Attention all hoarders......

[bobm]

A good friend of mine passed recently, his widow invited me over to pick through his loading stuff. I got a few things, some powder and dies, etc. ALL of these early 90's unopened cans were opened today at my house for inspection. ALL had serious red dust emitting when pouring into a funnel. The loss of nearly free powder hurts. Especially that 4759.....

On the bright side, we will be having a fiery light show birthday celebration in the snowy driveway this Saturday night!! Grandson turns 5. Look for a glow in the sky over SW CO.

Start using all that powder you have stashed.

 

[762plinker]

the iron oxide(red rust) can be removed with a MAGNET..it is likely that the actual powder is fine. i am still shooting some oem (once red) 4831....
it is the container that rusts not the powder

 

[gambleone]

Did you check all the cans? Agree with 762plinker.

 

[JimPag]

A good friend of mine passed recently, his widow invited me over to pick through his loading stuff. I got a few things, some powder and dies, etc. ALL of these early 90's unopened cans were opened today at my house for inspection. ALL had serious red dust emitting when pouring into a funnel. The loss of near free powder hurts. Especially that 4759.....

On the bright side, we will be having a fiery light show birthday celebration in the snowy driveway this Saturday night!! Grandson turns 5. Look for a glow in the sky over SW CO.

Start using all that powder you have stashed.

Most of those early Dupont and the later IMR cans always rusted from the inside out. You can use the powder. I have chronoed it against some newer stuff and there was no difference and the powder always ignited.

 

[SecondsCount]

I've been shooting some metal can IMR 4320 in my 223 without any issue, and it has the red dust.

 

[bobm]

Now you got me thinking about my decision to destroy. All cans have the same lot numbers per type. All pass the sniff test with a pleasant odor, no nose burning acid smell like I have experienced before. All cans have shiny no corrosion inner surfaces. The powder was stored in ideal conditions since new.

Now what?

Edit...I did not look at every can inside closely enough. 4831 cans rusted the worst.

 

[Propbndr]

If it was stored as you said and smells good, I would use it. I was given 4 pounds of H414 but, it was stored in the guys attic. The ammonia smell burned my nose. I used the whole lot as lawn fertilizer.

 

[bobm]

Did you check all the cans? Agree with 762plinker.

Yes, every can poured into another container using an aluminum kitchen funnel. I will pour some over a strong magnet, and show red dust film on the funnel. Pictures coming soon.

The 4759 had the most red dust film on the funnel.

 

[jcm800]

Send that 4759 to me for proper disposal. My 35 rem dosn't mind a little dust.

 

[Frankm]

I d do some mild/med loads and ‘test’ some of it. If performance good and no issues good chance you can use it.

Worth a careful try in my opinion.

 

[whatsupdoc]

the iron oxide(red rust) can be removed with a MAGNET..it is likely that the actual powder is fine. i am still shooting some oem (once red) 4831....
it is the container that rusts not the powder

I have done the same thing with some IMR4831 and when I tested it the ES was so low
I thought the labradar had failed.

 

[JB10]

I was talking with my gunsmith about this 3 months ago. I have seen him using metal cans many times. I live in a hot ass desert. He was saying powder stored in a garage here will be bad in about 3 years. If its in climate controlled area and not alot of humidity close to 100 years. My numbers might be slightly off. He was referring to an article he had read. Not sure of his source. All mine is stored inside.

 

[Murray Brook]

I have powder from the 80's that is still good. Properly stored in plastic cans, no sun light, controlled temp will last very long. JME
ADD : I say the 80's, but I purchased it in the 80's, God knows how old it was then.

 

[Webster]

A good friend of mine passed recently, his widow invited me over to pick through his loading stuff. I got a few things, some powder and dies, etc. ALL of these early 90's unopened cans were opened today at my house for inspection. ALL had serious red dust emitting when pouring into a funnel. The loss of near free powder hurts. Especially that 4759.....

On the bright side, we will be having a fiery light show birthday celebration in the snowy driveway this Saturday night!! Grandson turns 5. Look for a glow in the sky over SW CO.

Start using all that powder you have stashed.

Does it have a strange odor? Is the red dust though out the powder? If the can rust the rust shouldn't be throughout the entire powder.

 

[bobm]

the iron oxide(red rust) can be removed with a MAGNET..it is likely that the actual powder is fine. i am still shooting some oem (once red) 4831....
it is the container that rusts not the powder

WHEW...what a relief. 762plinker was correct. The empty cans have a rash of rust spots that have developed through out seen with a flash light. The strong neodymium magnet pulled a lot of oxide out. The plastic funnel static got a lot, too. Luckily I have a bunch of plastic powder cans saved to transfer it to. And yes, the smell of ether is still there.

My guess is residual nitric acid attacked the steel can over time.

Just how does rust dust permeate the entire contents while that can did not move for 30 plus years? My guess is the powder was surrounded with loose rust residue on the can wall surfaces. Picking up the can, the ride home in a box vibrating the powder scrubbing the dust loose. It eventually migrates into the powder thoroughly. Just normal handling. Yeah, that's gotta be it.

A friend suggested laying the powder out on an old pillow case and spread it around to roll off the oxide, I will try that, too.

Looks like my grandson will just have normal candles to blow out on his cake. No big roaring fires that night!

Thanks fellas,
bobm

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Very educational thread!

 

[Rocketvapor]

@jds holler

 

[Ray123]

I use old powder with red rust ... slowly pour in a large cardboard box with compressed air blow with enough energy to blow the dust off and but allow the powder to fall into the carboard box.
In a ventilated area. Then load with lower to medium loads, clean powder measures when through. Most powders last along time, if stored properly ball seems to longer... I had 2 cans of 4350 $3.89 per pound ran through a 338 mag. Back in the day writer Norman Johnson wrote an article about using red dusty powder in one of his varmint rifles ... and it worked fine with good groups...but lower the charge weight. I've reloaded for 50 yrs and never throw out a pound of gun powder...even found a use for Ireco 85...and running IMR 5010...still. So hoard away...You'll always have something to shoot.

 

[Propbndr]

This is a quote from American Rifleman magazine: “The standard advice is to store ammunition in a “cool, dry place.” Manufacturers try to store powders at 70° F +/- 5 degrees. For handloaders, the best advice is to store powder in a cool basement or an interior room that is of “comfortable” temperature.”

https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/rifleman-q-a-safe-ammo-storage-temperature/

Basically the same storage info is put out by the manufacturers. They include a humidity of 50% and protection from sunlight.

 

[jepp2]

I've shot quite a bit of the DuPont IMR powders that had the red dust from the rusting can interior without issue. HOWEVER, I had a can of DuPont IMR 4350 that wasn't that old (about 8 years) that had the red dust and smell was different. I had some loads that I already had worked up and shot some. Tried a couple at the range. Expected the powder to decrease in strength due to the deterioration. WRONG. The loads were overpressured where they previously had been on the mild side. Pulled the bullets on the remainder and dumped the powder. A learning for me.