Well, it's a powder that has never been released to the reloading public. Hard to say whether it's made for shotshell, pistol or rifle. It's obviously made for factory use.

 

Nebs, just spitballing here, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Shotshell powders tend to burn faster than most rifle and pistol powders, correct? So if he put together a 12ga 7/8oz load with a rifle or slower pistol powder, he would get low pressure and possibly bad ignition/dirty burn. Vs. if it's the fastest-burning Alliant powder (I believe that's Extra Lite) a ~15gn load with that shot weight would not be over pressure.

With 75# of powder I'm thinking it may be worthwhile to send a few loads to Precision and see if he can find something that works, what do you think?

 

A pic of the powder flakes would tell us more..

 

This link may provide some help but you'll have to put in a lot of time. It's a national database for smokeless powders and it actually lists the ingredients for each powder, Note you have an ingredient list on that label you posted. If you can find a reloading powder that matches your ingredient list exactly it may provide some guidance of what you may have. Also note that the physical characteristics are also listed. Note, the list is quite long and includes multiple versions of many powders. Such as Dupont Unique and at least 5 or 6 iterations. Did scroll thru the list looking for 360 but didn't find anything but it was not an in depth review so I could have missed it.

National Center for Forensic Science

 

Scooter, that's a really good link you have listed, I know I have already bookmarked it

 

I'd start with equal small piles of known powders, light them off and gauge their burn rate.

If it burns proportional to say Unique, then I'd load up some as Unique and get them tested.

Gonna be trial and error, but 75# is likely worth some testing.

I doubt anyone's going to have your answer in a form that's useable.

 

Alliant is not going to acknowledge this powder to just anyone. To do so, from their position, would be foolish.

On the outside this seems like a great find, but you have to know what it was made for. Not all pistol powders are good shotshell powders and vice versa.

I would not load this powder and try it out in anything but a pressure gun.

You might consider contacting Tom Armbrust.

BPI isn't going to know what to do with this powder, nor would I trust their opinion.

 

Alliant is not going to acknowledge this powder to just anyone. To do so, from their position, would be foolish.

I agree with this and understand 100%, but in this one case, considering the evidence the OP sent to Alliant, I found Alliants reply to his email very odd.
Steve

 

Hello, new to The Forum. Looking for some information in reference to some commercial use Alliant powder I have recently obtained from a now-defunct Ammunition Company. I ended up with 3 25 lb kegs of Alliant number 360 powder. I have contacted Alliant 3 times and sent them pictures as posted below, Alliant claims this powder does not exist nor never has existed.

If anyone can shed some light on the situation it would be greatly appreciated.

I'm looking to load 1 oz and 7/8 Oz 12 gauge trap loads. With my acquisition I got about 10,000 brand new primed cheddite Hulls and plan on using C B 6100 wads.

I have been in contact with Ballistic products and requested any information they may know of or can obtain on this powder.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Can you ask the defunct ammunition company what they used it for and possibly get their load? I would still send it off to Precision but it would give you a starting point.

 

I would tend to think Alliant doesn't want to give out information for liability reasons. If the powder was produced for an ammunition company, do they want to tell one of how to use it or what it is to be used for?

 

I would call the Radford Arsenal directly. My father in law used to work there as a physicist, and there as are still a lot of good ol boys who may well help you out. You can also call Vista and ask for the MSDS which by law they must provide.

 

Do you know that it was used for shotshells? There is no powder to fast for 7/8 ounce 12 gauge at 17 grains. Start there. You don’t have a much room for error with shotguns, if that does it fine but I wouldn’t stray any further.

 

MSDS is only for safety purposes, it will not explain any specific intended uses, only vague terms. It will also not reveal any proprietary information.

This is not a cannister powder. There is no loading data. That is/was up to the OEM. The user has access to pressure test equipment either their own or a lab that can test for them.

Radford isn't going to give you any info.

 

Yes this was used exclusively for shotshell.

I have found out that ballistic products did testing for them in the early 2000s, I've contacted ballistic products to see if they could find any information in their archives.

I will post a picture this evening, the powder looks very similar to Clay dot Promo, and American select.

 

Yes this was used exclusively for shotshell.

I have found out that ballistic products did testing for them in the early 2000s, I've contacted ballistic products to see if they could find any information in their archives.

I will post a picture this evening, the powder looks very similar to Clay dot Promo, and American select.

Do you know what type of shotshell ammo this company produced? Buckshot,slugs, low recoil, low pressure shells for older guns? Have you tried taking your smartphone to read the barcode ? There's a glare in your pictures preventing my phone to do this. I have an idea what it is . But you will 100% have to send it to be tested!!!

 

I recall Alliant/ATK/NRE Shotshell 360 being used in 12 gauge promo target loads by one of the ammunition manufacturers I worked for. My recollection is that we used the SS 360 for tens of millions of rounds of 1-1/8 oz target loads every year.

First, you must get a few loads pressure tested to know what you have. Precision Reloading would be a great place to send off some loads to be tested.

The burn rate of SS 360, using the appropriate charge weight that you’ll have to have lab tested to find, is appropriate for 7/8 oz - 1-1/8 oz target loads. In fact, the burn rate is pretty close to Clay Dot, Red Dot, etc. You might use a lighter charge of SS 360 than you would with those powders, though.
Here is a relative burn rate chart that you can find ATK SS 360 on:

http://www.theballisticassistant.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Powder-Relative-Burn-Rate-12-22-2020.pdf

I also agree with Mark’s post above. I would not shoot a single shell loaded with this powder until the pressure testing is done. So I would load up shells with two different charge weights, only to be sent off for testing at PR or another lab.

 

By chance maybe someone will have some information about the powder on Cast Boolit forum.

 

What was the ammunition company? Did they specialize in one type of ammo over another? For all we know this could be for kiln gun ammo or military applications.

 

I'm also having a hard time believing that Alliant claims that the powder doesn't exist after the OP provided them with photos of it.

Maybe they meant that load data doesn't exist for it?

@MarkSB, would you be so kind as to post Alliant's response to your inquiry verbatim?

 

It was a small mom-and-pop Ammunition Company that specifically made 12 gauge trap and skeet loads in 1 1/8 oz and 1 oz. They use cheddite Hull's, Cheddite primers GU 1225 wads and the GU WAD for 1 oz. And of course the Alliant No 360 powder. As I stated earlier, hopefully ballistic products can come up with the archived test data on these loads as this company used ballistic products to custom make their recipe.

 

This is the email response from Alliant, the follow-up phone conversations is where they specifically said 360 does not exist nor never has.

"The 360 is not an Alliant product.
Furthermore, searching good ole GOOGLE, I’m not seeing any such propellant."

 

Maybe the response makes sense in the context of Alliant's corporate history. The company formerly known as ATK split up a few years ago and the canister powder business went to Vista Outdoors. That powder was made by ATK and maybe the commercial powder side of the former house went elsewhere. In short, you might be talking to the wrong people.

 

You beat me to it Nebs, exactly what I was thinking.

 

You folks are forgetting that Alliant no longer makes powder, they buy it from US and European manufacturers.

So they are not lying when they say it isn't an Alliant powder. Alliant powders are the canister powders you see on their reloading website.

360 is not a canister powder, so the folks that now own Alliant Powder probably don't have any information about it. It is no longer a product they sell/make.

 

Maybe try calling the (540) phone number that's on the side of the drum? The label says data and technical assistance is available.

 

They will not give any information unless you are an OEM who makes commercial ammunition.

 

tnmiller57 gave the best information you will find, unless you can get the loading data from the defunct company.

Even then the loads will need to be tested. Commercial powders are not canister powders and you can't treat them the same.

 

Thanks for all of the input! I will continue to try to figure all of this out too.

F y i the name of the mom-and-pop company was American Target Ammunition if that rings a bell with anyone. They were based out of Iowa.

 

Thanks for all of the input! I will continue to try to figure all of this out too.

F y i the name of the mom-and-pop company was American Target Ammunition if that rings a bell with anyone. They were based out of Iowa.

I believe they were part of the Brownell's family business.

 

You won't get any data from Alliant because they don't have it. The bulk powders that Alliant (and other powder manufacturers) sell to the ammunition makers are not canister-grade powders. Canister grade means the powder meets precise burn rates and can be depended on to work with published data without danger of overpressure. The bulk powder that Alliant sells to ammo makers fits within a broad window of burn rate and pressure, but it's up to the ammo makers to do their own closed bomb testing to figure out how much powder to use to meet their goals. Your powder is not canister grade. Unless you have access to the right testing equipment, it is worthless.

 

Picture per request

 

The dots have a little more gray color to them, but in my opinion the A360 is pretty much identical to Promo in shape size and color.

Obviously I know that doesn't justify loading and shooting without testing.