Odd powder deteration

[6901]

I don't often use 4198 but I have a pound I bought in the early 90's. I opened it today and got the red rusty dust. This has been stored in my dehumidified temperature controlled basement the entire time.
However in the early 80's I was given several hundred 25/06 reloads that were not labeled. They had been stored in a garage for years. Based on the source they were loaded in the 1960's. I pulled them down and based on looks I thought it to be 4350. I loaded it as such and it acted that way. That powder is still good.

Odd..

[dilly]

Not really sure if this matters or not, but do you store your powder in an area where the sun h its it through a window?

Sometimes you just can't predict how stuff is going to play out in real life.

[higgins]

If the powder still smells OK, see if the red dust is attracted to a magnet. I had a can of powder once that I thought had gone bad and the red dust turned out to be rust from the inside of the old-style IMR can. Mine too had been stored in a temperature-controlled, dry basement.

[Blackwater]

All sorts of things happen in factories. The can may have had some solvent spill on it and then been put back in line to be filled, thus having any rust preventative removed and set it up for later rust/deterioration/solvent leaking out, etc. Sometimes, it's just luck of the draw as stated above.

[6901]

My powder is stored in a wooden cabinet.