Powder still good???

G

greyhnd33

New member
I purchased a container of Clean Shot FFFG 9 yrs ago. Shot about 50 round worth and still have the remaining powder. It has been kept closed and in a cool air-conditioned home. Is there a way to tell if the powder is still ok to shoot in my .36 cal. Cap & Ball revolver?
Thanks for any help you can give me!
 
I'm still working on can of Pyrodex that was opened when I got it and the guy who gave it to me said it was about 20 years old. Yours is probably fine.
 
Black powder does not age out. I should be good, if it has not experienced heavy moisture, temperature swings and such.

Load a bit, tamp a TIGHT wad and try a round (no bullet.) It will work just fine.

Pops
 
Not sure about the loose powder but recently tried to shoot some Clean-Shot pellets, about this same age and what a great adventure that was. Some actually went down range like a rocket and spiraling. Too much of the pellet was burning outside the barrel. So distracting that I don't even know if I hit the target. Had more than my share of hangfires as well as mis-fires. Switched to the loose 777 and finished with that just fine. I personally think that you will have less of an age problem with BP or Pyrodex. Let us know how you make out.

My shot string was as follow:
.50 Cal. In-Line single-shot pistol W/12" barrel.
1 - 50Grn. Clean-Shot pellet
.50cal. PRB.
#11 Magnum Primer.

By the way, smell your powder and see if it smells like Molassas.

Be Safe !!!
 
Load it, shoot it, enjoy. I have powder that makes yours look like brand spanking new. For 20 years while I was in Illinois, (Chicago suburbs), I couldn't shoot so I wasn't reloading. Out of mothballs now and my supply is dwindling fast. Both FFg and FFFg and they were stored in storage sheds not temp controlled. Doesn't seem to have bothered it much as far as I can tell, my same loading data from the late 70's still work today.
 
I've heard of powder being loaded in rifle barrels during the Civil War and still being good when they were dug up over 100 years later. There was a story in the local paper about 30 years ago about a farmer that dug up a Springfield barrel on his farm and thought it would be good to fix a broken gate hinge with. Stuck the breech in his forge and when it heated up it went off and the .58 minie ball hit him in the head killing him instantly. I personally found an original 58 Remington in an old barn with all six chambers loaded. I pulled the balls and fired the powder out of a repro with no problems. I dunno how long it had hung in the barn but it was in pretty poor condition. It freed up without much trouble and I even shot it a few times but it was pitted up real bad. The chambers were the only part that weren't rusted.
 
I've kept some Clean Shot fffg tightly sealed and only open it very briefly.
It's never failed to fire with full power.
Others have reported problems with it absorbing moisture, but I think that it might get noticiably gummy if that happens.
 
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Some of the boys are talking about the longevity of black powder. Black powder lasts forever.

You are talking about the sub Clean Shot.
I have heard that it does not age well.

Just load up a charge and try it out, worst case, you will have to pull 5 balls.
 
I have a couple of buddies in California that got a hold of some German brass cartridges from the late 1800s. It was a very large caliber, just smaller than a 45/70. They broke it down and everyone said it was the cleanest black powder they had ever seen. How they broke it down scarred me. They would open a bdnch vise about 2 or 3 inches and lay the round across it and strike it in the middle with a cold chisel. It would break in half and the powder would fall into a pan. They broke down many cases like this and never had an accident.
 
You are talking about the sub Clean Shot.
I have heard that it does not age well.
Click to expand...
My point exactly and not exclusive to Clean-Shot. The other Sub BP propellants can be suspect as well. I have contacted two different manufacturers on the subject of shelf life and got no replies. Again, we are not talking about BP or Pyrodex, but Clean-Shot.


Be Safe !!!
 
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take it out and pour it on a white peice of paper, mush it around on the paper with your thumb and pour it back into the container, if it leaves a stain on the paper it has been left in too humid\hot of an environment for too long.
 
Powder NO Good!

I did as instructed and it has turned from Tan to black and it is very clumpy. I went to Buffalo Bills in Orlando, FL. and got me a pond of real Black Powder. I should be good for quite some time now.
Thanks for everyones help!
 
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