Percussion Cap & BP Shelf-Life?

[aprayinbear]

Hey Everyone,

With everyone worried about rising costs, I've been buying caps, balls and powder whenever I can afford it. I have a local store that bought 5 or 6 sleeves of #11's some time ago and no one seems to want them, but me. They are priced at around $3.50 a tin so I buy two or three whenever I can.

My question is..... Is there a "shelf-life for percussion caps and black powder?"

All Thoughts Welcome

 

[Mike OTDP]

Yes, but it's in the hundreds of years. I've got friends who have bought 200-year old guns, found they were loaded, pulled the loads...and found the powder still good.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Black gunpowder made with Potassium Nitrate, sulfur and charcoal is very stable. Black powder from loaded muskets from the Revolution and from cannon shells from the Civil War still go boom.

Most percussion caps I have seen have some kind of sealant over the ignition charge in the cap, so I suspect that shelf life, especially if kept in a closed tin, is reasonably long.

Question I have is, what is the shelf life of Pyrodex and Triple Seven black powder substitutes?

 

[husker]

i just finished a bottle pyrodex that i bought back in 90-91 it sat 1/3rd used up till last summer when i decided to by a new army 44 i had no probs at all. im sure it will out live any human

 

[whosyrdaddy]

I keep one tin of 10's and 11's out for use and vacuum seal my extras in a Food Saver bag. When I need a new tin, I just cut the bag off under the seal, remove what I need and re-vacuum/seal the bag. The bag gets a little shorter each time but is usable until it gets too short. I don't know if this helps, but I don't see how it can hurt.

 

[Magwa45]

I had some Navy Arms 1075 caps (#10) which were about 30 years old and they fired fine with my New Model Army recently.

 

[jack404]

My grandfather put down some BP in 1968

i test fired some of it in 2007 and it was fine

percussion caps i could not say

i prefer flinters

cheers

jack

 

[GENTLEMAN OF THE CHARCOAL]

Triple Seven ( at least the loose powder) Will last for years and years. Just make sure ( the best you can ) not to expose it to the air. All air has a certain amount of moisture in it.

 

[MutinousDoug]

I have some CCI#11's that are at least 10 years old that work fine in my long guns but result in at least one misfire per cylinder in my ROA. They fire fine the second time they are struck. I bought new tins of the same cap and no ROA mis-fires.
I believe the brisance is the same, but sensitivity is compromised as they age. I live in Colorado where the relative humidity is rarely over 30% and the tins are stored indoors. YMMV

 

[GENTLEMAN OF THE CHARCOAL]

I'm surprised that damned ol' ROA
don't misfire damned near every time you pull the trigger..!!!! Hee hee woooo!! ha ha chuckle snort snort guffaw!!

 

[MutinousDoug]

GOTC:
"I'm surprised that damned ol' ROA
don't misfire damned near every time you pull the trigger..!!!! Hee hee woooo!! ha ha chuckle snort snort guffaw!!"

Your problem with the ROA is misfiring? I think a solution is in my previous thread. YMMV