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BP Storage ??


Chancy Shot, SASS #67163

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Just bought 11 pounds of WANO FFg.  It came in 2 plastic bags.  After I open one, what is the best way to store it.  That 5.5 lb bag should last me through the winter so I am asking about long term storage.  My first thought was Folgers coffee containers, but I don't know if they are good enough.

 

What say the fire?

 

Chancy

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I'd leave it in the plastic bag and place that bag in a waterproof, airtight container. Military cans are plentiful and you may already own a few.

 

https://www.amazon.com/MAGNUM-53540-Metal-Ammo-Piece/dp/B01FTWNLAO

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Or if you have a used 8# plastic bottle that smokeless powder now comes in, it's the same plastic that many of the BP companies are using for powder.   Clean any residual smokeless out of it, remove existing labels and relabel it to show contents. 

 

I would avoid a mechanically-sealed metal box for BP, just in case it ever went off.   It is supposed to have a way to vent the pressure.  

 

Storage is best at room temperature and on the dry side of humidity.   Although BP has been known to work after 50 years or more sitting in old barns!

 

Good luck, GJ

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Unless you want a bomb DO NOT store BP in a sealed steel ammo can. Do as GJ suggested or better yet put the original plastic bag inside a ziplock bag and then store it in a PLASTIC Ammo Can

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5 minutes ago, Goody, SASS #26190 said:

Because plastic won't turn into shrapnel, right?

 

A plastic ammo can likely will fail at a lower pressure than a plastic powder bottle. However, the pressures generated in a plastic ammo can before it fails will be orders of magnitude lower than those needed to rupture a steel ammo can.

 

 

 

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27 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

A plastic ammo can likely will fail at a lower pressure than a plastic powder bottle. However, the pressures generated in a plastic ammo can before it fails will be orders of magnitude lower than those needed to rupture a steel ammo can.

 

 

 

Bottom line is the only truly safe way is to dig a pit in the backyard and store all ammo, powder, primers in a sealed powder magazine. 

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That much powder the area you live in may have rules on how it must be stored.  Where I live anything over 5# has to be keep in a powder magazine build to county specs.  

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I bought 25 pounds once in a plastic bag in a cardboard box at Friendship. I was told it was firecracker powder. I think I paid a dollar per pound for it. There was no consistency to it at all. It was dirty and went from dust to 1F.  It worked great for SASS shooting. I put it into one pound cans my friends saved for me and stored them in a small floor safe in my shop. Wish I could find some more of it at those prices.

Lucky

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Someone I know was doing the Atkins(?) Diet, I think it was, and I inherited a bunch of their big Styrofoam shipping containers.  With a bit of care (these containers are brittle) and low usage I have been able to use these for years and they have kept the powder in extremely good shape through otherwise being kept under poor storage conditions, garages and attics.  I consider tightly insulated containers to be the next best thing to an old kaput chest freezer for keeping powder usable under long storage periods.  I also keep my primers stored in these type containers BUT well away from where my powders and ammo proper are stored.

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16 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

Unless you want a bomb DO NOT store BP in a sealed steel ammo can. Do as GJ suggeted or better yet put the original plastic bag inside a ziplock bag and then store it in a PLASTIC Ammo Can

X2!

OLG

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15 hours ago, Goody, SASS #26190 said:

Bottom line is the only truly safe way is to dig a pit in the backyard and store all ammo, powder, primers in a sealed powder magazine. 

The gasoline in you car, in the garage attached to your house is 100x more explosive! 

OLG

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1 hour ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

The gasoline in you car, in the garage attached to your house is 100x more explosive! 

OLG

And your point? Mine was all of the alternatives being suggested for my original post and none of them were giving the the most safe way. But whatever, it's all just opinions anyway. And we all know about opinions and certain body parts, right? 

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2 hours ago, Goody, SASS #26190 said:

And your point? Mine was all of the alternatives being suggested for my original post and none of them were giving the the most safe way. But whatever, it's all just opinions anyway. And we all know about opinions and certain body parts, right? 

 

I've seen what different explosives can do in hands-on training and recertification when I transported boomers for Uncle Sugar.

One if the most impressive explosions you'll ever see is a 5gal can of gasoline. ;)

Just don't store BP in a metal box. Even the makers have stopped doing this.

OLG

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Hmmm....... BP used to, for more years than it hasn't, come in metal cans.   The original container should be fine unless stored outdoors.  Always remember, if something were to happen to you tomorrow, would ANYONE be able to properly identify the contents of the container?  

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OP did not get cans with the powder!

 

Quote

WANO FFg.  It came in 2 plastic bags.

 

Strongly agree with labeling whatever containers are used.   As I stated above.

 

Good luck, GJ

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If you ever have a fire make sure the Fire Department that shows up knows there is black powder there.   Be ready for them to not fight the fire, but to move everyone back in case the powder explodes.  That is if you have under one pound or one hundred pounds.  If you have over a set amount you can face both state and fed charges if not stored in an approved way.  For me it is a 3'x3'x3' concert box in the ground with a wood roof, concert must be a min of 12" reinforced with rebar.  The concert box forces the blast up where the wood is soft and blows out of the way.  It must be locked unless you are in it getting powder.

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