Drew, the most common cause of detonation that I have documented is old cartridges that have had a lot of vibration during their life. Rifle cartridges that ride on the dash of a truck or in the glove box for many years, or shotgun shells that were in a case in a dog trailer for many years, the powder grinds itself down into a state that when you touch it off it detonates instead of burns.
I don't understand this. It suggests to me that because the powder is ground finer the burning properties of the powder have changed? ClapperZapper perhaps you might explain this in more detail. As I understand powders come in many, many different flake sizes. If one powder is very fine to start with then is it close to detonating rather than burning such that a little more grinding might be all that is required?
