Quote:Only thing I can say about socking is it's extremely dangerous. Dust from the fines is more likely to ignite than solid powder. Black is safe in small charges, danger increases many times when you go to large volume.
Socking is no more dangerous for a 1 lb container than at manufacture a 2200 lbs are put in a drying rotary drum to reduce the moisture percentage down to about 6%. In the polishing process, the rotating drum again rubs the angular edges to a 'rounded' condition - thus producing some powder fines and reducing the moisture down to 2 -3%. Then before packaging most manufacturers coat the powder grains with graphite to allow for uniform drop in the powder chargers. So we have in a can of powder - grain fines of powder and excess graphite.
Having screened every brand of powder for most of the grades - some brands have more fines that will pass through certified mesh laboratory screens - past the normal mesh mix by grade. Say for FFg, fines will pass onto the 40-50 and 60 mesh screens. These fines are composed of powder and INERT graphite.
So, the shooters back in the 1800's SOCKED powder brands with abnormal fines of powder and graphite.
I sock different powder brands too, usually Goex and Diamondback with a knee high cotton athletic sock. Pour the can in the sock, hold both ends of the sock OUTDOORS and rock it back and forth for a couple of minutes. The fines will stick in the openings of the cotton sock thus yielding a more consistent powder grade and removing the INERT graphite fines that impedes ignition
I sock some brands for BPCR reloads only. For CAS, what's in the can goes in the shells as is ... including Skirmish 1FA that I use for shot shells
Socking is no more dangerous than the drying and polishing processes at the plants. The only reason I sock outdoors is because I did it indoors once, blew my nose in a handkerchief for 2 days with black 'fines' in my snot as though I worked in a coal mine.