I inherited some reloading supplies from a deceased relative. Included were several one pound containers of unopened powder. Some of these could be 25-30 years old. Are they worth attempting to use or should they be disposed of?
Powder Shelf Life
- Thread starter onelastshot
- Start date
varminthunter1
Gold $$ Contributor
It could be just fine if it was stored correctly.
Do NOT breathe the fumes in the bottles. If it has gone bad, I`ve seen it turn to a orangish rust color . Use a flashlight and open carefully.
Jeff
Do NOT breathe the fumes in the bottles. If it has gone bad, I`ve seen it turn to a orangish rust color . Use a flashlight and open carefully.
Jeff
Im still using powders from the late 60s and early 70s. Ive had one lot of GI H322 go bad but over hundreds of pounds Ive only had that one batch go sour. A careful look into the can and as suggested look for brown or red dust and brownish fumes, both are signs of deterioration. Gently , carefully sniff the open container, if the odor is that of acetone or other volatile solvent then you are pretty much OK to go ahead. If powders are exposed to high ambient temperatures and high humidity, the shelf life will be shortened. Closed containers negate humidity and A/C usually negates temperature extremes. If you have the signs of deteriorated powder just scatter it over the lawn, its a good slow release high nitrogen fertilizer.
searcher
Gold $$ Contributor
I just tapped into a big can of W760 I bought from Dillon back in the 90's. Worked up my best load with it. I recently used some Red Dot in my .45acp that I had bought in the 70's or 80's. When stored properly, most powders will last as long or longer than your powder is old. Moisture is a big cause of powder to turn bad. The condition of the exterior of the old cans is a good indicator of when extra caution might be called for when inspecting it. If it looks good, shooting a minimum load over a chronograph will give you an idea of the condition also. If WAY off from what book velocities say it should be (usually slower if it is) that might give you a reason to think about whether you want to use it. Powder with a lot of moisture content will tend to smoke a bit and produce lower velocities. That can be bad in certain calibers shooting heavy bullets, as it will actually drive up pressures. When pouring it out of a container to inspect, it should all be a uniform color and pour smoothly with no clumping. Unless stored poorly, your powder is probably fine.
Doug Beach
Silver $$ Contributor
If it isn't discolored, go ahead and use it, but start LOW. I am using some old (20+ years) IMR4895 in a .308. It works fine, but I reach max pressure (with corresponding velocity), about 3-3.5 grains under current listed book max.
I had a can of Winchester 630 pistol powder that had a price tag of $3 and change on it until a few years ago and I loaded it up for my 44 mag and it shoots fine. It had to be 35-40 years old but was still good. Any more I buy powder in 8 lb kegs so I'm sure to have some old powder in the future.
loneranger04 said:
A can of red dot I received had $2.00 written on the side of the can! It must be older than I think. Anyway, it hasn't been opened so I'll try a minimum load and go from there.
I still have un open 50# container. The cost was $37.50 for 50# also Where and how it is stored makes the differenceCatfur said:
Larry
jds holler
Gold $$ Contributor
I'm using lots of powders that are twenty or thirty years old, and some that are much older. One pound cans with $1.98 stickers.
An old friend gave me his entire supply before he died, and some of this was his dads. We live in a dry climate that is cool or downright cold for most of the year, and apparently the powder stores very well. jd
An old friend gave me his entire supply before he died, and some of this was his dads. We live in a dry climate that is cool or downright cold for most of the year, and apparently the powder stores very well. jd
A big factor in the storage life of powder depends on how well they wash the residual acids out of the nitrocellulose when it's made. Nitrocelluose is made in a water solution containing sulfuric acid, nitric acid and cellulose fibers. The sulfuric acid is a catalyst to promote the reaction. After the nitrocellulose is made they have to strip out the remaining or unreacted acids. Years ago I saw in some literature what the remaining acid content wt. % was they try to stay below. They can measure the remaining acod by wt. %. . I have only seen one can of bad powder in many years of reloading. It was about 30 years ago and I think it was Hogdens powder? The powder had an acrid smell, red dust and I think the metal cap was discolored. It won't fertilize your lawn. It isn't water soluble. Dump it out in a long trail in a safe area and burn it.
jds holler
Gold $$ Contributor
In the big picture of my reloading hobby, about 80% of my reloaded ammo is used for plinking, or casual varmint shooting, where any powder that provides a safe and reasonably accurate load is adequate. I'm lucky to have around 50 lbs. of various types of older powder that I can use for almost any cartridge that I want to shoot that way.
For the other approximately 20% of my reloads where I want serious hunting performance or serious accuracy, I bite the bullet and purchase some of the new, and improved types that everybody is raving about these days.
I can't actually say that I've found any measurable difference in the "wonder powders" -- yet. :
jd
For the other approximately 20% of my reloads where I want serious hunting performance or serious accuracy, I bite the bullet and purchase some of the new, and improved types that everybody is raving about these days.
I can't actually say that I've found any measurable difference in the "wonder powders" -- yet. :
jdI stepped away from shooting (NRA XTC, LR as well as pistol) for 17yrs due to a job loss and the required career re-invention. All the powder I had was left sitting in a dark closet. I lost a partial lb of VV550 and VV133 - both were just a few ozs each - and both were obvious based on the bad smell. Biggest loss was 8 1lb sealed, unopened cans of IMR4064 that had the start of then prev mentioned red "rust" looking dust in the powder. The metal cans were not rusted inside - this is coming from the powder itself, again pretty obvious prob. I had 4 1lb singles of IMR4895 that did not show signs of this "rust" like dust, about the same date of manufacture. Why the diff, I have no idea, literally stored right next to each other on the closet shelf.
The rest of my old powders shoots and seems fine. I have a wide assortment of rifle and pistol powders in Accurate, Hercules, Hodgdon, IMR, WIN, and Alliant powders that are between 16 and 30yrs old. If it doesn't smell bad and there is no red rust looking powder being produced by the powder as it breaks down, there should be no prob in using it. I have bought some new and will eventually get around to comparing new versus old over chronograph to see if there is a significant diff. Right now, there doesn't appear any.
No surprisingly, I've shot old military ammo - 30-06 that dates back into the 50s without probs. Seems if the powder is stored in reasonable conditions, shelf life is in the 10s of years.
The rest of my old powders shoots and seems fine. I have a wide assortment of rifle and pistol powders in Accurate, Hercules, Hodgdon, IMR, WIN, and Alliant powders that are between 16 and 30yrs old. If it doesn't smell bad and there is no red rust looking powder being produced by the powder as it breaks down, there should be no prob in using it. I have bought some new and will eventually get around to comparing new versus old over chronograph to see if there is a significant diff. Right now, there doesn't appear any.
No surprisingly, I've shot old military ammo - 30-06 that dates back into the 50s without probs. Seems if the powder is stored in reasonable conditions, shelf life is in the 10s of years.
Did you ever get around to testing "New vs Old" powder?
I have some GreenDot bought in 1963 still load shotgun shells . Have Hogdon powders almost that old . No problem work fine . Keep them in a dry place. Just my two cents Tommy Mc
I'm still shooting, Bruce Hogdons 4895 ( .30-06 WWll, Powder ? ) from the Late 1950's that my Dad paid $.50 cents, a Pound for ! I use it, STILL for, an accurate, 50 grain, Sierra / Hornady, F. Base, Varmint load, in my .22-250 !
I had a Metal Can of, IMR 3031 go Bad with, a Rust in the bottom of can ( Junk those, Metal cans !!! ).
After checking to see which Powders are STILL, "good",....
Use your Old empty, Plastic cans and transfer the Old Powder into the Newer Plastic cans and RE-Label them,.. CAREFULLY then, the Powders should last you, MANY MORE,.. years !
Just don't hunt, Grizzlies with,.. 50 - 75 year old, Gun Powder and you'll be,.. "Fine" !
I had a Metal Can of, IMR 3031 go Bad with, a Rust in the bottom of can ( Junk those, Metal cans !!! ).
After checking to see which Powders are STILL, "good",....
Use your Old empty, Plastic cans and transfer the Old Powder into the Newer Plastic cans and RE-Label them,.. CAREFULLY then, the Powders should last you, MANY MORE,.. years !
Just don't hunt, Grizzlies with,.. 50 - 75 year old, Gun Powder and you'll be,.. "Fine" !
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