Well... that was dumb

[Maroli]

So I learned the hard way about powder humidity. I had seen a few videos and read some decent testing on the effects of the relative humidity of powder on performance. All things equal, The dryer the powder the more pressure produced. The more humid the powder the lower the pressure produced. Interesting testing. I just wanted to keep my powder at a consistent level and over here in the north east we have 85% rh in the fall and drop to 20% in the winter. I didn’t know how well the powder container sealed so I did something dumb.... I put a small desiccant packet in my powder. Yes, I know now that was foolish. The immediate result was an unintended gain of 30 FPS with dryer powder. I completely lucked out in many ways: the SD remained in the single digits, the grouping stayed around 1/2 - 5/8 moa consistently, and most importantly this did not show any pressure signs in my rifle. My question is this: what effects have you seen from changed rh and what do you do to keep your supplies consistent? Do you just keep them tightly in the container? Do any use those cigar humidity 2 way packets (I read about this)? I have just settled on a small dehumidifier for the room when the rh goes above 55%. Appreciate your thoughts.

 

[FURMAN]

I have seen zero appreciable difference. I do nothing special for the storage of my powder. It is in my basement in Kansas. We see pretty big swings in RH but we are pretty humid. I have never noticed a velocity change due to humidity change(more importantly POI change). I have obviously seen it due to temp change.

 

[Spreedizzle]

Interesting……as the Boveda humidity packs do a great job with my cigars….but never thought about them for my powder. That being said, I work in wholesale hvac, and am a bit OCD about the RH and IAQ in my home….so I’m always between 35 and 50% humidity year round.

 

[NorCal_In_AZ]

I live in AZ. It’s dry and hot here most of the time.

 

[georgelza]

Actually watched a YT video the past week (been looking for it), where the reloader uses 55% RH packets specifically to keep the powder at that level (that's the level at which it is made/supplied from suppliers),trying to figure out what packet size to use in a 1lb container.

G

 

[OSOK - Crash]

I have seen zero appreciable difference. I do nothing special for the storage of my powder. It is in my basement in Kansas. We see pretty big swings in RH but we are pretty humid. I have never noticed a velocity change due to humidity change(more importantly POI change). I have obviously seen it due to temp change.

Ryan, do you empty your powder thrower each time, or leave it in there? Just curious to know, cause I am now reloading in my basement as well. Wondering if leaving the powder in my electronic powder thrower for any periods of time would effect it.

 

[georgelza]

Ryan, do you empty your powder thrower each time, or leave it in there? Just curious to know, cause I am now reloading in my basement as well. Wondering if leaving the powder in my electronic powder thrower for any periods of time would effect it.

any chance you willing to get a humidity sensor and record the measurements over multiple times during the day for a couple of days.

wondering if you loading at the same time every day and the humidity is the same by that time and that normalised your powder for that time of the day. I've heard of guys that always reload at exactly the same time of the day, but then different times of the year/season will have impact even on that.

G

 

[Lancetkenyon]

I live in AZ. It’s dry and hot here most of the time.

This. I am in AZ too.
I seal my containers with the included foam insert in place.
I pour powder into a hopper and reseal the bottle.
I do not leave powder in the hopper unless actively using it.
I dump excess powder back into the bottle immediately after use and give it a couple shakes.
I store my powder on top of a safe or in a set of vented lockers.
AZ only gets high humidity 1 month, and a couple sporadic days a year.
I have never encounted any humidity based velocity swings that I could positively attribute to that. But I have heard of the concern.

 

[georgelza]

I'm at the coast with big humidity range. so something i want to make sure about before it bites me.
G

 

[Yoteklr]

 

[georgelza]

... be interesting to have this test run on the other vendor containers also as a confirmation.

G

 

[OSOK - Crash]

... be interesting to have this test run on the other vendor containers also as a confirmation.

G

If they are made of the same type of plastics, then they should be the same.

 

[georgelza]

agree, but still something to confirm...

so how do we find out what plastics are used by the different vendors for their containers.

G

 

[Gord0]

agree, but still something to confirm...

so how do we find out what plastics are used by the different vendors for their containers.

G

They're all the same material. Here in the U.S. it's required.

Edit: Unless you're looking at some older powders, which were sold in almost anything, including bulk in paper bags 😆

 

[Tex]

This reminds my of the old debate in the Benchrest community. Measure by weight or by volume? Which is more consistent under what conditions?

 

[FURMAN]

Ryan, do you empty your powder thrower each time, or leave it in there? Just curious to know, cause I am now reloading in my basement as well. Wondering if leaving the powder in my electronic powder thrower for any periods of time would effect it.

I leave it in unless I need another powder. I have a total of 4 to help keep swapping to a minimum.

 

[OSOK - Crash]

I leave it in unless I need another powder. I have a total of 4 to help keep swapping to a minimum.

Thanks Ryan. I am trying to avoid emptying mine each time. It's a pain to empty it each time. But I will if it's needed.

I only shoot one powder at the moment.