Old can of 3031 powder
- Thread starter Sydney1942
- Start date
If stored properly it should be. Open it to see what it looks like. Bad powder will have a rancid smell to it.
Cocked&Locked
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- S. Ontario
Spoiling powder doesn't have a rancid smell. It will have a strong acid smell, nitric acid to be specific.
The "rust" thing is only if the nitric acid, used in the manufacture of the powder is sublimating, AND is in a steel sheet metal container...it will rust the container.
The "rust" thing is only if the nitric acid, used in the manufacture of the powder is sublimating, AND is in a steel sheet metal container...it will rust the container.
Burton Urnie
Regular
- Location
- Near Woodstock New Brunswick
I've used many powders that was dull. Ive been told it's when the powder is dusty. I've even used the old tin can imr3031 when it had a very slight rusty dust. But dont take my advice. How much is very slight ? How did it work? A SD of 9 in a 30-30win model 94.
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You need to be careful with that rust colored powder if it has a slightly acidic smell.
That acid can do harm to a bore. I had a lovely Model 70 chambered for the 257Roberts and used some #44 Nobel powder, which I got from Higginsons.
The powder had some dust that looked like rust in it, which came from the top and bottom of the container. The walls were paper.
I loaded up enough cartridges for a weekend match and because the rifle was shooting extremely well and I only needed ten more rounds to finish the next morning, I didn't clean the bore.
By the next morning, approximately 24 hours later, there was a fine film of rust through the entire bore and in the neck area of the chamber.
I ran a patch through it and the rust was very evident. The bore looked OK so I shot it and it still shot well.
I didn't clean it again, because I thought the rust was coming from the humid conditions (duh) until the next morning and I had a long drive back home.
Same thing, fine rust. The damage wasn't evident with an eyeball but later on, with an endoscope the pitting was quite obvious.
I shot that barrel for another year but ended up dumping all of the #44 powder (IMR 3031 equivalent) as every can I opened had the same rust powder and a slightly acidic smell.
