How old is your oldest powder?

[Catpop]

My IMR 3031 dates back to 1973! The year I started reloading 35 Remington for my 1964 Marlin 336.

 

[Another_Kelley]

 

[old heeler]

When I was shooting BR, I purchase 8-8lb of surplus IMR-8208 and early 90's 4-8lb of Brigadier 3032 and I still have some.

The IMR-8208 I paid $40 for 8lb's and about same for 3032.

 

[db_tanker]

I have some HS7, 231 and 2520 that all are from the 90s if I recall. The only thing I did to ensure they keep proper is to transfer then over to a glass container that seals well. No issues at all.

 

[NapalmMan67]

Inherited some, but don't know how old they are. It's either F or FF in oval steel cans about the size of a flask, don't believe there's any bar codes on them. Also have a partial steel can of Red Dot that has the press on/off lid, and with it I load 6 rounds of .38 Special every year and shoot in memory of my Grandfather.

 

[hk940]

I recently had an 8 lb (Metal) can of 4350 that I got from a friend who got out of reloading years ago.
When I opened it up there was a lot of red rust residue mixed in with the powder.
It smelled fine so i just sifted out the rust and put the powder in plastic containers. I doubt I would use it, maybe as a last resort.
I still have some Bullseye in the metal can with the metal snap top I got 40? years ago, stills smell fresh.

 

[EMC45]

I have (and had) some paper sack 3031 that shoots great. I also have about 7-8 cans of H4895 like the poster above put a pic up of. I have 3 unopened square cans of Hercules Bullseye, Unique and 2400. It is all good. I plan to shoot it all up.

I also was given about 3-4 pounds of WIN500HS. Loads like HS5 and shoots fine. Probably from the 50s.

 

[Reloadron]

Most of what I have that I would use is pretty much early 90s. I have older and I should go through it and just pitch it. I really should look at the old IMR cans and see what some of the stuff is. The 4895 and 4064 I'll use but I am not sure what some of the rest of it even is. I need to start cleaning house on some of this stuff.

Recently I was in a thread and the subject of black powder came up. I remembered I had 5 one Lb cans I have had since the maybe mid 90s. I posted that anyone near Cleveland, Ohio who wanted it could have it. No clue what it would do in a house fire but since I had no use for it and never will I offered it for free to a good home. A fellow from a few towns over was at my door the next day after we exchanged a few PMs. He was real happy and I think I was relieved I finally got rid of it.

Ron

 

[Dirk Pitt]

Small tangent here, if you do have bad powder what do you do with it? (Regardless of type). I read somewhere a long time ago to put it in your garden / lawn. It makes a good fertilizer. Just put it in the area needed and add some water. I have done this and it does work. It is a very expensive fertilizer but it’s a good way to get rid of it safely.

Or you can make a pile and throw a match on it, that works too. Just be careful with that. The fertilizer route is much safer.

 

[Reloadron]

Small tangent here, if you do have bad powder what do you do with it? (Regardless of type). I read somewhere a long time ago to put it in your garden / lawn. It makes a good fertilizer. Just put it in the area needed and add some water. I have done this and it does work. It is a very expensive fertilizer but it’s a good way to get rid of it safely.

Or you can make a pile and throw a match on it, that works too. Just be careful with that. The fertilizer route is much safer.

That's about it. When powder has gone south you can't very well load it so you toss it. May as well be expensive fertilizer.

Ron

 

[Swampman]

I found this can of powder at a garage sale, I think I paid $2 for it back when I first started reloading, I stored it properly.
I was using it for .223s & the powder in the top of the paper can was nice & black like it is supposed to be. But as I got to the bottom it started to change color. It still shot good, so I wasn't worried, it was just for plinking rounds anyway.

View attachment 965588 Old Can, check out the price on the side of the can.

View attachment 965589 some of the kernels are turning red & green

View attachment 965590 I found the bottom of the can was rusty, I guess it wasn't always stored properly.

You need to get a reloading manual and read up on danger signs of smokeless powder.

When "some of the kernels are turning red & green", it's like a blinking neon sign that says DON'T USE ME, PROPERLY DISPOSE OF ME IMMEDIATELY!

If you have any ammunition that may be loaded with that powder, I suggest that you find and destroy it ASAP.

 

[Fatelvis]

The only powder I have seen go bad in my 35 years of reloading, was pull down Russian 4895-like stuff from GI Brass. I loaded off of a 8lb hug of it for a few years, and it shot well, but after sitting untouched for about 15 yrs, it showed the telltale red dust and foul smell, making me dispose of it.

 

[Ironicaintit]

I just opened up a “new”, previously unopened metal can of IMR4198 that has to be early 80s. smells good, and the interior of the can is still bright and shiny.

 

[doubleh]

I don't remember exactly. I'm currently shooting up a 3# keg of Winchester 230 that been obsolete for years. I bought it sometime in the early seventies. I managed to stick in back on a shelf and it was covered up for years, so long that I had forgotten I even had it. It still smells like it should and still shoots just like it did when I first bought it as far as I can tell.

 

[mkl]

Back in the early 1960's I bought 4831 by the pound and delivered in paper sack by the local gun and hardware store. I believe it was originally developed for use in the Oerlikon cannon [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oerlikon_20_mm_cannon]. The shop owner had a 50 or 75 pound drum of the stuff and would go back in the store with a flour scoop and a paper sack. He weighed out as many pounds as I wanted and charged around a dollar a pound as I recall.

I'm pretty sure that the stuff was WWII production and I shot the last of it around 1990. Always stored at room temperature and humidity when I had it. Most accurate power I ever found for my .243 Win.

Bottom line is that powder can last from a few years to almost forever depending on a lot of variables. I've read that some 300 year old black powder still works fine.

 

[hdwhit]

How old is your oldest powder?
Have you ever had powder go bad and why?

My oldest powder is approximately 42 years old.

I have not had any powder "go bad" in the sense of giving off sufficient acidic fumes to corrode a metal canister or erode a cardboard container.

I have had a container of Hercules Green Dot deteriorate to the point that when loaded it produced only 40% of the velocity it had produced when new, but it still smelled fresh when opened. This should be a cautionary tale; always test old powders with a few test rounds to see if it truly had changed its properties.

Other than that, I have not had any powder "go bad" nor have I had any powder deliver velocities less than 10% below when it was new (and I have tested powders from canisters bought new in 1982-1983 and later when the remainder was loaded in 2016-2018).

The long delays were not intentional. They were largely a consequence of the fact I developed Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and was effectively handicapped for many years.