How long does powder keep?

Venom 9

Venom 9

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Hi guys

I'm just wondering about some old powder I've got probably 15-20 years old. One is IMR 4350 (metal can) and the other is RL15 (plastic container). Both have been opened. They both look ok to my eye. Are there any risks to using old powders or should I not worry about it and use it up?

Thanks
 
How were they stored? Cool dry place? You will probably be fine.

I recieved an old metal can of W231 that I got from a friend that hadn't reloaded in 10 + years. Dumped a bit on the garage floor and lit it with a match, burned the same as a new can of 231 I had, load em up and good to go.
 
Stored in a cool dry environment, powder will last decades. Lots of guys are shooting WWI ammo with no problems.

FWIW looking at powder won't tell you if it has gone bad. The relevant test is to smell it. Bad powder will smell rotten and chemically. Powder normally has a slight vinegary smell that is fairly pleasant.
 
Does it taste sour? Bitter? That's when I discard mine :0

Bad powder can have an excess of sulphur smell I have found, but for the most part, if it's stored dry and reasonably cool, it should last almost forever.
 
I just finished a can of "HI-SKOR" and gave the can to a collector. Not "700X" or "800X", but just "HI-SKOR" . I think they stopped making it in the very early 60s. It worked just fine once I found some data on it....
 
I'm still working on a supply of W540 from the 70's, and was until last year, using up some W473.

As long as the powder is stored in a cool, dry place, in the original containers that are
tightly sealed, there should be no problem whatsoever. New powder has a somewhat familiar light scent reminiscent of acetone. Powder that has oxidized smells bitter/acrid.

Alliant has some old smokeless shotgun powder (from one of the predecessor companies) in their lab they cited in some former advertising, as being over a hundred years old at the time, stored in water in a glass container. Once they dried out a sample and loaded it, they reported it functioned ballistically up to par with it's original ballistic specification.
 
Single base propellant is manufactured using a ether and alcohol mixture, Double based propellant is manufactured using acetone, in ball propellant the nitrocellulose is agitated with a ethyl acetate solvent. All propellants start to "off gas" from DAY 1. If propellant is kept in a sealed container for long periods of time there will obviously be a larger amount of "off gas" when it is opened. If your propellant is stored in a cool dry place, it should be serviceable for 50 plus years.

During my career, I had the opportunity to carry out propellant serviceability tests on samples that encompassed numerous tons of artillery, tank, etc propellant and even after 20 years in storage it had deteriorated minimally. For years the CF used what was known as the Abel Heat test to maintain the serviceability of its propellant, which has now been superceeded with new technology. Moisture testing is also carried out, to determine if the propellant is excessively dry and dusty or gives appearance of being damp.
 
I thought if powder was left for a very long time it gets volatile and unpredictable... I had a can of Delaware powder from around 1920 I was told to empty the can because the powder would be very unpredicatbly dangerous.
Maybe this person wore too much tinfoil, but he had me scared enough that I brought the can out to a field and emptied it.
 
Thanks for all the input guys. I'm now confident in using this powder as it does not look or smell any different than a new can,and has been stored properly. Gun nutz is a great place to get opinions and info isn't it.
 
Venom 9 said:
Thanks for all the input guys. I'm now confident in using this powder as it does not look or smell any different than a new can,and has been stored properly. Gun nutz is a great place to get opinions and info isn't it.
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NO no no no no! powder goes stale and bad in 4 weeks if not kept under the light of a full moon and refrigerated. If you haven't done this, mail it to my top secret diposal facility (aka "reloading room") for safe deactivation, about 30 grains at a time.
 
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