old powder
- Thread starter 1m4
- Start date
I just reloaded a lot of pistol rounds with some Bullseye & Unique in the old, round silver & orange cardboard containers. It looked fine but had a faint smell of mothballs from where it had been stored in a closet for decades. I loaded a few rouds with each to check if the "naphthalene" (the stinky ingredient in mothballs) had done anything. It hadnt so I loaded the whole lot up & it shot perfectly well, it didn't even stink of burning mothballs!
Storage conditions is going to be key here though. Stored in a closet the mothball smell had permiated the cardboard, so will humidity & so on. Try just a few & if they work go for it.
Storage conditions is going to be key here though. Stored in a closet the mothball smell had permiated the cardboard, so will humidity & so on. Try just a few & if they work go for it.
I still have a partial can of H335 that I bought back in 1973 to load for my then brand new .308 Win. About 6 month ago I used it to work up some 250 gr. bullet loads in a .35 Whelen and it worked just fine. H335 is a double base powder and I'm thinking they store much better than the single based powders like IMR4350 and others of that type. I've had one can of IMR4350 go bad but a can of W748 was still good.Both cans had gotten stuck behind some stuff and I don't know just how many years they were there out in my hot shed in the summer and cold in the winter. I foud them and when I opened them, the 4350 was a gaoner, red dust and bad stench. The 748 was just fine and I've sicne shot that pound of powder up in loads for the .308. If it smells good, try it. I thik it should be OK.
Paul B.
Paul B.
SauerGrapes
New member
I have some old Herco I've been loading that someone gave me, works fine for plinking loads. I hadn't seen one of those old containers in years....
Jeremiah/Az
New member
I have some old Red, Green & Blue Dot left from the 1960's when I started reloading, that I use every once in a while. It works just fine, but it has always been inside & dry.
g.willikers
New member
Boy we're a cheapie bunch.
Er, I mean not prone to wastefulness.
The only powder I can remember disposing of had been out in an unattached building for quite a few years, only about a quarter full.
It smelled suspicious, too, kind of vinegary.
When a very small amount was lighted, it burned funny.
That might be an easy way to check.
(notice the emphasis on "very small amount")
A couple of my not often used powders, in 1 lb containers, are nearly twenty years old and are still just fine.
Er, I mean not prone to wastefulness.
The only powder I can remember disposing of had been out in an unattached building for quite a few years, only about a quarter full.
It smelled suspicious, too, kind of vinegary.
When a very small amount was lighted, it burned funny.
That might be an easy way to check.
(notice the emphasis on "very small amount")
A couple of my not often used powders, in 1 lb containers, are nearly twenty years old and are still just fine.
BPowderkeg
Moderator
i have about 8 lbs. of W-W452AA in a heavy paper container, stored in a powder safe, i think it was originally a 12 lb. container that i bought around 1970 when i was on a Navy trap'n skeet team at USNAS Miramar CA. i was seriously into trap and skeet shooting (no, i never thought about cooking those birds 
) i am getting into trap after 36 years absence, i shot some of the trap loads they seem just fine and the powder smells just as it did 40+ years ago.
) i am getting into trap after 36 years absence, i shot some of the trap loads they seem just fine and the powder smells just as it did 40+ years ago.