Korupt Karl Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 A friend called me....he was helping clear out his Grandfathers's basement.....found 8 tins of powder, 500#'s of lead and misc. I know what to do with the lead, the question is about the powder. If the tins are intact is there any concern about powder that is probably 40+ years old. He also said there is equipment for bullet making but could not really say much more. I'll get to see it in the spring when I get back from Florida. KK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peddler Parsons SASS # 31281 Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 If it is black powder and been keep in the dry and a cool place it shoud be ok, you do not say what type it is, even the smokless whould be ok also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Scatterbrain Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 If it smells okay and can be positively identified, it is probably good to go. Work up slowly, yadda yadda... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ol poke SASS 57567 Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 Howdy Karl! What kind of powder? I had a friend give me 6 lbs of Goex in old rusty cans - had the squarish G on the can - had to use a wrench to unscrew the cap, and a wooden dowel to break the powder up to pour. The dowl even punched thru the side and bottom of the cans a few times in the process. This stuff was pretty old, though probably not 40 yrs!! After I got it all crumbled up to a powder and loaded, it went BOOM every time. Merry Christmas! ol'poke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoken D Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 About 2 years ago finished up a can of DuPont AA Black Powder from 1952. Was really good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Louis Suomi SASS #31905 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Howdy: If it is smokeless and it has been kept cool and dry, it can last for 40 years. Check for a acrid smell. If it smells acrid, dump in the back yard and water down. I have stuff from Korea and late WWII and it is still good. STL Suomi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widder, SASS #59054 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 KK: I had some 30 yr old reloaded .44 mags and the powder was H110. I also had some 30+ yr hold H110 still in the original container. I reloaded some newer rounds with the 30+ yr old H110 and I took them, along with the 30 yr old reloads, and chronographed em. Couldn't tell a bit of difference in their performance which in fact, was still top notch stuff. If its been kept correctly, its should still be good stuff. ..........Widder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adirondack Jack, SASS #53440 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Key word is basement. If it's bad, yer likely gonna know because the cans will be rotten. If the cans look OK, and it smells like "normal" powder, and LOOKS right for the type (ya know what bullseye looks like VS stick rifle powder VS little discs like Unique??) use it. More'n one reloader around using "Hercules Bullseye" in the metal can with a press-in lid. (That's old.....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branchwater Jack SASS #88854 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I received about 10 pounds of Red Dot when my father in law passed a few years ago. My wife remembered it sitting in the same place all her life. Best we could tell, the stuff was 30-35 years old. One thing that I did notice, with Red Dot, is that their process may have changed over the years on this particular powder. I had been told that by quite a few folks, although I cannot find the reference now. I located some period manuals from a yard sale and the recipes were different than today, usually by a half grain or so - if memory serves correctly. All the reloading manuals that I have include a section on determining if powder is still good or not. if it is in a basement in FLA, you may want to be careful because of the humidity. YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adirondack Jack, SASS #53440 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I received about 10 pounds of Red Dot when my father in law passed a few years ago. My wife remembered it sitting in the same place all her life. Best we could tell, the stuff was 30-35 years old. One thing that I did notice, with Red Dot, is that their process may have changed over the years on this particular powder. I had been told that by quite a few folks, although I cannot find the reference now. I located some period manuals from a yard sale and the recipes were different than today, usually by a half grain or so - if memory serves correctly. All the reloading manuals that I have include a section on determining if powder is still good or not. if it is in a basement in FLA, you may want to be careful because of the humidity. YMMV. There's NOTHING in what few basements there are in FL over 10 years old They get "rinsed out" every so often. But KK's "home" is in Indiana, which is another kettle of fish entirely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Rick, SASS #49739L Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 That's why I keep old reloading manuals from the manufacturers around. You run across that stuff once in a while and it is usually good to shoot. CR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangler Jones, SASS # 64178 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 What AJ said - there ain't hardly any basements in Florida; precious few here in Texas, either. Basements are a Yankee invention. Like others said, if it's smokeless, check for loading data of the appropriate vintage, as the recipe may have changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacknife Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 What is a basement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Ray Hality, SASS# 37355 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 What is a basement? Its a cool dry hole in the ground under yer house where you can keep all yer stuff for a loooooong time! And the wife don't mess with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.