Some Old (new to me powders)

Lee Q. Loader

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These old containers of powder were given to me by a trusted friend. As shown in the pic, I've recently purchased and currently use the powders given me. All the older containers were still sealed, I opened them and they pass the "white paper" and "smell" tests.

When I finish with the new containers I've already opened, I plan to use the older powders and I plan to treat them as I would any new lot of powder, start with min load data and work up.
I just thought I'd see if anyone sees a problem with that.
Are the powders still the same and is it safe to use them with current load data from Hodgdon and Alliant?
Thanks
 
Are the powders still the same and is it safe to use them with current load data from Hodgdon and Alliant?

Not if, as you say, you start low and work up between each can of powder. Unique has gone through a few changes, but nothing earth shattering. I think IMR3031 is actually cut shorter, now, than it used to be... but I may be thinking of another powder.
 
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These old containers of powder were given to me by a trusted friend. As shown in the pic, I've recently purchased and currently use the powders given me. All the older containers were still sealed, I opened them and they pass the "white paper" and "smell" tests.

When I finish with the new containers I've already opened, I plan to use the older powders and I plan to treat them as I would any new lot of powder, start with min load data and work up.
I just thought I'd see if anyone sees a problem with that.
Are the powders still the same and is it safe to use them with current load data from Hodgdon and Alliant?
Thanks
Good plan. I suspect you will find typical lot-to-lot variations and nothing more.
 
I just got done using some old powder I bought very cheap at our last swap meet being Du Pont/IMR 4756, 4759 and 4227 and Winchester Western 231 . All powder was sealed and smelled good all of it shot fine .
I forgot how much I liked 4759 and 4756 they were in DuPont cans as was the 4227 . I paid $50.00 for 6 pounds of powder but I knew the guy that was selling it so I was not afraid of it. Turned out to be a good deal.
 
Run them, but not in anything you plan to shelf for an extended period of time. The metal and cardboard are 1990s at the newest, which I'm embarrassed to say at this point in my life, was quite some time ago! DuPont 3031 is older, before my time.

Put 'em in the blammo pile!

The 3 plastic cans are quite modern, and I would treat those as "almost new"
 
I just finished about 4# of Win 452AA, and wish I had more for .38 special loads. It was left over from trap shooting in the 1970s.
 
Nice score!
Unique and 3031 are my favorites.
The new 3031 is indeed cut shorter than the OG version, but acts pretty much the same as the old. Its my favorite for 223/5.56 in a gas gun.

It was only a year or so ago that i used the last of my cardboard cartoned Unique and switched to the "new" stuff. I retested and my loads in 9x19, 357mag and 45acp remained unchanged.
Superb pistol powder
 
The cardboard Unique would be the only suspect in my mind since it’s a double base pistol powder. (Although it does have a double dose of stabilizers) I’ll second Random 8’s recommendation to not use it in stash ammo. The 3031 is a score!
 
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I have all of those powders in those containers except for the 296. Treat each can of powder as a whole new powder, especially the old ones. They vary slightly from lot to lot and they age differently from lot to lot, so they SHOULD be the same, they MAY BE very different, they PROBABLY ARE pretty similar. But still need to be treated as whole new powders.

As a good move for the future, find something that you like for multiple calibers and buy it in bulk so that you don’t have to keep changing. I personally like 3031 for a lot of lower pressure rifle rounds and bullseye for a lot of pistol rounds just because of it’s versatility.
 
Are the powders still the same and is it safe to use them with current load data from Hodgdon and Alliant?
To my knowledge published load data doesn’t have an expiration date. It also doesn’t show when it was done nor the batch number. That’s my clue for old or new powders.
Am I really that old that I remember using all those containers, and… still have them?
 
As an interesting note somewhat related to this thread, a friend cleaned out his grandpa's attic and found a box of old reloading stuff. 38-40 and 38-55 Lyman nut cracker, a bullet mold, and a can of unique, and some UMC primers. Also included in the box was a Sears&Roebuck receipt from the late 1920s. Assuming the powder and primers were of the ones indicated on the receipt, as the packaging was period correct. Storage was imperfect at best.

The powder smelled and looked normal. As an experiment I loaded a few of the primers and some of the unique into a rather sedate .38 Spl cast load and fired them in my very stout Henry Single shot. The primers were 50/50, but the ones that did go off produced "normal" .38 SPL loads. I did not have any sophisticated equipment to quantify the results, just a good bang-thwack.

I've had less than 20 year powder go bad (Viht N140) and I've successfully loaded and fired 80 year old powder. Treat each can as an individual, and follow good logistics protocol of expending oldest first.
 
Indeed, load up the old metal can stuff first is what I'd do....however if the powder is still good after 40 years, I'd have no reason to believe it wouldn't last another 40 years if stored correctly.....but why chance it if you don't need to.
Terrific score.
 
Indeed, load up the old metal can stuff first is what I'd do....however if the powder is still good after 40 years, I'd have no reason to believe it wouldn't last another 40 years if stored correctly.....but why chance it if you don't need to.
Terrific score.


All smokeless powder deteriorates. Just because an old lot is good today doesn’t mean it’ll be good next month. New powder is good for a bare minimum of 10 years unless it’s severely abused in regard to storage (elevated temperatures and/or presence of moisture) The only way to tell for sure is measure the remaining level of stabilizers like the military does.
If memory serves, they test it every 10 years for the first 30 years then 5 year intervals. The cutoff is 0.2% diphenylamine or equivalent.
 
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The big thing is to determine if the powders have started to detoriate. Searches on the internet can provide the signs that powder is beginning to deteriorate (oder and change in color of the powder).

If stored properly, they will last a good long time., Among a group of handgun cartridges, i like Unique for my 20 and 28 ga skeet loads. I had some powder that was over 10 years or so old that had not deteriorated and still worked fine.

Ditto with Winchester 296 but it is a bit more dicey. If in doubt or concerned, fertilize your garden with it and play it safe.
 
View attachment 1244413
These old containers of powder were given to me by a trusted friend. As shown in the pic, I've recently purchased and currently use the powders given me. All the older containers were still sealed, I opened them and they pass the "white paper" and "smell" tests.

When I finish with the new containers I've already opened, I plan to use the older powders and I plan to treat them as I would any new lot of powder, start with min load data and work up.
I just thought I'd see if anyone sees a problem with that.
Are the powders still the same and is it safe to use them with current load data from Hodgdon and Alliant?
Thanks
Great picture. I love old stuff.
 
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