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Thread: Storing your powder

  1. #1
    Boolit Bub
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    Storing your powder

    Looking for info on storing your powder. Where do you keep it and in what. Some concern about fire hazards on keeping 10 lbs or so in the house. Opinions please Would a rifle safe help Thanks

  2. #2
    Boolit Master

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    you do not want to store powder in anything that is sealed tight, if it goes you want the gas to escape and not build up. keep it cool and dry and in a dark area.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master 15meter's Avatar
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    Gun safe is probably the last place to store powder. Recommendation is THICK walled cabinet/box that has a weak side/door/top that will give way and vent if in a fire. Un-contained smokeless powder just fizzles and burns very poorly. Contain it as inside a gun safe and it is much more likely to go BOOM!

    Inside the old freebie Hercules powder manuals was the National Fire Code recommendation for storing powder. May have been in the Dupont manuals as well.

    Mine goes in a wooden box that sits on the floor as far away from ignition sources as I can get. The walls are 1"+ thick with a wooden top that just sits on loosely.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master

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    ^^^^^^^ what he said, cool, dry, and in the dark! Your factory packaging is designed to rupture under slight pressure if ignited. I store mine in a magazine that’s painted black inside, in a controlled environment. Some 700X from the 80’s is still healthy!
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  5. #5
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    The recommended storage container for powder is a wooden walled box with 1" thick walls and lid. You do NOT want a sealed metal container. The whole idea behind 1" thick wood walls is insulation during a fire to prevent heat transfer to the powder. This in turn gives residents time to exit the structure before powder ignites. Powder in a sealed metal container is a bomb. I made my magazine out of scrap 2 x 10's with a 1" thick plywood lid.
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    Boolit Master Shawlerbrook's Avatar
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    Mine is stored exactly as above. I have a wooden shipping box with a hinged top that is only held closed by gravity. This is in my basement loading room.

  7. #7
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    I have a closet reloading room. I went to the hobby/craft store and got those narrow little balsa wood boxes and heavy duty stick on wall hooks (they hold like 5lbs each). Then Put three hooks per box and stuck them to the wall. Each box holds 3 or 4 (1lb) jug. The boxes go down the wall and keeps it all nice and organized.
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  8. #8
    Boolit Master slim1836's Avatar
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    I just keep mine in an old wooden foot locker with desiccant packets in my shed. Has worked for years.

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  9. #9
    Boolit Master waco's Avatar
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    Why a dark place? The plastic containers are black. No light can get through them.....
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    Proverbs 1:7

  10. #10
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    just in case. might degrade the plastic. definitely get higher temps in a dark container in sunlight.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    Guy down the street keeps almost 100lbs at home, all of it in relatively inexpensive Coleman coolers that stack neatly. His thinking is that they provide good temp control and in case of a fire will simply burn away without risk to firefighters.

    He does the same with primers but throws a desiccant pack in with them.

  12. #12
    Boolit Master 15meter's Avatar
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    Final found where I had put the photos on the computer, sent from my phone to an email I may check once a month. Here is how I store my powder, a homemade box that sits on the floor away from all normal combustions sources, 1" wood walls, top just sits on top.

    Click image for larger version. 

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  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy
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    I use an old upright freezer that went out . Primers stored in there also with a desiccant pack. The door don't lock on it an opens easily

  14. #14
    Boolit Master Electric88's Avatar
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    Living in lower Michigan, I've often contemplated whether it would be a wise decision to store powder in the garage (not climate controlled) in a dark area. I keep it in a closet in the house now, but I would think it would be safer to keep it in the garage. I just wasn't sure if the temperature swings over normal weather conditions (avg of 82 degrees in summer to 15 degrees in winter, approximately) would cause the powder to deteriorate at an accelerated rate.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master 15meter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Electric88 View Post
    Living in lower Michigan, I've often contemplated whether it would be a wise decision to store powder in the garage (not climate controlled) in a dark area. I keep it in a closet in the house now, but I would think it would be safer to keep it in the garage. I just wasn't sure if the temperature swings over normal weather conditions (avg of 82 degrees in summer to 15 degrees in winter, approximately) would cause the powder to deteriorate at an accelerated rate.
    I am also in SE Michigan, see above wooden box, it is in an insulated semi heated building. It sits on the floor 35 feet from the nearest heat. Winter when I am not in the building and the heat is turned down it is probably 35-40 @ the box. Summer max is high 90's. Never had a problem with any powders stored in for the last 20 years. Just used up the last of a Hercules Blue Dot that dates to the 70's for some 375 H&H cast plinkers with no problems.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master MyFlatline's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Contenderman View Post
    Looking for info on storing your powder. Where do you keep it and in what. Some concern about fire hazards on keeping 10 lbs or so in the house. Opinions please Would a rifle safe help Thanks
    Why do you ONLY have ten pounds

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    I store in a wooden box in the corner of a basement room, bare cement on bottom and two sides, probably around 65 degrees all year long. An idea I've thought about is to mount a small water tank above the box , with some kind of temperature activated plug or valve on a hose that would flood the magazine if the room temp rose to a certain level. Any ideas?

  18. #18
    In Remembrance Reverend Al's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fecmech View Post
    The recommended storage container for powder is a wooden walled box with 1" thick walls and lid. You do NOT want a sealed metal container. The whole idea behind 1" thick wood walls is insulation during a fire to prevent heat transfer to the powder. This in turn gives residents time to exit the structure before powder ignites. Powder in a sealed metal container is a bomb. I made my magazine out of scrap 2 x 10's with a 1" thick plywood lid.
    It is also recommended that you nail the wooden storage box together rather than screw it together. In a worst case scenario if the powder does ignite it will pop the sides open to vent the burning gases rather than becoming a wooden "bomb" ...
    I may have passed my "Best Before" date, but I haven't reached my "Expiry" date!

  19. #19
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    You might also want to check what your state fire marshal's office has to say about storing powder. I suspect that many of us, legally, should have an external powder magazine based on state laws and the quantity of powder that we have on hand.
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  20. #20
    Boolit Master opos's Avatar
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    I have a great big old 9 drawer dresser in my office..I use the 3 top shelves for misc. clothing and the lower 6 drawers for powder storage...it's all heavy wood and I leave the front of the drawers just cracked ajar..it's dark and constant temp...no ignition source near it...the powder bottles lay on their sides..feels safe enough to me.

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