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Author
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Topic: How long..
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Lone Howl
Free Trial Platinum Member & part-time language police
Member # 29
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posted October 17, 2016 11:56 AM
..does gunpowder keep? I have different ones that are anywhere from 10-20 years old? How safe would you feel about using them, assuming they were stored well.
Mark
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When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty.
Posts: 2083 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2003
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TRnCO
FUTURE HALL OF FAMER
Member # 690
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posted October 17, 2016 12:09 PM
I had some shotgun powder that was given to me years ago. It came in a 5 gallon metal can and still had a few pounds in it when it was given to me. I used it up with no ill effects. I hate to guess how old it was when I acquired it.
I was always told that you should be able to smell it and look at it and have a good idea if it's bad? Not sure what to look for, but I think it kept dry it lasts a long long time.
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Is it hunting season yet? I hate summer!
Posts: 996 | From: Elizabeth, CO | Registered: Aug 2005
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Lone Howl
Free Trial Platinum Member & part-time language police
Member # 29
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posted October 17, 2016 12:40 PM
Yep, a lot of what I have is the 5 pound cans of shotgun powder. Still has the "smell". I have always kept all of my stuff in a cool dry place.
Mark
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When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty.
Posts: 2083 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2003
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted October 17, 2016 01:07 PM
I think it depends a lot on storage conditions. But it "can" last for a long, long, long time.
I still have some surplus 4831 that was reclaimed from WWII ammo. My Dad bought a big paper grocery sack full of it from Bruce Hogdon, himself, at a gun show. I think before I was born. Dad put it in plastic bags inside coffee cans and I still have part of a coffee can full. It still looks and smells fine and I wouldn't hesitate to use it.
Gawd only knows how old it was when Dad bought it 50 years ago.
I'm sure it helps that we live in a very dry climate and it has always been stored out of direct light and close to but not touching concrete slabs/foundations where the temp is very stable year round and never gets very warm.
I have powder I bought myself 30 years ago that is still good too.
All that said, I had a can of IMR go bad once, too. Wasn't that old, maybe 10 years. Opened it to use it and was greeted with an ammonia smell. It looked rusty.
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted October 17, 2016 01:57 PM
Yeah, I agree with that. Mostly, the stuff will store for years. I suppose it depends on conditions, not only where and how you keep it but in the various stages of the supply train which you have no control over.
I just might have a few odds and ends, stuff I presently have no application, could be 30 years old? The smell is a clue good or bad. Normally, it has a kind of ether smell and although I have never experienced it personally, they say it's an acid odor. It will also look different, maybe a whitish or yellowish powder mixed it with the normal kernels or flakes, as the case may be. Have also heard the term, "rusty".
I'd say, if it looks and smells ok, it's ok. Probably nothing to lose any sleep over, odds are you will never see it, IF you are even moderately careful, storage wise.
When it come to loaded ammunition, I think it gets even better, the main issue I have come across from time to time is the brass case, and probably not the propellant inside.
You know, something I think about every time I drive through Hawthorne, Nevada. All those bunkers out there might have mines and cannon shells and whatever, but there is also probably TONS of 4831 and Ball C2! I have flown over that area and the extent of the storage and the scattered bunkers is amazing.
I mean, maybe they inventory all that stuff every month, but I doubt it? I bought some World War II 45Auto birdshot cartridges at a yard sale a while back. It certainly looked like it was produced in 1944, or so? But, you know what? I bet it will shoot just fine, if I ever get around to it. 70 years old! Even if I don't, it's still kinda cool.
Good hunting. El Bee
[ October 17, 2016, 02:00 PM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31459 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Moe
Knows what it's all about
Member # 4494
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posted October 19, 2016 08:24 PM
Heat is modern gun powder's worst enemy. Take off the cap and smell it. Bad powder has a bad smell to it. You all know what good powder smells like.
Last year I was shooting some very old Dupont IMR 4895 and it worked great.
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I snatch kisses. And vice versa.
Posts: 593 | From: Oregon | Registered: Nov 2013
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