Chrongraph results for BE/2400 score

[fecmech]

I spent some time testing my BE and 2400 that I picked up recently. The Bullseye seems to have aged well with the oldest being identical to the brand new 4 lb keg and all pretty uniform. The old 2400 did not fare so well as it was really slow and the uniformity of the different 2400's left much to be desired. The loads were all shot the same day out of a 6" Ruger gp100 and the stats are on each can. All are 10 shot strings. The 38 spl load was 4.2/BE/158 H&G RN in Mil cases Fed SP primer. The .357 load was 13.5/2400/Fed SP prime/Fed case at 1.638 OAL. The 70's era 2400 seemed the hottest while the really old can seems to have lost it's MOJO. All cans were oldest to newest left to right with the exception of the cardboard can of 2400, it should switch with the can on it's right. Newest 2400 and BE are 2009 manufacture. The cardboard can and one on it's right were factory sealed new, I opened them, all the BE had been opened before I got them.

[rollmyown]

Interesting results. On the surface of it, seems that these powders have to be 40 plus years old to significantly run out of puff. Any idea how well or badly these powders have been stored?. Do they all still smell and look good?

[fecmech]

They all smelled and looked good. The Bullseye is uniform and looks pretty good to me. The 2400 seems to be less uniform and as I said in the original post it looks like the oldest 2400 has deteriorated. When I was doing the shooting I noticed the oldest 2400 had a distinctly different smelling smoke than the other 2400's even though it's ballistics were as uniform as the new 2400. Both powders came from the same place so maybe 2400 does not age as well as BE.

[felix]

True. BE would last longer (theoretically) because of its 30 percent nitroglycerin, as opposed to 2400's 10 percent. ... felix

[TCLouis]

The different smell from the 2400 could well be from a different formulation. It must be ok, or the measured results would have "off".