Mark 40
Member
Bought some 22LR a couple of days ago when someone posted about a sale at Academy with free shipping. That's the kind of thing that motivates me to buy whether I really need it of not.
You guys having ammo and powder going bad could you please state under what conditions is it stored in
The first time I noticed a problem was five old boxes of Remington Parabellum purchased in the mid-70's from a hardware store. At the time I was storing all my ammo in a cool dry linen closet. The stuff simply wouldn't function in the 21st century. I made some inquiries and the hardware store had obtained the ammo from a surplus dealer so who knows how it had been stored before I got it. I finally got around to salvaging the components (other than the powder) early last year. Same with some old Federal 12 gauge shot shells I purchased new, from Kmart, in the mid 1970's----the brass heads were rupturing on firing.You guys having ammo and powder going bad could you please state under what conditions is it stored in. I'm not having problems. Maybe it's just not old enough. Nothing over 10 years old. Maybe that's why I don't buy to last a life time. Things change.
First I'll start off by saying I don't hoard ammo and hate that others do,
Slamfire,
I've been curious about the shelf life of black powder as I've got a 1# can of Goex fffg from the mid 70's. It looks, smells, and behaves normally and it's been kept in a cool dry location, but even so it has been around for a long time. Being black powder there should be no nitrocellulose to outgas nor nitro glycerine to weep. The metal can in't corroded as far s I can see. Have you come across any info on storing BP?
Good to know. Thank you!I have not spent the time and effort studying blackpowder that I have studying gunpowder. Blackpowder is a mixture of charcoal, saltpeter, sulfur. I do not know the half lives of charcoal, saltpeter or sulphur.
Archeologists find charcoal that is thousands of not hundreds of thousands of years old. I remember reading Archeologists dating 60,000 year old camp sites in Australia. I don't remember how they date the stuff. Sulfur is an element, volcanoes belch the stuff, seems to be a very stable element. Saltpeter is potassium nitrate. This web site claims a five year shelf life, http://www.romil.com/Data/Products/Shelf-Lives/Shelf-Life-SAR.pdf, Wiki says "Stability and ReactivityStability: Stable under ordinary conditions of use and storage" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_nitrate_(data_page) The stuff is found naturally: A major natural source of potassium nitrate was the deposits crystallizing from cave walls and the accumulations of bat guano in caves. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_nitrate
I have heard, and I have not investigated further, that if blackpowder is kept dry, it is for all practical purposes immortal. This seems reasonable based on the composition.
I do know that if you spend a little time searching, you will find deaths due to Civil War Ordnance. This was before nitrocellulose guncotton and the explosive shells of the era were loaded with black powder. Blackpowder is very stable when kept dry and very dangerous if dry. It does not take much to ignite blackpowder. The first time I came across a death to Civil War Ordnance was in the 1970's. I kept a newspaper clipping about an explosion in an antique shop in Gettysburg PA. The Antique Dealer had a dug up CW shell and was doing something with it in his shop. Killed him, and if I recall, a customer in the shop.The last CW fatality is still decades ahead of us.
Virginia Man Killed In Civil War Cannonball Blast
http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/05/02/virginia-man-killed-in-civil-war-cannonball-blast.html
I have not spent the time and effort studying blackpowder that I have studying gunpowder. Blackpowder is a mixture of charcoal, saltpeter, sulfur. I do not know the half lives of charcoal, saltpeter or sulphur.
Archeologists find charcoal that is thousands of not hundreds of thousands of years old. I remember reading Archeologists dating 60,000 year old camp sites in Australia. I don't remember how they date the stuff. Sulfur is an element, volcanoes belch the stuff, seems to be a very stable element. Saltpeter is potassium nitrate. This web site claims a five year shelf life, http://www.romil.com/Data/Products/Shelf-Lives/Shelf-Life-SAR.pdf, Wiki says "Stability and ReactivityStability: Stable under ordinary conditions of use and storage" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_nitrate_(data_page) The stuff is found naturally: A major natural source of potassium nitrate was the deposits crystallizing from cave walls and the accumulations of bat guano in caves. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_nitrate
I have heard, and I have not investigated further, that if blackpowder is kept dry, it is for all practical purposes immortal. This seems reasonable based on the composition.
I do know that if you spend a little time searching, you will find deaths due to Civil War Ordnance. This was before nitrocellulose guncotton and the explosive shells of the era were loaded with black powder. Blackpowder is very stable when kept dry and very dangerous if dry. It does not take much to ignite blackpowder. The first time I came across a death to Civil War Ordnance was in the 1970's. I kept a newspaper clipping about an explosion in an antique shop in Gettysburg PA. The Antique Dealer had a dug up CW shell and was doing something with it in his shop. Killed him, and if I recall, a customer in the shop.The last CW fatality is still decades ahead of us.
Virginia Man Killed In Civil War Cannonball Blast
http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/05/02/virginia-man-killed-in-civil-war-cannonball-blast.html
I recently purchased some ammo on Monday. First I'll start off by saying I don't hoard ammo and hate that others do, but I have enough boxes to last about four sessions at range. I bought my next years supply and did so in a hurry expecting a shortage and price hike soon due to the most recent events. Im curious how many others did, but probably know that answer.
Side note, I had to call the supplier and get credited the difference in sale price vs retail price they were gonna charge me. Apparently because of a glich in their system they were charging customers full price and not sales price quoted.
A few years ago, a local school had to be evacuated after discovering some old Civil War era cannonball shells in a box. Military sent EOD personnel to gather them up--when detonated--at least one of them was still live.
You guys with the cash (and legal age) following the '08, Newtown tragedy, and chance of a Hillary victory had plenty of chances to buy extra ammo.
If you had the opportunity there was absolutely no reason to postpone it.