reloading BMG

[50 Shooter]

Many types of powder, if you just want to load plinking ammo you can go with 5010. It's good for all types of surplus projo's from ball to spotter tracers (if you go out of state). It can be used for match rounds but won't give you as good as results from say H50BMG or the two Vihtavuori powders.

There's also WC868 and WC860, most surplus powder can be bought from Pat's Reloading.

[mrkubota]

I've found that the WC868 works pretty well with the lighter ~647gr bullets.
WC860 or IMR5010 is great with the 690-750gr bullets.
For the 800gr+ bullets, get some VV20N29 powder.

For AMAX target rounds, get some H50BMG powder.

http://www.powdervalleyinc.com/

http://www.patsreloading.com/

http://www.hi-techammo.com/

http://www.gibrass.com/

http://www.wideners.com/

[daves100]

limits

was told i could only keep 1 lb of powder in my home ( from someone in the fire dept ) still looking for it in writting

[Hunter]

was told i could only keep 1 lb of powder in my home ( from someone in the fire dept ) still looking for it in writting

1 lb applies to black powder. CA law allows 20lbs of smokless in a residence, but any fire marshall can override that for a local area. But in my searches of various county ordinances, all so far allows the 20 lb limit. Do a search for your county and you should be able to find that info.

[CSACANNONEER]

1 lb applies to black powder. CA law allows 20lbs of smokless in a residence, but any fire marshall can override that for a local area. But in my searches of various county ordinances, all so far allows the 20 lb limit. Do a search for your county and you should be able to find that info.

Last law about storing BP I saw in print said 5lbs without a powder magazine and permit.

[Hunter]

Last law about storing BP I saw in print said 5lbs without a powder magazine and permit.

Here is the CA law on this, and again, local fire marshals can restrict it further if they have reason to.

Both smokeless and black powder are "explosives" in CA

12000. For the purposes of this part, "explosives" means any
substance, or combination of substances, the primary or common
purpose of which is detonation or rapid combustion, and which is
capable of a relatively instantaneous or rapid release of gas and
heat, or any substance, the primary purpose of which, when combined
with others, is to form a substance capable of a relatively
instantaneous or rapid release of gas and heat. "Explosives"
includes, but is not limited to, any explosives as defined in Section
841 of Title 18 of the United States Code and published pursuant to
Section 555.23 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and
any of the following:
(a) Dynamite, nitroglycerine, picric acid, lead azide, fulminate
of mercury, black powder, smokeless powder, propellant explosives,
detonating primers, blasting caps, or commercial boosters.

Here is the general laws that says one cannot store "explosives" without a proper permit from the Fire Marshall..

12101. (a) No person shall do any one of the following without
first having made application for and received a permit in accordance
with this section:
(1) Manufacture explosives.
(2) Sell, furnish, or give away explosives.
(3) Receive, store, or possess explosives.

Here is the exemption to the above law for sporting uses that sets the storage limits of both powders..

12102. This chapter does not apply to any possession or use of 20
pounds or less of smokeless powder, or one pound or less of black
sporting powder, provided that:
(a) Smokeless powder is intended only for hand loading of small
arms ammunition of .75 caliber or less.
(b) Black sporting powder is intended for loading of small arms or
small arms ammunition of .75 caliber or less.
(c) All such powder is for private use and not for resale, and, in
the case of black sporting powder, there shall be no gift, delivery,
or other disposition to another person.
(d) The storage, use and handling of such smokeless and black
powder conforms to rules, regulations, or ordinances of authorities
having jurisdiction for fire prevention and suppression in the area
of such storage, use, and handling of such explosives.

And just to round out this discussion, this is what one has to do legally to resell any smokeless powder they might have to their buddies...one cannot resell/give black powder unless one has a permit. This is due to the 12102(c) noted above.

12102.1. Any person who sells, gives, delivers or otherwise
disposes of 20 pounds or less of smokeless powder, or one pound or
less of black sporting powder, shall first obtain a statement from
the person who purchases or otherwise receives such powder, which
statement shall include:
(a) The name, address and birth date of the person purchasing or
receiving the powder.
(b) The purpose for which the powder is intended to be used,
handled, stored, or possessed.
(c) The type and amount of the powder.
(d) The signature of the person purchasing or receiving the
powder.
(e) The driver's license number, selective service card number, or
other identifying information concerning the person purchasing or

The 5lb limit you know of is the limit that is set in the national firecode for residential areas. It basically says that one can have 1 lb of powder in each "building" and as long as each building is separated by 50ft, one can have upto 5 lbs in a residential site in an incorporated area. But as you can see from above codes, these limits can be restricted even further.