IMR4320 too old ?

BWANA

BWANA

CGN Regular
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Winnipeg
Hi Guys,I've been re-loading for many years but this is a new one on me.I came accross an unopened can of IMR4320 that I bought quite a few years ago and didn't use.I opened it and poured some into my powder dump and noticed a brownish dust rising.Normally,any dust I have seen is black but this is deffenitely brown.
The powder was still sealed,no rust in the can and smells ok.
I e-mailed IMR but I guess they don't beleive in answering Customer's inquires.
So what do you think ?
 
I've seen this with powder that was stored in an unheated area. As the powder seemed otherwise sound I sifted it to remove what appeared to be rust until the powder looked normal. I then tried it and it seemed to be OK.

If there had been any sign of degradation it would have been dumped in my compost bins.

This was with IMR 4198, 4759, 4320 and 4350, probably about 16 pounds total.
 
I have some ammomart 44 that has the same brown dust. I think it comes from the metal top and bottom on the old cardboard container it came in. I poured it into a plastic container, and it doesn't appear to be getting any dustier.

Still shoots fine.
 
powder dust

Pour the 4320 into a plastc container and take an automotive magnet and move it slowly around the powder.:) Anything metal will stick to it and the powder will be clean again. :D A sifter will work for the bigger stuff if its not magnetic. IMR 3031 is bad for this brown dust and thats how I found out how to clean it up.:eek:
 
This "rust" dust is one of the beginning signs of powder deterioration. You can decide whether you want to use it or not, but if you are using a chronograph, you will begin to notice lower velocities as this condition advances. I just burned 2 lbs of 15 yr old IMR 3031 that had extensive amounts of this dust in it. By the same token, I have some 25 year old Norma powder that is just fine. Regards, Eagleye.
 
Bwana, I'd use it as practice/plinking powder, it's probably just fine; but there's only one can so it's not like you can even do any serious load development with it.
 
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