- Location
- Golden Lake
Some years ago a bought a can of 5066 pistol powder that had been opened but not much taken out. I believe this powder was discontinued in the late 1960's. I've used it for reduced loads in my .222, .308 and .30-06. Works great!
What do you think the result will be...
- Thread starter 22to45
- Start date
Well, I'm not sure what to do. It doesn't smell sour, or "off", just pepper, and I like pepper. I'm not too cheap to toss it if it's a problem, but it'd be nice to know if I really do have a problem.
kr, I haven't any pm's in my inbox.
does it burn?? or did you buy a can of pepper... (ripped off)?
Two things: first, I resent the PM
Second, have you tried burning half a grain of it on a metal plate or something like that? Just to make sure it burns like powder should (given it's pistol powder, my Bullseye burns with pretty good ferocity even on a plate or similar, far more violent of a burn than, say, H4895 or Varget. Not sure why it would smell like that though... I love pepper too, and my bottle doesn't smell anything like pepper, though it also doesn't smell quite like the other powders I have on hand (yes, I actually went and smelled all my powder - you know you're a little strange when....). If I owned it, I'd try it in a cartridge you have a known load for, but drop the charge by 15-20%. See how it works, if it seems to hit the same POI approximately as a cartridge loaded with the same charge of newer Bullseye (if you have any, hard to find right now for sure) then I'd personally be calling it good.
I've only heard of powder going bad by starting to smell almost sour or acidic, getting a crusty white or other colored residue, etc. Since it's in a metal canister and that canister isn't all corroded or anything (powder seems to sometimes do that when it gets really bad, from posts and experiences I've heard of), I wouldn't be overly concerned. Just don't sprinkle it on your dinner!
