Anybody ever had a Powder Explosion?

[CJ6]

I still have a few pounds - but I checked them and they are OK. I do remember that another type of Enduron powder did have "recall" (was it 4005?) and IMR paid out on powder that had to be destroyed for just this reason. 4166 was never mentioned.

I will burn all my remaining stock, 28.5g at a time in my 6BR.

Hogdon 4007 hybrid had the recall.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Is that unburned powder in the canister?

 

[Eric Leonard]

It wasn’t anything like yours but I had a small electrical fire in my basement that got in my primer/powder and in the process of putting it out a new unopened 8 pound can of H4350 exploded about 3’ in front of me. It blew the garage door off the track out in the yard, knocked me out and burnt me enough I did 7 days in Vanderbilt Burn Unit ,,
That very well may have been the stupidest thing I ever did ,even though I saved the house from burning down I think id just let it burn if I had it to do over

 

[DLT]

Is that unburned powder in the canister ?

It literally looks like I sat the canister close to a fire the way it’s deformed. Inside you can see where the plastic melted

 

[D-4297]

Something to keep in mind , guys . Just because the Ambient temp was in the 70's , does not mean the temp in the pick-up bed was . I've seen temps inside a bed go to over 100 when it was only sixty-five ambient . Temps in semi-enclosed areas are always increased by lack of air-flow .

 

[DLT]

Something to keep in mind , guys . Just because the Ambient temp was in the 70's , does not mean the temp in the pick-up bed was . I've seen temps inside a bed go to over 100 when it was only sixty-five ambient . Temps in semi-enclosed areas are always increased by lack of air-flow .

You’re very right. Black bed liner too and black container. No telling when sun was on it how hot it got yesterday or today I can’t say all I can give is outside temp last few days and a few inches of rain last week

 

[RCE1]

I never had an actual explosion, but I'll reiterate the foolishness of smoking when working with ammunition. Especially if it seemed like a good idea to temporarily store a few loads of black powder in the ashtray. You know, a convenient place to toss some stuff while downing some loaded cartridges. NOT. Just first degree burns to my left hand. I'm fine. Really. LOL.

 

[ben-o]

Other than the explosion at the end, I had a bottle of 4166 go bad in a similar fashion.

I tried several different loads with 4166 in my 308, and could never find a load that worked. Eventually, I gave up and loaded some plinking rounds to practice with. When I loaded the rounds, the powder appeared normal.

When I shot them about 2 months later, I got several very scary hangfires (about a 1-2 sec delay). I pulled the unfired bullets and found thick green corrosion inside all the cases. The remaining powder in the can had also started to degrade. It was letting off some really acrid fumes, and it almost looked like smoke coming out when I opened the bottle. The white foam seal in the lid crumbled into dust, and the plastic bottle was deformed and bubbly. It didn’t feel warm or anything, though.

 

[David101]

I agree with Cecil S that somehow over time that Nitro Glycerin has formed and this highly unstable compound has then ignited/ exploded.

 

[DLT]

Other than the explosion at the end, I had a bottle of 4166 go bad in a similar fashion.

I tried several different loads with 4166 in my 308, and could never find a load that worked. Eventually, I gave up and loaded some plinking rounds to practice with. When I loaded the rounds, the powder appeared normal.

When I shot them about 2 months later, I got several very scary hangfires (about a 1-2 sec delay). I pulled the unfired bullets and found thick green corrosion inside all the cases. The remaining powder in the can had also started to degrade. It was letting off some really acrid fumes, and it almost looked like smoke coming out when I opened the bottle. The white foam seal in the lid crumbled into dust, and the plastic bottle was deformed and bubbly. It didn’t feel warm or anything, though.

Same exact same. I bet if you had put it out in the sun it would have with time made a good fireball. I can’t swear I had smoke come out when I opened it in house but smell killed me

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Seems like it flashed at /around the lid, a vacuum formed inside the canister which sucked in the body of the canister.

 

[DLT]

Seems like it flashed at /around the lid, a vacuum formed inside the canister which sucked in the body of the canister.

The bottom of the canister is bubbled. When I get back around I’ll post a picture. I discovered it earlier

 

[K22]

This has my full interest and attention. Thanks for posting. I will continue to follow.

Maybe we can get some powder expert to offer some insight. I think we all could benefit from such expertise.

PS: I have some old Varget (about 8 years old) that I checked; looks and smells fine.

 

[rijndael]

I wonder if it was in the sun's reflection from a window. On houses, this can melt siding.

 

[DLT]

This has my full interest and attention. Thanks for posting. I will continue to follow.

Maybe we can get some powder expert to offer some insight. I think we all could benefit from such expertise.

PS: I have some old Varget (about 8 years old) that I checked; looks and smells fine.

You guys are the only hope I have of maybe getting to bottom of it. If not, I can at least maybe get some you to check some of your older powder just to be on the safe side. I couldn’t imagine it happening inside a house

 

[Gun Smith]

Sounds like "spontaneous combustion"? I have a friend who has just about every smokeless powder made nowadays, in large and small quantities in his gigantic reloading room. Thousands upon thousands of primers too. Scares the heck out of me to see it. It's like he has his own MidwayUSA! I suspect that his insurance company would deny a fire claim if, God forbid, the place ever caught fire.

 

[Adam in WI]

I'd be curious if @Laurie has a hypothesis on what went on here. IIRC, @RegionRat is pretty knowledgeable in this area also. Apologies if I missed anyone else.

 

[Will Henry]

I had about 4 pounds of new 4831 which turned brown and smelled bad. I dumped it. What gets me is that it wasn't old and has been stored in pretty ideal conditions. Meanwhile, my wife's uncle has some original surplus 4831 (about forty pounds of it), bought in 1964, and it's just fine. WH

 

[Dimner]

Other than the explosion at the end, I had a bottle of 4166 go bad in a similar fashion.

I tried several different loads with 4166 in my 308, and could never find a load that worked. Eventually, I gave up and loaded some plinking rounds to practice with. When I loaded the rounds, the powder appeared normal.

When I shot them about 2 months later, I got several very scary hangfires (about a 1-2 sec delay). I pulled the unfired bullets and found thick green corrosion inside all the cases. The remaining powder in the can had also started to degrade. It was letting off some really acrid fumes, and it almost looked like smoke coming out when I opened the bottle. The white foam seal in the lid crumbled into dust, and the plastic bottle was deformed and bubbly. It didn’t feel warm or anything, though.

I had this happen to some loads with shooters world match rifle. I pulled these bullets at the range because I was getting CRAZY long hang fires. The best I could tell is that I did not remove the Hornady unique case lube before I loaded them.

 

[DLT]

I wonder if it was in the sun's reflection from a window. On houses, this can melt siding.

Not where I park. I do see what you’re saying though. It spontaneously combusted. Truck has been in full shade for 2 hours. When I grabbed the container after the boom it had smoke coming from it and was very hot