Help with powder ID

[Dr. Sandman]

Greetings. I am new to muzzleloading. I want to take a shot at the muzzleloader deer season in a few weeks. I bought a gun and some (a bunch, actually) extra stuff at the pawn shop. I thought it seemed like a really good deal. The box of extra stuff had three unlabeled bottles of what I think is black powder substitute. Two were Mountain Dew bottles and the other was nail polish remover. Can anybody help with an ID of this powder? Any guesses? Also, what is the harm of shooting the wrong black powder substitute in the wrong gun (like shooting FFFG in an FFG)? Thanks in advance!
Dr. Sandman
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[Dr. Sandman]

Here is another picture. Also, the package came with a bunch of primers in a plastic vitamin bottle. Is there a better way to store them? Thanks.

 

[72coupe]

I can't tell much from the picture but it looks like smokeless pistol powder to me. DON'T USE IT.

It is always a bad idea to use unknown powder.

 

[noelf2]

End piles look like fffg black powder and middle looks like ffffg. Burn a little pile of it outside away from the rest of the powder. If it burns super quick (poof) and smells like rotten eggs (sulfur) it's probably black powder. Still, IMHO, it would be better served in the garden.

 

[Jim Watson]

Considering that the board will usually recommend discarding powder from an opened powder can, I am not confident of the contents of a Mountain Dew bottle or even a nail polish remover bottle.

Primers loose in a bottle are sometimes known as a hand grenade.

 

[Realist]

"When in doubt - throw it out."
You only have to be wrong once to injure yourself.
Cabela's sells black powder for ~ $20.00/pound...

 

[mavracer]

Also, what is the harm of shooting the wrong black powder substitute in the wrong gun (like shooting FFFG in an FFG)?

Could range from nothing to catastropic failure resulting in the shooters death.
Your choice????

 

[DD4lifeusmc]

powder

DO NOT USE THAT POWDER!!

it is a complete unknown.
HOW MUCH IS YOUR LIFE WORTH???

take it out back dissolve it in water and throw it away (responsibly).

new stuff is only $20 to $25 a pound.

If that old stuff just happened to be smokeless or mixed. You not only risking hurting / killing yourself but anybody near by.
As our buddy Forrest Gump used to say, "Stupid is as stupid does"!

 

[mykeal]

I think the consensus is pretty clear on the first question: discard the powder - it isn't worth the risk of serious injury.

On the second question - what's the harm in shooting a black powder with a granulation different than the recommended one for the gun? - mavracer has it half right. The effect is different performance than what you expect - faster or slower velocity/energy and degraded (perhaps) accuracy. His catastrophic failure scenario is pretty far-fetched, however. I suppose that in the limit that's possible - like using 4f in a cannon, for instance - but changing one level of granulation is not going to have a catastrophic result.

 

[EljaySL]

Apparently it makes pretty good lawn fertilizer.

It's a shame with the mysterious old powder - it's definitely something you run into occasionally and it's just not worth the risk. If there's a mishap even if nobody is injured the value of one decent gun versus the powder - the numbers don't make the risk worth it even if you're almost positive you know what you have.

And really every time I read about the stuff people used to do like spike their powder with a bit of smokeless - who knows, those could have been the "failed experiment" containers.

 

[Hellgate]

It's either BP or a sub that would be loaded volume for volume like BP. It looks like BP or Pyrodex. To light off some small piles to watch and smell should tell you if it is a BP or BP sub. Smokeless or bulk will burn slower without the pall of white smoke.

 

[Zeke/PA]

Dump the stuff!

 

[Loyalist Dave]

The irrersponsible thing to do would be to get a long piece of cannon fuze, put all of the powder in the Sodapop plastic bottle, poke a hole in the plastic cap, put the fuze through the hole, and put the cap on the bottle of powder, light the fuze and get about 50 yards away and wait.

Otherwise, don't think about using it in a gun.

LD

 

[Palehorseman]

I look at such strange powders the same as I do unknown reloaded ammo, I pass on it and dump.

 

[MEHavey]

...three unlabeled bottles...

Oooooooh Boy....Get rid of it ASAP.
(Sprinkle out on the lawn/watch it grow)
Just thinking about it makes me nevous.






post: Out of curiousity, what was the firearm that came with all this?

 

[alsaqr]

Chunk the stuff.

 

[44 Dave]

I would dump it "out back"and stick some fuse in the pile and light it.
The fuse I have burns 22sec./foot so you won't get your hair singed.

 

[Sunray]

You cannot tell anything other than its colour about any powder by just looking at it. If you don't know what it is, pitch it. You really need to talk to the owner of that pawn shop about his unsafe practices too.

 

[72coupe]

There is an old IMR smokeless powder called "PB". It looks just like 2F black powder but produces smokeless powder presssure. I used it for years in mid range 44 magnum loads.

I am pretty sure it would blow up most black powder guns.