Attention all hoarders......

[Propbndr]

I’ve got a little reloading to do before I have to……

Brownells, $392.99 for 8 pounds. In stock now.

 

[bobm]

Well, guys, I finally finished "cleaning" all the powder. By far the five can 1991 mfg. lot of 4831 takes the most rust contamination award. That magnet photo is from one can alone. The one pound pile photo is before magnet action.

Thanks to being an empty powder can hoarder......all were transferred and relabeled to one pound plastic cans. My wife refuses to throw the two pillow cases in the washing machine.

I have read all of the comments both positive...." I have done it with success" to negative"I wouldn't dare nor should you" with no story or evidence/proof as to why.

All of the powder has that pleasant, still strong ether aroma. Like in new propellant aroma. I doubt I compromised the integrity of the applied deterrent with just light rubbing and rolling on soft material. Take a good look at that now super clean box of five pounds 4831. I'll do some side by side comparison range testing against a fresh can soon.

I really appreciate all of the comments so far. It would be great and informative if an industry expert chimed in on this topic. Are we throwing away perfectly good powder when we see the dreaded RED DUST?

Think about all of the old propellant still sitting in cabinets, shelves around the planet. Every day I would bet someone may be tossing salvageable powder.

Lets hear from the chemist and industry expert members on this site and contribute to this interesting topic.
Please.


Bob M.

 

[DogBuster]

View attachment 1416451
Looking good. Purchased maybe 1964

Raise ya few

This 4064 can is really strange...especially the spout

 

[Louisiana Shooter]

Just a bit more advise if you decide to shoot it.... load up a few rounds and test it in your rifle. TIE THE RIFLE TO A TIRE and pull the trigger with a string from a safe distance and behind a tree or something.

Then if the rifle is still there after it goes off, check the case for all the pressure signs. If all's well.....go for it if you want to.

Personally.....it's a NO GO for me though.

I think of it like this:

Some one paying me $500 (the cost savings if the powder is good) to shoot an unknown reloaded cartridge (not sure if that powder is good or not) in my rifle.

It's just not worth the risk to my rifle, or myself to find out.

Just one last statement to try to convince you not to shoot it.

 

[M-61]

Raise ya few

This 4064 can is really strange...especially the spout

I concede. The 4064 @spout I’ve never seen.

That’s the best I can do.

 

[Adam in WI]

I bet Wilmington wishes it could go back to being known for gunpowder

 

[Idaho-Lefty]

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.

YUP,..
The Rusty, IMR 3031 that, i used, ONCE, in my .45-70 made, a Loud,.. "Poof" !
Don't go, Grizzly Huntin' with that,.. "Schit " !
I've repeatedly, told people to Transfer their PRE Rust, Powders, into PLASTIC Containers for,. Years.
Life's too Short to,.. shoot,.. KRAP !

 

[Louisiana Shooter]

Some of my oldest cans.....when's the last time you paid $3.49 for a pound of powder?

 

[M-61]

Any idea when that can was emptied? Just curious.

Maybe two years after purchase. Never was a big pistol shooter but I kept the can because of the most unusual cap. Push to open, squeeze the sides to snap shut.
I have to re-think my thought process as to why I hang on to stuff.
A ‘top’? I am slipping.

 

[DogBuster]

I concede. The 4064 @spout I’ve never seen.
View attachment 1416494
That’s the best I can do.

OK.........You win...................

 

[M-61]

Personally.....it's a NO GO for me though.

Me too. And I don’t care how many chemists or industry experts chime in and say it’s fine.
Personally I can’t imagine someone with these credentials would get on the internet and viewing a story and some pictures would ever make that statement. Maybe there is but then they would have never heard of the word ‘lawyer’.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

No way in hades id shoot that- but thats just me. I threw away a bunch of it a couple years ago. Its not good fertilizer- it killed my grass for 6mo. Arnold jewell had some and when he discovered it he sat it outside to dispose of. It burned the porch off his house just sitting there. To be fair, all the ones i speak of had the bad flooring odor.

 

[762plinker]

Powder is a bit more expensive than a few years ago but it isn't expensive enough for me to consider using vintage powder from rusted cans. The money you save can easily be lost on bullets, while trying to work things out. And there is always some safety concerns.

If it was me, I'd be spreading that stuff around the vegetable garden.

just to comment my WWII surplus WAS VERY CLOSE TO current production powder when i did this

 

[Hoot]

Some of my oldest cans.....when's the last time you paid $3.49 for a pound of powder?

View attachment 1416501

About the last time I made $3.50/hr pay.

When I retired, I was pulling down $38 and some change/hr. Powder was $40 and some change per pound.
Its all relative. Boy do I miss that OT, to support my shooting addiction. Now, once my supplies run out, I'm sunk.

Hoot

 

[DShortt]

Ok so based on what I've seen and read in this thread a combination of metal cans and storage in environments with little or no temperature and humidity controls are probably what causes problems.

A can of soup from the 80s wouldn't be fit to eat. Makes sense powder would be questionable at best.

 

[bobm]

Think about this. All I accomplished was to separate a solid from another solid. There were no changes made to the powder chemistry.

 

[DShortt]

Think about this. All I accomplished was to separate a solid from another solid. There were no changes made to the powder chemistry.

Well that's not entirely correct. If a stable substance had been added to the powder then I'd agree. However the substance you're removing is in there due to a chemical/environmental reaction. It's impossible to say if a chemical/environmental reaction has occurred to the powder but I'd say the odds are it has.

Significant enough to be a problem? Well on what level? Safe to shoot? Safe to load and store? Repeatable accuracy?

Might be fine for plinking loads but it's your decision to make.

 

[bobm]

Fair enough assessment. No question that trace amounts of acid leaching from the kernels came in contact with the bare steel. What would the condition of this exact lot of powder look like if it had been packaged in the plastic bottle introduced a couple of years later? No red dust for sure and smelling normal would be my guess. And probably no significant decrease in performance.

I looked inside of two dozen empty same metal cans I have had boxed for years. 30% have some rust speckling inside and I was the original buyer. The powder was consumed usually within a year of purchase. The empty rusted ones got tossed in the trash along with the other 13 today.

 

[bobm]

For the guys that still have metal cans of powder, I think it's wise to open them and check the condition. Worst case it could end up looking like the 4895 in post #24. Use it or lose it.

I will compare the 4831, both the old and a newer lot I have in my .243 next week weather permitting. If I find the old rust lot results unsatisfactory......well.......it's my granddaughters 9th birthday in mid July.

 

[hockeyref]

i just had a similar bonfire from ~30 pounds of similar powders i4198, i4350, i4795, h380, a couple others. About half from metal half from plastic containers. Most were unopened. Several looked as bad as the rotted out can. Some were very off smelling, others had a “just dont smell quite right” aroma. Called Hogdon tech support and had a discussion…. Recommendation was to toss a match on it. Powder was doanted to my gun club from the estate of a deceased member to distribute to membership. Was not gonna take any chance of passing on powder that even remotely appeared to be degraded.

I will say that lightning off a 30# pile of powder will give you new respect for component/powder storage and fire safety. Felt the heat 30 feet away and the column of flame was about prob 40 feet tall.