Getting rid of powder: What do you do with old subs?

[cas]

I've gotten rid of plenty of old questionable smokeless powder simple enough. Either sprinkling in on the lawn or in the bushes, or even pouring it out and lighting it. But what about black powder substitutes?

I have all sorts of subs that were my own or belonged to family members no longer with us. Fairly new, to 30+ years old. Pyrodex, 777, Clean Shot, APP, maybe even some of the newer products. I no longer us it and won't again.

So what do I do with it? Same thing, spread it around? "The solution to pollution is dilution."

Maybe take it out on the water in the spring and shake them out?


Don't say "get some fuse". ;)

[pietro]

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Dump it in a sandy area, like a gravel pit, and burn it.

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[AlHunt]

I don't know anything about black powder, but is giving it away an option? Seems a shame to waste it.

[brewer12345]

You can give it away or gradually sprinkle it on the lawn for fertilizer. I had a pound of pyrodex that I was able to give away to someone who was happy to get it. The black mz I will dispose of by shooting it.

[cas]

Much of it is very old and was poorly stored in a damp location. I don't think giving it away is a good idea.

[flyingmonkey35]

Burn it

Sprinkle it on your lawn.


Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Martin Luber]

Give it away, with a note that it's old/ unverified.

not sure it spoils.

[Harter66]

Pour it in a pan and burn it .

[rking22]

Give it away, or throw it out we’ll spread on the grass, don’t burn it. Wayne Mayes would still be alive if he had not followed that bad advice. Multi time national champion skeet shooter, died of complications of burns from burning old powder.

[Bazoo]

If it is very slightly damp, or been stored in damp, it can be dried easily enough. Might be worth the trouble to a muzzleloader fan to try a few different powders without buying a whole pound. Just have to find the right person.

[gumbo333]

Didn't you watch any old Daniel Boone movies? How they poured a little trail of black powder to blow up a keg of black powder, lit the trail and it fizzed its way to the keg. Kerblewie. Just lay out a little trail of powder, maybe a neat design, and light it. Or slowly dump it in a river.

[cas]

There's a couple cans of pellets, those I guess will need to go in the drink. I don't think spreading those on the lawn will work. lol


I've burned plenty of smokeless, pouring it out in long thin lines and burning it. The novelty wore of fast and the rest became fertilizer.

[NSB]

Don’t listen to anyone telling you to burn it. I had a person working for me one time that tried that and he was off work for weeks. He burned his face really bad and he looked like he got a fateful of blowtorch. I don’t know why anyone would tell you to burn it. Giving bad advice seems to come easy to some people.

[Beerd]

If it is very slightly damp, or been stored in damp, it can be dried easily enough. Might be worth the trouble to a muzzleloader fan to try a few different powders without buying a whole pound. Just have to find the right person.

might work with real black powder but not so much with substitutes like the OP has.

..

[Bazoo]

I never tried to dry any out so forgive my ignorance. Why would it not work if they had just absorbed moisture from the air? I am under the impression smokeless powders can be dried. With mention here several times of original unique being stored under water at the factory, with samples dried out occasionally for testing.

[Hellgate]

Members of our gun club often just set out unwanted powders, primers and bullets on a table in the clubhouse for anyone to scrounge up. I find that quite generous rather that torching it. Most people know that giveaway gear may be old and less functional but being free is great.

[country gent]

I would spread it out in a low travel area away from buildings or equipment. Another way would be to mix in water and let dissolve for a few days then sprinkle it in same areas. A pound to 4-5 gallons of water would really spread it out. I also would consider passing it along with a solid warning / description of what it is.

Burning powder especially the subs is not a good idea, to much risk of injury.

[Harter66]

I would unfortunately take it for granted that the burn option would be understood not to stand over the main well vented body of the powder mass .

If you decide to burn it , do so in accordance with all state and local ordinances .

In practice ;

Lay it out on open ground without ignitable mat'l at hand .

Use a wide shallow body of the bulk of the powder an pour a long ignition trail well out from the main body .

Light the ignition trail at arm's length from the opposite end as the main body of powder .

Once lit step back farther from the trail several feet in the opposite direction from the main body .

Do Not burn it inside the cans .

Do Not leave the cans near the main body .

Dispose of containers in accordance with all state and local ordinances .

Many areas have an amnesty disposal source that may be via FD , law enforcement , or military installation .

Dumping it in any body of water is a terrible idea for so many , it's unlikely to cause any damage , you're going to jail anyway reasons .

God help you if you shake it out on the lawn and that one neighbor with the cigarette is having an improbably bad day , because sure as Hades he'll be the one that lights up the whole lawn , flower bed , and sets off the methane in the storm drain .

Maybe you should should get a 4+ foot post hole auger and place one each open can in the bottom of each hole and let nature take its course . If you are in able to locate an amnesty disposal .

[onelight]

Don’t listen to anyone telling you to burn it. I had a person working for me one time that tried that and he was off work for weeks. He burned his face really bad and he looked like he got a fateful of blowtorch. I don’t know why anyone would tell you to burn it. Giving bad advice seems to come easy to some people.
You can't fix stupid , you don't make a big pile and lean over it to light it off.
But then you can't assume every one has common sense.

[dondiego]

Know anyone with a cannon or a mortar?

[Skipper]

Save it for July 4th

274037

[Beerd]

I never tried to dry any out so forgive my ignorance. Why would it not work if they had just absorbed moisture from the air? I am under the impression smokeless powders can be dried. With mention here several times of original unique being stored under water at the factory, with samples dried out occasionally for testing.

Today it was ME that learned something. Thanks!
..

[mack1]

Don’t listen to anyone telling you to burn it. I had a person working for me one time that tried that and he was off work for weeks. He burned his face really bad and he looked like he got a fateful of blowtorch. I don’t know why anyone would tell you to burn it. Giving bad advice seems to come easy to some people.
What will it do unexpectedly? I would guess there will be a large ball of fire upward and slightly outward depending on the amount of it in the pile. One would not want to contain it in any way.

[mooman76]

It doesn't burn slow like you see on TV. I forgot matches once camping and thought I would use it to start a fire. Used the car lighter. I ended up burning my hand from the flash. Not bad but enough that I could feel it awhile. Worst part was it flash burned so quick, it didn't start the fire. That was just a small amount. If I was to burn it I'd use something like a fireplace match, something long that I could keep away from the powder when lighting.

[indian joe]

What will it do unexpectedly? I would guess there will be a large ball of fire upward and slightly outward depending on the amount of it in the pile. One would not want to contain it in any way.

Burning it is fine - the results are predictable - quite safe if its done with respect for the material and a modicum of common sense - but I am amazed there are still people alive who would stand over a pile and drop a match on it - its gunpowder for gosh sakes ! These are the same folk who blew grandmas stove apart trying to rekindle the fire with gasoline. Cant fix stupid!

[indian joe]

It doesn't burn slow like you see on TV. I forgot matches once camping and thought I would use it to start a fire. Used the car lighter. I ended up burning my hand from the flash. Not bad but enough that I could feel it awhile. Worst part was it flash burned so quick, it didn't start the fire. That was just a small amount. If I was to burn it I'd use something like a fireplace match, something long that I could keep away from the powder when lighting.

still too close to the action !!!! need to run a trail at least a metre long then something like a piece of paper to get a slow start

[Brassmonkey]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBgJqLYRKL8

This is how I disposed of gunpowder residue swept up at indoor ranges.

[LAGS]

After WW2 , my late father in law was in the Philippines.
He was assigned to take bags of powder off Navy Ships and dispose of it.
Some of it had got wet during battles , other was just considered out of date or surplus.
He said they took the bags and put them in dump trucks opened up.
They would drive down the beach and dump a long line of powder about 6 feet wide about a half mile long.
Then they would ignite it with a flare gun.
He said it was a nice site to watch it burn down the beach, especially at night.
He said they did that for over a month.

[WRideout]

When I belonged to an 8" cannon battalion of the CA Army National Guard, burning unused powder increments was a routine event after a weekend of firing. This was all bags of large-grained smokeless with some black-powder flash suppressors thrown in. The drill was to lay the bags down in a line, and light the end bag. Piling it up leads to possible detonation, or at least a massive flash fire. All the soldiers involved had the good sense to stay a good distance back.

On another tack, dumping powder into any body of water is likely a violation of state or federal environmental regulations. Due to the high nitrogen content it is a superb nutrient, which makes it a problem for places like Chesapeake Bay. I haven't been in the environmental field for a few years now, but when I processed hazardous waste for disposal, one of the permitted methods for facilities that disposed of explosive, reactive material was open-burn open detonation. Composting it with leaves, grass, etc. can work but it takes some time, and would be a fire hazard until it is used up degrading the cellulose. Stump remover that you can buy at a big box store is potassium nitrate.

An alternative that no one has mentioned is to contact your local fire department. They may actually be able to use it for training, or in any case, have the knowledge to properly dispose of it.

Wayne

[Bazoo]

Fire crackers made out of coke bottle caps and black tape with cannon fuse, is a possible use. Provided one is interested in noise.

[green mountain boy]

got any stumps to remove ?

[higgins]

Didn't you watch any old Daniel Boone movies? How they poured a little trail of black powder to blow up a keg of black powder, lit the trail and it fizzed its way to the keg. Kerblewie.

I had seen those movies, so when my grandfather gave me a powder horn I wanted to burn the powder left in the horn. I was about 14 at the time and didn't realize how quickly BP burns. I dribbled out a short trail and piled up the rest of it. When I struck the match the whole thing went up in one whoosh. Apparently the sparks from the match were enough to set it off. I was lucky; all I got was singed hair on the back of my hand and left arm. We live and learn.

[sharps4590]

This has become WAY too complicated.

Smokeless powder reverts to nitrogen thus the good fertilizer. Most BP subs are fructose based, sugar. I doubt there's anything in it that is a contaminate. Spread it on your lawn if you want, it isn't going fertilize anything but it won't hurt anything either. Burning it would be easy AND SAFE enough unless someone is a complete idiot. I still think I'd give it away with the warning of its storage history.

[waksupi]

Know anyone with a cannon or a mortar?

Ha! We tried that at shoot a few years ago. We have a candy cannon, essentially a mortar, with about a 5" bore. Someone had a can of Pyrodex to get rid of. The guy loading put in the equivalent volume as we use for black powder. He lit the fuse, and we all expected it to act like BP. Nope. It kind of went "bloop", raising the payload just past the muzzle of the mortar, dumping the candy around the base of the mortar. We got a good laugh out of it, and went back to BP.

[dondiego]

Ha! We tried that at shoot a few years ago. We have a candy cannon, essentially a mortar, with about a 5" bore. Someone had a can of Pyrodex to get rid of. The guy loading put in the equivalent volume as we use for black powder. He lit the fuse, and we all expected it to act like BP. Nope. It kind of went "bloop", raising the payload just past the muzzle of the mortar, dumping the candy around the base of the mortar. We got a good laugh out of it, and went back to BP.

Got rid of the powder safely though and you even got a free laugh!

[triggerhappy243]

I've gotten rid of plenty of old questionable smokeless powder simple enough. Either sprinkling in on the lawn or in the bushes, or even pouring it out and lighting it. But what about black powder substitutes?

I have all sorts of subs that were my own or belonged to family members no longer with us. Fairly new, to 30+ years old. Pyrodex, 777, Clean Shot, APP, maybe even some of the newer products. I no longer us it and won't again.

So what do I do with it? Same thing, spread it around? "The solution to pollution is dilution."

Maybe take it out on the water in the spring and shake them out?


Don't say "get some fuse". ;)

CAS, i can not beleive that this powder is bad and unuseable. I use pyrodex and have used it back to 1981. still works fine. if it is moldy, well, that is bad.

[cas]

The pyrodex could be brand spanking new, I still wouldn't use it. :D

[rking22]

Time may come that folk would really, really like to have some kind of powder. Waste not want not, wish I lived close by, I’d happily take your”problem” off your hands.

[JSnover]

With mention here several times of original unique being stored under water at the factory, with samples dried out occasionally for testing.

As I understand it, the original containers were sealed/water tight to keep the powder dry. The underwater storage was to reduce temperature fluctuations in long term storage.

[Bent Ramrod]

I bang all the odds&ends of BP substitutes, salvaged black powder from cartridges, and the like in cap&ball pistols. Lots of extra shooting for cheap.