Reloading And Static Electricity

[billt]

I got into the habit of wearing latex gloves when I reload because out here we have very low relative humidity, and it's pretty easy to create a spark when you touch something. Yesterday I sat down to load some .300 Win. Mag. rounds, and when I touched the press I got zapped pretty good. I actually saw the spark jump from my finger to the press handle. Had I touched a primer in the tray face up it would have been pretty exciting. Some people are allergic to latex, and if you are these work really well, and are cheap enough. I've never had an accident reloading, and I'm not crazy about wearing gloves, but if it prevents any "surprises", I'll keep on doing it.  Bill T.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=825746

[JC5123]

You know, that's not a bad idea, and I have no doubt they would help with the lead exposure too.

[philw]

it is not an issue with Smokeless Powder  as they have been coated with graphite to prevent static electricity sparks from causing ignitions

[billt]

Another thing I forgot to mention is when it's really warm sometimes my hands perspire. The gloves keep any perspiration off the cases which will tarnish them worse than anything because of the salts contained in sweat. Latex gloves can be had dirt cheap.

http://www.harborfreight.com/pack-of-100-x-large-latex-gloves-37049.html

These are from Harbor Freight. I've gotten them on sale for half that price. I always pick up a couple of boxes while I'm there. They work great for changing the oil and working on the car as well.    Bill T.

[sledgemeister]

an interesting post I found a forum about the same issue:

The issue is simple: every material has a certain energy threshold at which it becomes ‘active’. Different material have different ways of becoming active. When dealing with propellants from black powder to rocket fuel, the activity is a burn, and since the process extracts heat (exothermic) we get the fast burn that propels the bullet.

The issue is bringing the energy level sufficiently high, and because of the exothermic nature of the material, it requires operation only on a small amount of the material, which starts the chain reaction.

There are materials (like black powder that someone mentioned, and other good conductors) that will not respond to things like a static spark.
However other materials will. Examples include many nitrocellulose based materials that are more or less sensitive. Different types of lead based initiators, e.g. lead styphnate and lead azide (and of-course mercury fulminate, if for any bizarre reason you decide to use it…) that will indeed ignite violently due to a relatively small static discharge.

Static discharge carried on a person does not normally contain a lot of energy. While the voltages easily get as high as 55,000 volts, and when the humidity is below about 17% we have measured 97,000V, it is still a low energy discharge. However when applied to a small grain, or a protrusion in the surface of a primer for example, it can cause havoc. So I would suggest that static discharge steps should become standard procedures, especially when dealing with primers.

[Sponsor]

[billt]

"There are materials (like black powder that someone mentioned, and other good conductors) that will not respond to things like a static spark."

I think black powder is more susceptible to static ignition, not less. I base that on the fact they sell special Black Powder powder measures and dispensers that have brass drums instead of steel, and Aluminum hoppers not plastic all designed to help eliminate static discharge.  Bill T.

[sledgemeister]

"There are materials (like black powder that someone mentioned, and other good conductors) that will not respond to things like a static spark."

I think black powder is more susceptible to static ignition, not less. I base that on the fact they sell special Black Powder powder measures and dispensers that have brass drums instead of steel, and Aluminum hoppers not plastic all designed to help eliminate static discharge.  Bill T.

There was a lengthy series of experiments done on static electricity and BP and they found it was near impossible to ignite through a static spark, the video that was of it on youtube has been removed (I had it book marked). If any one else can find the test results or the vid please post the link it was really informational and quite unbeleivable.

Edit:
I have found it.
go here http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/index.html and check out the experiments link re safety issues and click the link Can a static electricity spark set off black powder?

the end result was this:

So - Why wouldn't all of the sparks set off the powder?

The answer comes from the fact that black powder, and other carbon-containing propellants, are fair conductors of electricity. When a material conducts well, it takes a lot more current to heat it up. This is why the lamp wire stays cool and the filament in your light bulb gets white hot. The same current passes through both, but because the light filament has a much higher resistance to the passage of electric current, most of the heat ends up there rather than in the wire. In the experiment here, the air has a very high resistance, while the powder conducts fairly well. The passage of the spark heats the air white-hot, but the powder stays cool. A very high-current spark (like lightning!) would, of course, heat everything and cause ignition, but this would take much more current than could be provided from a static-like source.

[tombogan03884]

The blue "Nitrile" gloves do not bother those allergic to Latex

[crusader rabbit]

The blue "Nitrile" gloves do not bother those allergic to Latex

+1, Tom.  I use the Nitrile gloves when cleaning my guns to avoid transdermal absorption of the various solvents and ethers in the cleaning products.  Nitrile tends to be pretty resistant to the majority of petro-chemicals, so cleaning products won't soften them up as can happen with latex.  Another plus to Nitrile is that it's relatively tougher than latex.  You can penetrate the material with a pointy object, but it has to be a concerted effort.

You can get them at any auto parts store and Harbor Freight frequently has them available at a favorable price point.

I change my own oil, and wear a pair for that and other "dirty" jobs on the car and truck.

Submitted in the spirit of support by Crusader

[billt]

You can get them at any auto parts store and Harbor Freight frequently has them available at a favorable price point.

I change my own oil, and wear a pair for that and other "dirty" jobs on the car and truck.

Submitted in the spirit of support by Crusader

http://www.harborfreight.com/pack-of-100-x-large-two-ply-nitrile-latex-gloves-45042.html

I'll have to try these next time I'm there.  Bill T.