buying opened older used powders

[9w1911]

Found a lot of used powder today, some very old but unopened, some from the 90s but opened, no major rust on any of the cans.
what say ye powder lords?

[jakharath]

Howdy, I'm so tight I squeak when I walk. I usually only use old powders that I know what they look/smell like. Unique, for example, I picked up a few old opened kegs of it. Looked (right shape, color, etc...) and smelled right. So loaded up some light loads in 38 special. Shot them in a 357 Mag. Also loaded some new Unique along side with the same recipes to compare. The ran fine, upped the load and tested again. All was fine. Then moved over to my bread and butter caliber, 45ACP and did it over.

Recently finished up an 8 (?) pounder that was older than I am. All shot fine.

[Teddy (punchie)]

smell and color of powder?

Get someone with a good nose. Have them smell it. Should have a nice clean smell, liken to alcohol but, an other way to say it a clean chemical smell. If it smells like pee, or sour it is good to just burn it up. Color should be grayish black some darker then others.

We just had a thread on powders that went bad. What 4064 and some other rod powders.

[9w1911]

All the powders looked and smelled fine, just one can of old Bullseye looked too rusted out for me to trust, everything else was as is, extruded powders in the 4350, 3031, 4831. There were some older new H870 and H322 unopened, but there was a brown ring around the top of the seals. I am not desperate, but I damn sure want to see what 40yo 4064 is like. I just love powder, its a problem really.

[freebullet]

If you have to ask you maybe shouldn't be doin it. I'd be real cautious.

[labradigger1]

I have bought quite a bit of powder that was old or already open. Usually 5-8# kegs. Smell, color, can condition and storage condition is always a requirement. I usually start with starting grains and work up. So far i have never had a bad batch. I would not even consider anything repackaged or not in its origonal canister.
Lab

[fryboy]

I just love powder, its a problem really.


eh ... it's only a problem when there isnt any :-P

if it passes the visual and the smell test and is priced right go for it , i learned alot about powder by buying misc. flats of it at auctions where no one else would buy it ( did i mention i did it cheap as well ? lolz ) it did allow me to try many that i never had as well as fertilize some lawn
had a buddy once find several pounds of old old black powder that was still fine and i personally just finished using a cardboard tube container of herco , i'd love to find a few old metal kegs of say unique or red dot ( still full lolz )

[Garyshome]

I have used some old stuff and it worked well for me! I think if the container is in good shape the powder may be OK, kind of hard to tell.

[winchester85]

i have powder that i bought 17 years ago, still looks, smells, and shoots like it did 17 years ago.

[9w1911]

So I opened the Unique last night, I knew it would not last a day..it is as clean as a whistle powder looks like it was made yesterday. Partially I was thinking because this can is so nice that it is a remake of an older can, then there are people trying to sell the empty cans on ebay for 35.00!!!
I will be loading some today I think, now I just have to figure out what to trade for the rest of the lot.
But if I do get this lot I will be donating some to a member here, he would get such a kick out of these old cans and stuff

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

One tip I will offer anyone who is buying partially used/opened containers of powder. Besides the smell test...Pour out a tablespoon sized sample of the powder onto a paper plate or such, make sure the granules are uniform (to hopefully detect if it's more than one powder mixed together) and compare it to a new canister of the same powder, if that's impossible, post a photo here, someone will probably be able to help.

[FLHTC]

I've got powder from the 50's that was given to me and it shoots fine

[Nicholas]

Opened cans have the possibility of mixed powders and spurious (dangerous) results. Sealed cans of powder last a long time. I am sure some of my Blue Dot is 30 years old and still good. However, it does not seem to be the same as modern Blue Dot that I also have and so I label it as Old Blue Dot. It does not show any signs of deterioration so I am guessing the burn rates differ.

[JSnover]

I think I'd go one step further and weigh it against a known good sample: say 2cc of new 4350 against 2cc of whatever is in the opened can labeled "4350."

[shooterg]

I traded for a metal(25 lb. size) can of Red Dot. About 7 lbs. left in it. I loaded some .45ACP to test and they run fine. Have plenty of other old powders to use up first(Winchester 230P, 450LS) first so I hope it stays good until I get to it ! Offered it to a shotgun guy for $100, he said that was too much. Since it does run the .45 fine, glad he didn't take it.

When did they quit selling the metal 25 Lb. size ? Inquiring mind would like to know !