Good afternoon.
New guy here, but I've been hand loading since the 1970s. I broke my leg last summer and have been laid up since July. I recently decided to restart ammo production and when I opened my power storage box I found that the lid on a canister of IMR 4451 had completely disintegrated. All that remained of the lid was a reddish dust at the bottom of the box and some red film that must have been the paint on the lid. I probed the dust with a pick and found nothing sold. The lid had dissolved.
The metal lids on the rest of the canisters in the storage bin showed serious degradation as well.
I contacted Hodgdon and was told the powder had gone bad due to excess heat. They also advised discarding the powder in the damaged canisters. I have disposed of all of it.
I'm writing this because I keep reloading supplies in a semi climate controlled garage. The maximum temperatures it sees are in the upper 80s to perhaps 90 on the rare occasion. The Hodgdon rep's position was they make no claims regarding powder shelf life and the 90 is too hot.
I don't know if my experience is a one - off or closer to the norm. That said, be advised, that some of these powders seem exceptionally sensitive to storage temperature.
New guy here, but I've been hand loading since the 1970s. I broke my leg last summer and have been laid up since July. I recently decided to restart ammo production and when I opened my power storage box I found that the lid on a canister of IMR 4451 had completely disintegrated. All that remained of the lid was a reddish dust at the bottom of the box and some red film that must have been the paint on the lid. I probed the dust with a pick and found nothing sold. The lid had dissolved.
The metal lids on the rest of the canisters in the storage bin showed serious degradation as well.
I contacted Hodgdon and was told the powder had gone bad due to excess heat. They also advised discarding the powder in the damaged canisters. I have disposed of all of it.
I'm writing this because I keep reloading supplies in a semi climate controlled garage. The maximum temperatures it sees are in the upper 80s to perhaps 90 on the rare occasion. The Hodgdon rep's position was they make no claims regarding powder shelf life and the 90 is too hot.
I don't know if my experience is a one - off or closer to the norm. That said, be advised, that some of these powders seem exceptionally sensitive to storage temperature.