Old powder, primers?

[Zotter]

A friend of my Dad passed.

In the left overs, there were 3 unopened 1lb canisters of Unique powder - 1 opened lb bottle of HS-6 and an opened can of W-231. Also, were 2K of CCI small pistol primers.

The unopened containers are still factory sealed.

Now, the gotchya - it was all 'new' in 1980. Yup - this stuff is about 30 years old.

Do I dare do anything other than fireworks and sparklies with any of it? I figure the opened containers are for the 'fire pit' - but the sealed stuff? Primers?

Loading .45ACP, 9mm and 40s&w now.

 

[zxcvbob]

Open 'em up and give them the sniff test. It's probably all good, but I understand where you're coming from about the opened containers.

 

[Zotter]

OK - 'n00b' colors come'n out. (Just finished my 2nd hundred rounds last night!)

"Sniff test"?

What's a good smell? I mean other than that wonderful acrid perfume of fired smokeless, that is.

 

[zxcvbob]

It should smell slightly like ether or acetone. (also OK if there's no smell at all) If it smells sour and if it's covered in red dust, scatter it on your lawn.

 

[Zotter]

I like that - even this ol Mountain boy can follow that logic. "If it smells bad, it's bad".

Thanks!

The primers likely OK, maybe?

 

[1moa@500]

I have several thousand Alcan primers that I guess is from the late sixties or early seventies. I have yet to have a round fail to go off. I was given a lot of old powder in its original container that dates from the mid seventies. It still has that lovely smell to it. If it has been stored in its original container and not been exposed to moisture it more than likely is still good. Shoot away after a visual inspection of the open containers and load the unopened stuff like you stole it

 

[WatongaJim]

I'm still using 25 year old rifle primers that my FIL gave me. Haven't had a problem with them yet. The sealed powders should be good. I've read somewhere that the appearance of the powders will indicate if they are okay but I can't remember what to look for.

 

[Zotter]

Gentlemen - thank you!

I used the search here on the board - found nothing useful. But, did a similar search using google and had several 'hits' back here to THR. Your opinions and advice are soundly echoed by several others!

Thanks again! Time to load.

 

[Randy1911]

It will last a very long time if stored properly. I have shot stuff in the last year that was loaded in 1957. There were no problems.

 

[evan price]

As long as the powder smells OK it's probably OK. I got given a 5# metal can of powder recently that I know has been stored for 20 years, and it still smells and looks as fresh as new.

If kept in a cool, dry place, powder can last almost indefinitely.

Primers- I bought a case of Federal small rifle primers that were so old they didn't have bar codes- in the old style, small packages. They all went POP just fine.