Powder with Red dust. Metal can vs Plastic

2

243winxb

New member
Has anyone had red dust form in the newer High-density polyethylene or HDPE powder bottles?? I have come in contact with 3 powders containing red dust. Some surplus 4831, IMR 4895 & IMR 4198, but all were stored in orginal metal containers. Thank you.
th_IMR4895_20090928_1.jpg
 
Good pictures in this thread, I would say the red dust on the outside of the can came from the lid.

Have you ever had modern smokeless powder go bad?

http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=6&f=42&t=332006

I had some H5010 powder go bad earlier this year. I purchased four pounds of this powder second hand so I can't be sure how it was stored prior to me acquiring it (I'm guessing by the lot # that is was made in 1994), but I did check to make sure each bottle was sealed. I then stored it a trunk inside for just over a year. When I found the powder, it had been about four months or so since I last looked in the trunk and was a little surprised to say the least. The smell was very noticeable as I opened the trunk and it didn't take long to see where it was coming from. As you can see from the pics, one bottle was way gone and a second was going bad as well. The two on the right seemed alright and were still sealed, but I didn't want to take a chance on them as I figured 220 grs of bad powder in a 50 cal may not be too forgiving.

I was curious how the powder looked and after scraping was was left of the lid and seeing a small but visible green cloud dissipate, I found the powder was almost one solid lump that I had to break apart. I also wanted to see how this stuff would burn was surprised to find that the powder would barely smolder when held to direct flame. The other three bottles all seemed to have similar, normal burn rates.

As a side note, I had always read that powder made a good fertilizer, but if your powder looks as bad as the one in the pics, don't put it on any plants that you care about. My good intentions were not enough to keep my wife from being mad at me for killing some of her roses
Click to expand...













It is my recollection that I had red dust inside a jug surplus IMR 4895. The powder was inside an antifreeze bottle. It was fuming nitric acid gas. I did not know what that meant at the time, but I figured out it was bad. I gave that bottle away and the next guy poured it out on his lawn.
 
Last edited:
No, but I have found red rust in metal cans, I loaded a few rounds with the 'bad' powder, it worked but was not worth the risk on a good barrel. to buy time I moved the powder to the plastic container, then disposed of the powder. The inside of the metal can was rusty.

F. Guffey
 
Powder with red dust

Never run across any. Looks like that can may have a story to tell.
Looks like it's been converted to a pepper shaker. Which probably isn't a bad idea. Got several empty bottles that I've been trying to figure what to do with. You can only use so many beer mugs. :) Idaho Gaiters
 
Last edited:
And speaking of metal and plastic containers. Is there a reason not to store in metal containers? Many years ago, maybe some still do, powder came in metal containers. I'm guessing the switch to plastic was an economical reason.
 
Is there a reason not to store in metal containers? Many years ago, maybe some still do, powder came in metal containers
Click to expand...

Among the small group of reloaders in the area the metal can mattered. When Hodgdon took on IMR/DuPont and Winchester there was concern Hodgdon would go to plastic bottles for IMR. I called, they said there was no choice and it had nothing to do with rust. They said it had to do with availability of metal cans. They said they checked for manufacturers of metal cans like the ones used by IMR, they said there was only one manufacturer. They thought the risk was too high for something going wrong with a plan to continue the use of metal cans.

Metal or plastic. Then there is the assemble line, one line for metal, the other for plastic.

Then there are the gallon jugs. A poor choice for storage.

F. Guffey
 
I had some H5010 powder go bad earlier this year. I purchased four pounds of this powder second hand so I can't be sure how it was stored prior to me acquiring it (I'm guessing by the lot # that is was made in 1994), but I did check to make sure each bottle was sealed.
Click to expand...

Again, then there was the plastic white jugs the powder was distributed in. The plastic fatigued, who knows? from what. Atmospheric changes, the life cycle of the plastic, could have been caused by heat and then cold, I do not know. Left/ignored, the jug will disappear, I suggest moving the 5010 type powder to small containers 'immediately' or we can continue with the horror stories.

F. Guffey
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top