OK, so yesterday I was doing some shooting here at our place in New Mexico and had a thought cross my mind. (Sometimes I do have thoughts).
I wondered if the same powder from different lots would have slightly different burn rates. For example let’s say one has loaded some rounds with Varget from a 2,009 batch and had other rounds loaded with Varget from a 2,012 batch, would the burn rates and velocities be the same?
I suppose one would have to chronograph and be sure that all the rounds had the same charge amounts of powder and the cases all being prepared the same, with the same seating depth, etc.
I wonder how much variance there is between lots. Are manufacturing tolerances strict enough that there would not be any noticeable effects in how rounds made with one batch lot to another perform?
What got me wondering is I was shooting my .270 Mossberg out to 200 yards and shot rounds with the same amount of Varget and same bullet weights and seating depths and one batch seemed to perform better than the other. The one that performed best was loaded in 2012 and the other in 2018. So I assume the powder was from different lots.
It could be I simply shot one batch better than the other and operator error was the only factor.
Thoughts??
Swampratt??
I wondered if the same powder from different lots would have slightly different burn rates. For example let’s say one has loaded some rounds with Varget from a 2,009 batch and had other rounds loaded with Varget from a 2,012 batch, would the burn rates and velocities be the same?
I suppose one would have to chronograph and be sure that all the rounds had the same charge amounts of powder and the cases all being prepared the same, with the same seating depth, etc.
I wonder how much variance there is between lots. Are manufacturing tolerances strict enough that there would not be any noticeable effects in how rounds made with one batch lot to another perform?
What got me wondering is I was shooting my .270 Mossberg out to 200 yards and shot rounds with the same amount of Varget and same bullet weights and seating depths and one batch seemed to perform better than the other. The one that performed best was loaded in 2012 and the other in 2018. So I assume the powder was from different lots.
It could be I simply shot one batch better than the other and operator error was the only factor.
Thoughts??
Swampratt??