Safe way to dispose powder?

mooncoon said:
Have any of you actually put smokeless powder on a garden or lawn? It is more or less insoluble in water. Enough so that surplus military powder from WWII was stored under water until a method was found to convert it to sporting powder. Unless I am mistaken that is the origin of IMR powder company's name (Improved Military Reserves)

cheers mooncoon
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I did that and indeed it took a while for it to disappear.
It was powder from ftf rounds.
 
There is a flower bed out the backdoor that has been the recipient of unwanted powder on various occasions. The plants seem to like it.
 
plinker 777 said:
Wait, what!? Am I to understand that smokeless powder is intended to be stored underwater? If so, you mean in water proof containers right?
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At least up to ww ll, military powder was not completely washed of the acid residues left during its manufacture. Following the war, the part of the now surplus powder was given to powder manufactures for remanufacture into sporting grade powder. It was stored in water (loose) to keep it stable until remanufacture. A great deal of powder and ammunition was simply dumped at sea

Cheers mooncoon
 
plinker 777 said:
Whaaaaat!?:confused:
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smokeless powder starts with making nitrocellulose, which burns too rapidly to be used as a propellant and for that reason the nitrocellulose is extruded into various shapes to control its burn rate (it burns from the outside in and therefore surface area controls the burn rate) followed by coating with retardants to further control the burn rate. Nitrocellulose is made from wood fiber (cellulose) treated with nitric acid and a touch of sulphuric acid. These acid residues must be washed out of the nitrocellulose or the powder will deteriorate with time. Military powder was not washed as completely as sporting powder and for that reason any surplus powder more than 3 years old was considered unstable and discarded / destroyed. In the case of WW ll, there was a lot of unused powder left over at the end of the war. I would presume that today the powder used by the military is the same as used in sporting powders and would remain stable over many years.

cheers mooncoon
 
mooncoon said:
smokeless powder starts with making nitrocellulose, which burns too rapidly to be used as a propellant and for that reason the nitrocellulose is extruded into various shapes to control its burn rate (it burns from the outside in and therefore surface area controls the burn rate) followed by coating with retardants to further control the burn rate. Nitrocellulose is made from wood fiber (cellulose) treated with nitric acid and a touch of sulphuric acid. These acid residues must be washed out of the nitrocellulose or the powder will deteriorate with time. Military powder was not washed as completely as sporting powder and for that reason any surplus powder more than 3 years old was considered unstable and discarded / destroyed. In the case of WW ll, there was a lot of unused powder left over at the end of the war. I would presume that today the powder used by the military is the same as used in sporting powders and would remain stable over many years.

cheers mooncoon
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Military powder is a different line not available to buy for civilian.
 
Never dump this material on the lawn. It is quite toxic to animals and plants. Nitrocellulose isn't the issue, it's the DNP and NG that is in the powder which is of concern. The best way to get rid of the powder is to do a controlled burn. Just be careful where you are doing this.

gmf said:
I'm inheriting my dad's firearms and various supplies he and my grandpa have been amassing for years. I now am the proud owner of a 1lb canister of Hercules 2400 smokeless rifle powder. I don't anticipate ever using this, and it could be 20 years old for all I know.

Forgive my ignorance but I feel like a bit of a fish out of water here.

What's the best way to dispose of it?
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CZgunNUTZ said:
Never dump this material on the lawn. It is quite toxic to animals and plants. Nitrocellulose isn't the issue, it's the DNP and NG that is in the powder which is of concern. The best way to get rid of the powder is to do a controlled burn. Just be careful where you are doing this.
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THIS!! CZgunNUTZ knows what he is talking about!!! most of the folks recommending it be sprinkled on the lawn have never done it - or if they have it was very small amounts. I have and the results arent pretty - I had about 5lbs+ of 3031 that had "gone bad" - you'll know when you see it happen so I wont spoil the surprise. Anyway taking the advice of "experts" who claimed to know - I sprinkled it over a large area on the back lawn.... it killed the grass PDQ. And the grass didnt really come back for over 2 years. Old smokeless powder (at least 3031!) is not for lawns .... but it does burn rather nicely and a small (under half pound) mound with a powder trail leading away about 15 feet is fun to set alight .... from 15 ft. But dont get cute with larger amounts as I am not sure how unpredictable the results can be.
 
mooncoon said:
Have any of you actually put smokeless powder on a garden or lawn? It is more or less insoluble in water. Enough so that surplus military powder from WWII was stored under water until a method was found to convert it to sporting powder. Unless I am mistaken that is the origin of IMR powder company's name (Improved Military Reserves)

cheers mooncoon
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I am pretty certain "IMR" stands for 'Improved Military Rifle' ... http://www.imrpowder.com/history.html
 
Depending on the vintage, the empty can, if in good or mint condition could be worth a lot of money someday for your kids to sell
 
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