different may be substituted. You must understand that 40gr of that powder may work, but another blend only uses 35gr...Which would you choose to build a few million rounds?
We would often have lots outside the parameters, the highest bidder would get the shipment. Also, some powders we know well are often made out of spec by the train load, a good example is 760, when it's out of spec, as is often the case with many batches, it is blended and given the designation 759 for bulk selling. This happens with most powders where it is not close enough to the ORIGINAL and the ammo companies can measure pressure and adjust for their parameters with the ammo they're making.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.
 
Pull a bullet, look at the powder, and compare it to see if you can figure out what it is. I would bet it is Trail Boss. If it is Trail Boss, it will be easy to duplicate. If not, you will need a chrono to get the speed you are looking for.
 
Get your hands on some trail boss. Check your weight twice as you need to be careful with pressures. I load subsonic for different rounds with trail boss and blue dot. I think in 30-30 I'd stick with trail boss. Don't mix powders and stay safe. If I were shooting 30-30 with 170gr bullets I'd stay around 6 or 7 grains then start chronographing loads. that Is my personal opinion and you may want to collect some data elsewhere before doing such. I would also start by using cast bullets then develop my load before going with jacketed bullets. Lessen chance of stuck bullet. Stay under 1120 FPS and you will find your load
 
catshooter; I have a 300 blackout and the Caliber is very close to what you shoot in your 30-30..
The powder that is used in mine is HODGDON 110 and I load VERY light.. from 8 to 10 grains to get the sub-sonic.. Just be careful
 
I agree with the trail boss and chrono suggestions. I reload some subsonic rifle and have found it trickier to get consistent velocities than with my supersonic ammunition. I load mostly 300 BO subs and have found seating depth to play a more significant role in good SD/ES than with my supers. You may find that you have to try varying primers, seating depth or other variable more than you would expect to find something that works reasonably with the relatively low fill ratios you will have with the 30-30. If trail boss doesn't work out for you trying some other powders popular for 308 subs is probably your next choice.
 
Powders from one lot to the next can be different. That why hand loaders are getting several pounds of powder at one time of the same lot. When you are using 70 to 110 grains of powder per case, equals 70 to 64 per pound of powder. You don't get many rounds per pound powder. Especially developing loads for your rifle or rifles. Some hand loaders are getting 8 lbs + at time and placing it into 1 lbs containers keeping the others close until using. Which I picked up in reading other blogs. I am going to fallow that going forward.
I am learning something almost every day.
 
Hi,

I own a silenced Marlin 336 XLR .30-30 Win which I shoot with subsonic ammo (Sologne Klassic Subsonic .30-30 Win 170 gr).

The problem is, I live in France and here there is only one manufacturer (Sologne) making and selling this ammo (and they sell it to resellers only). Because of this, it is sometimes hard to find these ammunitions and it is EXPENSIVE: 70€ (75$) for a box of 20.

If I was handloading/reloading, I could easily divide the cost by 2 or even 3.

I already know the bullet they use (Hornady Interlock FP 170 gr). I can know how much powder they use by opening a bullet and weighting the powder.

The only thing I need to know is the type of powder they use. Do you have any tip on how to identify the type of powder used in a cartridge?

Thanks!
Go to loaddata.nosler.com and you will get numerous types of powder to customize your reloads. I have 2 Win 94 30-30's 26" octagon barrels that I have been reloading for over 40 years. My choice of powder is IMR 4064. IMR 4895 is near identical to the 4064 and is listed on numerous load data sites. I have done extensive research on these 2 powders and tested each in my own comparisons. My opinion is that the 4064 is a newer version of the 4895. They are that similar. I also use other load data sites such as hogdonreloading.com, wwpowder.com, vihtavuori.com, alliantpowder.com, and accuratepowder.com. Surely you can find something useful in one of these sites. The reason I use the 4064 is that it is so universal across calibers. I use it for Win .243, Win 30-30 (.308), .223, and I have used it for Ruger .375, and Wweatherby .340 (although I prefer IMR 4350 for the last 2). Also check out this website; midwayusa.com. I just looked at the Hornady subsonic ammo $26.00 (USD) for 20 rounds. Can't say what shipping cost would be for you.
 
You need to know how fast the bullet is going (usually gives a pretty close number on the box), then match it in the Hornady book with a powder you like. Work a load up from the lowest increments in .5 grain increments to get close then .10 grain increments for ultimate best group.

I like Ammo Guide (ammoguide.com) you can get pretty close with the bullet you like and get a good idea for powders.
Once you build a load that gives you a group within your acceptance range you'll be hooked! And though you'll shoot cheaper in the long run you'll be doing it for every gun in the house!!
 
I use Trailboss with .308 subsonics. It was trial and error on getting the load to be as close to the sonic barrier as possible. I also shoot with a can but I did all of my load work without the suppressor as I was concerned that pressure changes could lead to the projectile striking a baffle. Once I was convinced the projectile was flying true, then I added the suppressor. This may be an unnecessary step but my rule is always "Better safe than sorry." There are some older reloading manuals that give subsonic load data but I can imagine 30-30 would not be listed. It might give you an idea though of what powders and how much they are reducing that from the full power load to get the subsonic velocity. Good luck- sounds like a big project :)
 
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