Old powder and dusty boolits

[fishnhunt]

Hi all, I've been a member for several years but this is my first post. I just bought a bunch of supplies from an estate and among it were many cans of powder. I have always heard that as long as the smell was OK and not ammonia-like - then the powder should be fine. I am wondering if anyone has any experience using old powder (I imagine 30 to 40 years in some cases). Also, there are many many hundreds of cast bullets, but most seem to have been subjected to temperature fluctuations and the lube is in not-too-good-a-shape. Many are dust covered as well. Should these go to the pot, or are they likely candidates for a 900 fps ride?? Any help/insight is greatly appreciated. Are old powder cans worth anything? Some of these boolits are cast (look to be .38) and not lubed and I think I'll try to pan lube them and try'em out; just worried that they haven't been run thru a sizer/luber - so will have to size my barrels I guess. I've always enjoyed reading the posts here - but never had any info to help. I sell automotive supplies and had to do something with the old wheel weights (WW) I was retrieving from customers - that's what brought me to the site. Like everyone else here, I am seeing a tremendous increase in steel and zinc WW - especially at the import dealers. Thanks in advance for any info!
Jim

[runfiverun]

other than finding data, old powders are usually good to go.
a powder is either good or it ain't.
bad powder will smell bad,it usually gives off fumes you can see,has a red rust like appearance,and often a sweating on the can.
you can boil off the old lube from those boolits if there is any, it will get the dust off too.
if they are just cast and not sized they may or may not chamber,if they do shoot em.
if they don't ,pan lube and use a 15 dollar lee push through sizer.
worst case re-melt them.
you might want to do a weight check on some of them a lot of those old timers used linotype for a lot of thier boolits as it was pretty easy for some of them to get.

[Lizard333]

In my time, I'm only 31, all of the powder I have came in plastic jugs. I have a friend that doesn't use 231 so he said he would give me a pound. This stuff came in a metal canister and is significantly older than the stuff I usually use. I based this on the 7.99$ a pound price labeled on the can. It has been in a climate controlled house the whole time and it worked like a champ. I was hesitant to say the least so I loaded up a half dozen rounds and fired them in my GP100. I loaded the old ones and the new ones, alternating them in the cylinder. All hit where I was aiming, all fired fine.

Good luck!

[DLCTEX]

Dust is dirt, dirt is abrasive. Either melt them down or remove lube and dirt and relube them.

[44man]

Powder can last forever if stored right.
Dust on a boolit can be bad. Is it just dry lube or is it lead oxide? Many old boolits were soft lead that oxidizes and the stuff is an abrasive. Muzzle loader balls and boolits are the worst so when I cast, I spray them with Barricade or Sheath so they never oxidize.
Hard lead will not oxidize, antimony and tin helps prevent it.
Tin with pure keeps them shiny.
Pure lead is the worst. You will get a white powder on boolits.

[frkelly74]

I look for old powders and buy them and then figure out a way to use them. I have reloader 21 right now and alcan #5 that I am using up. I have plenty of data from the 60's and 70's and the internet can help find what I don't have. By the way , the 60's and 70's were not that long ago.

[MtGun44]

I have and use powder that is 25+ yrs old, not an issue if stored well - cool temps mostly.

Bill

[Wolfer]

The reason I switched from IMR to Hodgon was because IMR came in a metal can with a small lid and I had to have a funnel to pour it back in the can. When Hodgon came out with the wide mouth plastic jugs I switched.
I know Hodgon is misspelled but you all know who I mean.

[firefly1957]

I am still using Alcan AL-8 it works fine in fact you can see the flash to the left I bought that powder in the 1970's.

[DLCTEX]

I have a can of Alcan 8 i bought at an old sporting goods store in a small town. I saw it on the shelf and asked about it. The can was marked $2.95, but I gave $5 for it. Good powder.

[fishnhunt]

Thanks for all the replies and good advice. Some of the boolits are covered in a white powdery looking coating - especially on the tip. I will cull those and use them in the melt - the lube should be a good flux. I'll mike the others and what I can shoot I'll try the boil and relube as suggested. Only one can of the powder (out of 20 or so) had a red rust-like fluff inside it and will be deep-sixed. Thanks again!

[badgeredd]

Dump the bad powder in your garden or a flower bed. It's a great source of nitrogen to make purdy flowers.

Edd