powder

[4006]

Hi
How long can powder sit around a do's it go bad
thank

[bangerjim]

Depends on:

What you have it stored in

Where it is stored

Whether it is exposed to sunlight

What humidity is it stored at

What type of "powder" it is. There a lot of different powders!

banger

[shooting on a shoestring]

Well it's a lot like game meat.....depends.
the biggest factor is temperature. Heat shortens the life. Cold is best. Moisture is bad. Dry is good. Double base is better than single base.

With only reasonable care, nothing extreme, a can of powder should be good for about fifty years at least. Stack a few of the variables in your favor and you could probably get a few more decades. On the flip side, stack the variables against you and you'll lose a few decades.

[ReloaderFred]

I'm still working on a 12 pound metal keg of SR4756 that I bought in 1977, and it's still good. I have other powders that are nearly that old that are also still good. If stored right, it will last a long, long time.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Teddy (punchie)]

The only powder I have found that was bad. Was a can of 4064, brownish color mixed in and smells like pee. All of the others I have bought all look good and smell okay. Some powders have a clear smell, some have a little different color. But all should have a blackish color and smell well like gun powder. Turn it often and keep in dry cooler place.

[RogerDat]

Smells like ammonia is bad (the pee smell as Teddy described it)
One member related having fired black powder recovered from inside cannon balls that were in a buried bunker from the civil war. That would be around 150 years old, storage was dry and at ground temperature of 53*. Black is different than smokeless but it does illustrate what proper storage conditions make possible.

[GONRA]

GONRA sez ball powder should last loonger than extruded since the process
is MUCH better at removing acidity.
(Ball powder may actually be BALLS or FLATTENED BALLS that then look like flakes.)

[WRideout]

I am still using some 60's or 70's vintage IMR 4198 that I acquired from my stepfather. When opened, they smell like acetone (which is good).

Wayne

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

As said, who knows -----------------

Just finished loading up 500 - .38s with 5gr each of Bullseye.

This powder was given to me in 1984 and was in a cardboard keg and I have no idea what vintage it is.

I repackaged the powder into 1lb. IMR metal cans where it has stayed as I work through it.

Have a couple more cans to open after the one I just started, and at 5gr. and less per charge, when there needs to be a lot of rounds down the barrel before it is all gone.

When I open a can as I just did a couple days ago, I look for any signs of it going bad, or a possibility that the inside of the can might have rusted. But so far, I am still good to go.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[Paper Puncher]

What banger and the rest have said.

Yes powder can go bad. Just tossed a partial can of IMR 3031 (looked and smelled as Teddy described) probably from the 1960's (best guess). A friend recently found it buried in a box of his old reloading stuff that was never unpacked after a move. Same box had some other powders (red dot, unique) that looked (and work fine).

I am still using vintage 1950's mil surplus 4895 that works great.

So bottom line it DEPENDS.

Steve

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

By the way, just so no one gets excited with 5gr of Bullseye in .38, these are to be shot in .357s and NOT in a .38 bored or rated handgun. That load is according to Lyman, well less then max in a .357, but would be EXCESSIVE in a .38.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[TXGunNut]

Properly stored powder will outlast most of us. I suspect all the powder I have on the shelf will outlast me if I don't shoot it first. I recently loaded some powder that is over 30 yrs old and it looked & smelled fine. Some powder in use today is WWII surplus. I've had a few cans go bad on me but suspect I was to blame. Life's too short to load funky powder.

[Shiloh]

Cool, dry, consistent, and some would say dark?? A LONG long time.
The last of m 40+ year old powder was shot up a long time ago. There are posts here of guys still shooting very old surplus powder.

Shiloh