These may be silly questions but I honestly don't know. I've recently acquired pretty much an entire reloading setup that I have no use for. Within the haul are cans of powder of different types and what not. Based on the price tags I'm guessing they're from the early 80's, if not earlier. Everything was stored in an unheated garage for God knows how many years. Does powder go bad, and is it legal to sell/ship it as one would any other reloading components? Thanks.
Quick questions about powder
- Thread starter patriot1
- Start date
There are all sorts of ways to check if the powder is bad. Open the container and if there's any rust or the powder is clumped, it's likely bad or going bad. Throw it out. Sometimes containers will swell or fall apart when powder goes bad.
If it isn't rusty and you don't detect any sharp, acidic odors it should be fine.
About a year ago, I ended up with a similar bunch of powder. The deceased owner had been a long time friend and was extremely careful to make sure the containers were clearly marked. All of the containers had lot numbers and some had dates of manufacture as well, usually the last two numbers indicate the year of manufacture. The lot numbers can likely be traced for more specific dates. Ganderite could likely tell us more.
Just for informative purposes I have powder on hand dating back to WWII, which I bought from Hodgdon's, 55 years ago. Hodgdon's had purchased it from manufactures as surplus and was selling it in 25 and 50 pound pressed cardboard containers, wrapped in white paper, with tar backing. Each container was stencilled with a lot number, manufacturer, plant, date, type and a few other things. I'm just using up the last of those powders now. The thing is, I'm still using loading data developed for them 55 years ago.
All of that powder was stored in large open sheds, resembling haysheds. Some of it had been stored like that for 20 years, before I bought it. I've been a bit more careful with it.
As for shipping the powder, you will have to adhere to special regulations and hazmat conditions. I believe there is a special shipping premium to be paid as well.
If you have a local gun shop, take all of the stuff you don't want there and make a deal to either sell it on consignment or trade for something from the shelves that you can use.
The other option is to pay it forward by passing it along to someone with limited funds that will put it to good use.
If it isn't rusty and you don't detect any sharp, acidic odors it should be fine.
About a year ago, I ended up with a similar bunch of powder. The deceased owner had been a long time friend and was extremely careful to make sure the containers were clearly marked. All of the containers had lot numbers and some had dates of manufacture as well, usually the last two numbers indicate the year of manufacture. The lot numbers can likely be traced for more specific dates. Ganderite could likely tell us more.
Just for informative purposes I have powder on hand dating back to WWII, which I bought from Hodgdon's, 55 years ago. Hodgdon's had purchased it from manufactures as surplus and was selling it in 25 and 50 pound pressed cardboard containers, wrapped in white paper, with tar backing. Each container was stencilled with a lot number, manufacturer, plant, date, type and a few other things. I'm just using up the last of those powders now. The thing is, I'm still using loading data developed for them 55 years ago.
All of that powder was stored in large open sheds, resembling haysheds. Some of it had been stored like that for 20 years, before I bought it. I've been a bit more careful with it.
As for shipping the powder, you will have to adhere to special regulations and hazmat conditions. I believe there is a special shipping premium to be paid as well.
If you have a local gun shop, take all of the stuff you don't want there and make a deal to either sell it on consignment or trade for something from the shelves that you can use.
The other option is to pay it forward by passing it along to someone with limited funds that will put it to good use.
Thank you. That definitely is consistent with the storage conditions of said powder and valuable info moving forward. This gentleman spent a lifetime looking after his stuff and I am not going to let whatever is good, go to waste.
Yeah, I'm gonna try to sell/trade it locally. Definitely not expecting top dollar. I have one black bin to sort through and I'm going to list everything.
If you're sure the powder is from the 80's or possibly earlier then I'd use it to fertilize your garden. Yeah, it's good for that.
I got an old estate deal like what it sounds like you got and used the powder for a while. At first the old powder from the sealed tins was fine. But near the end I was using a bit and pouring it back. What I found is that that the last batch of ammo failed to ignite. I thought I was getting careless with my loading but in a couple of cases I saw the powder all over the place and then I realized that it was no longer being set off consistently by the primers. I used the rest of the ammo for practice instead of matches where I might be going to fast to stop myself from pulling the trigger again. Not a big deal if I got a squib in practice. Good training in fact. But not if it pushes a bullet into the bore and I'm going so fast that I pull the trigger again. And I dumped what was left of the powder in the tins from that old batch on the garden.
Oh, and even early on when it was good I found that I was getting weak ejections on my semi auto handguns when out in the cold. Yet that same ammo when up to room temp cycled the gun just fine. I'm guessing that this sensitivity to temperature was another sign of old powder. It caused me some jams in a match. But hey, there's no Cadillac at the end so no big deal. But if you're using old powder for hunting and the age of it reduces the energy and you miss your shot I imagine that would be pretty darn annoying. Or if you sighted in on a cold day and took a shot on a warmer day and it cruised over the deer's back? Yeah, I get the woods would run blue with the language.
I'm now at the point where if the powder is not in a fairly current style of container I'm not interested. New seal or not it's just not worth it.
I got an old estate deal like what it sounds like you got and used the powder for a while. At first the old powder from the sealed tins was fine. But near the end I was using a bit and pouring it back. What I found is that that the last batch of ammo failed to ignite. I thought I was getting careless with my loading but in a couple of cases I saw the powder all over the place and then I realized that it was no longer being set off consistently by the primers. I used the rest of the ammo for practice instead of matches where I might be going to fast to stop myself from pulling the trigger again. Not a big deal if I got a squib in practice. Good training in fact. But not if it pushes a bullet into the bore and I'm going so fast that I pull the trigger again. And I dumped what was left of the powder in the tins from that old batch on the garden.
Oh, and even early on when it was good I found that I was getting weak ejections on my semi auto handguns when out in the cold. Yet that same ammo when up to room temp cycled the gun just fine. I'm guessing that this sensitivity to temperature was another sign of old powder. It caused me some jams in a match. But hey, there's no Cadillac at the end so no big deal. But if you're using old powder for hunting and the age of it reduces the energy and you miss your shot I imagine that would be pretty darn annoying. Or if you sighted in on a cold day and took a shot on a warmer day and it cruised over the deer's back? Yeah, I get the woods would run blue with the language.
I'm now at the point where if the powder is not in a fairly current style of container I'm not interested. New seal or not it's just not worth it.
For the last 2 years, my wife and I have been using Hercules Infallible Shotgun Powder for our Cowboy Action loads. The last time it was manufactured was 1948 and there was not date on the container that the powder was in when I received it. We haven't had a problem with it at all.
I went to an auction 3 yrs ago and got 4 lbs of 3031 (in metal cans, original) and they shoot just fine. In this case I was able to compare against current IMR 3031 with my 30-30. No noticeable difference. Try and see unless you smell or see the warning indications as others have pointed out. I would consider that a SCORE
