Old gunpowder

[Khornet]

a buddy moved into a smaller place and had to get rid of his excess reloading supplies, including some he'd inherited from his dad.

There was lots of IMR 4895, 4064, W748, and Unique.
Some of the IMR cans had price stickers still in them: $6.95!!
I poured samples from each into a bowl. The opened $6.95 cans had a brown discoloration and lots of dust. These I'll destroy.
There are several IMR cans with $15.95 price tags and unopened. These contain fresh-looking powder, still shiny black. These I'll use.

The 748 and Unique cans, some opened, some not, no price tags, all smell fine and the powder still looks bright and shiny with no dust. These I'll use also.

Do you think the appearance is a reliable guide, especially in unopened cans?

Right now I have 5 lb of powder to dispose of. Good for the lawn, of course.

 

[hawkeye1]

I'm not sure. I have a 5 pound can of Alcan7. I am not sure how old it is but I have had it for quite a while. I have always been told that if it looks OK, and it does not have a sour acrid smell it should be OK. Not sure

Any one out there know anything concrete?

 

[FieroCDSP]

The ones that were unopened should be perfecty fine, as sealed powders last a long time. I think your assessment is probably right. The dusty/discolored powders are bad, and as long as they don't have an acidic smell, the ones that look good should be. You could always do a side-by-side with a known good can, but really, if they look the same they should be good.

 

[Khornet]

That's what I did

compare with known good cans. The ones I kept looked the same.