Powder shelf life

[Markbo]

I figure this is probably the best forum for this question, Admin if not please feel free to move.

My question is pretty simple. Modern smokeless powders only. What is a good estimate on shelf life in 2 storage conditions: 1 inside the house where it is temperature controlled and garage where it can go from freezing in the winter to 115° in the Summer.

I know... you can sometimes smell when a powder has 'gone off' but I am curious about long term storage time.

[Reload3006]

I have some powder that I know is close to 40 yrs old. still good. but it has always been stored in the basement. Cool Dry.

[Moonman]

Cool and Dry for long term storage.

[williamwaco]

I figure this is probably the best forum for this question, Admin if not please feel free to move.

My question is pretty simple. Modern smokeless powders only. What is a good estimate on shelf life in 2 storage conditions: 1 inside the house where it is temperature controlled and garage where it can go from freezing in the winter to 115° in the Summer.

I know... you can sometimes smell when a powder has 'gone off' but I am curious about long term storage time.

These are WAGS:
But based on experience.

Inside the house: 100 years
In the garage 50 - 100 years.

I have a few hundred .38 specials that were loaded by myself in May 1972. They were stored in a garage in Texas in a .30 cal ammo can from 1972 to 2010. ( 38 years )

Outside temperatures ranged from -4 to 118 degrees Fahrenheit during that period.

The ammo shoots as good today as the day I loaded it. And yes, I have pulled a couple of bullets. The powder shows no sign of deterioration ( nor does the 50/50 alox beeswax lube) .

[DODGEM250]

I have a can of Pyrodex P powder for my .32 muzzleoader and my date on the bottle is 12/21/2001 and it worked just fine last week.

[fcvan]

Properly stored (cool, dry, no wild temp swings) and powder should last a considerable time. I read a piece recently that there is some Unique stored and periodically tested to be within current specs. The powder has been stored around 100 years.

Dad bought a 15lb keg of Unique back in the 70s. He kept it stored in the basement. Anyway, my dad sent the keg to us boys a couple years ago and we loaded up the last 8lbs in the keg. nary a problem with performance of the powder even when comparing to a newer batch recently purchased.

Last fall, my cousin gave us an 8lb keg of Bullseye he had scored some time ago. You have to love the old cardboard kegs they used to come in. Nowadays, they are in 4lb and 8lb plastic jugs, not a round paper keg. We are keeping the old kegs after they are emptied as they are just cool looking. Frank

[Reload3006]

Properly stored (cool, dry, no wild temp swings) and powder should last a considerable time. I read a piece recently that there is some Unique stored and periodically tested to be within current specs. The powder has been stored around 100 years.

Dad bought a 15lb keg of Unique back in the 70s. He kept it stored in the basement. Anyway, my dad sent the keg to us boys a couple years ago and we loaded up the last 8lbs in the keg. nary a problem with performance of the powder even when comparing to a newer batch recently purchased.

Last fall, my cousin gave us an 8lb keg of Bullseye he had scored some time ago. You have to love the old cardboard kegs they used to come in. Nowadays, they are in 4lb and 8lb plastic jugs, not a round paper keg. We are keeping the old kegs after they are emptied as they are just cool looking. Frank

lol I have some old Hercules cardboard kegs left lol I miss em. The new plastic jugs are kewl and all but i miss the nostalgia of the cardboard Kegs.... I dont miss the leaky spout on them though LOL

[greyling22]

I'm still using up some trap 14 powder that is roughly 40 years old. Shot some 38's we found when my grandfather kicked off about 5 years ago. About half fired. According to the box, he'd loaded them in 1948. I'd never seen 38's with a large primer pocket before.

[fcvan]

lol I have some old Hercules cardboard kegs left lol I miss em. The new plastic jugs are kewl and all but i miss the nostalgia of the cardboard Kegs.... I dont miss the leaky spout on them though LOL

I wasn't referring to the 1lb canisters with the plastic spouts, I mean the 8 and 15lb kegs that were 9 or 10 inches around, with a cardboard slip-top. We always lewft a dixie cup in the keg for pouring powder into the powder measure. If I get rambunctious I might have to take a picture and post. Frank

[Reload3006]

I knew what you were talking about.

[cajun shooter]

Smokeless powder does have the weakness of storage problems as opposed to black powder which is as good 300 years after it was made.
Direct sunlight, high humidity, excessive dampness and so on. It will still shoot if submitted to these conditions but may lose it's ability to perform as expected.
I had a bear trip to Quebec in 2004 and loaded my ammo in the heat of a Louisiana summer. I used a Remington 300 SAUM loaded with RL-22. The ammo would shoot groups that could easily be covered with a Quarter after Three to five shots.
When we arrived in Quebec it was in the 40's and raining. We went to the range as required to recheck our POA. I was shocked when I fired and my bullet hit over 16 inches low. I 'm not bragging but I was a trained sniper and firearms instructor for many years and have many long range targets that could be as small as a dime.
We were very lucky to be in the company of another hunter who was a 1000 yard rifle champion.
He and I talked and when I told him my load as he was looking over my rifle and ammo, he gave me the answer to my problems.
It seems that RL22 is very sensitive to temperature change. He explained that many of his fellow competitors had found this out while shooting matches. It is a very accurate powder but will not do well if subjected to a large range of change.
I was able to find a close sweet spot and also bag a very small and young bear on the very last day. It was a seven day hunt and I made the shot with about 8 minutes of daylight left.
I told the other hunters that I came to have a bear pillow instead of a bear rug!! Ha!! Ha!!

[shtur]

A friend's Dad had some 8 lb kegs in his basement in MT, that he gave me (IMR 4350). It's been in my basement for 15 years. It's around 60 years old, and still makes excellent '06 rounds every deer season.

[gary0529]

Would like to chime in re: powder and time.
I still shoot off some 30-06 rounds that I reloaded in the late 1950's when I was a young pup. Used the old style pound 'em in with a mallet Lee system.
Used either 3031 or 4064 because that was what the local shop carried-for you young guys, remember, there was NO internet, no Cabela's, whatever. The gun shops were usually holes in the wall run by irrascible old(to me) gun nuts. Their words carried the weight of that from above.
Anyway, every year around New Years I take a box out and every year they go bang.
Accuracy still the same. Recoil the same. Nothing different yet but it has only been 55 or so years.
It has been stored in basements, dorm rooms-yeah, you could actually keep a gun in the dorm back then, apartments and unheated garages.
Just my observations. YMMV.

Gary

[Beau Cassidy]

Most powders do pretty good stored for a long time. Hodgdon 4831 left over from WW2 was used for a long time after the war and it wasn't packaged very well. Some folks may still be using some. Unfortunately I have been around long enough to personally see a lot of unopened IMR powders go bad to the point I won't buy anymore IMR powders. We are talking powders that are just 15- maybe 20 years old. You open up the can and a brown fog comes out. The powder looks like rust. I probably have 30 or 40 1 lb cans of the stuff. What bums me out is I bought it when a dollar meant a lot more than it does now. I am kinda scared to open them for fear of what I will find....

[ErikO]

Worst comes to it, smokeless makes excellent fertilizer if it's quality gets too low for firearms use.

[Reload3006]

Most powders do pretty good stored for a long time. Hodgdon 4831 left over from WW2 was used for a long time after the war and it wasn't packaged very well. Some folks may still be using some. Unfortunately I have been around long enough to personally see a lot of unopened IMR powders go bad to the point I won't buy anymore IMR powders. We are talking powders that are just 15- maybe 20 years old. You open up the can and a brown fog comes out. The powder looks like rust. I probably have 30 or 40 1 lb cans of the stuff. What bums me out is I bought it when a dollar meant a lot more than it does now. I am kinda scared to open them for fear of what I will find....

did you notice that can of 3031 in the picture? that is IMR and was purchased in the mid sixties. I have 3 of them I use it mostly for 30-30 its why I still have it. Kept dry and Cool it is as good as the day it was purchased. Its storage. not Brand or type. Follow the SAMMI data sheet that comes with your powder and it will last indefinitely.

[Waldog]

In the garage where temp goes from freezing to 115 is FAR from optimum.

[Tazman1602]

I have some powder that I know is close to 40 yrs old. still good. but it has always been stored in the basement. Cool Dry.

What 3006 said......I too have one 8 lb keg of unique that is 30 years old and still fine but its stored in basement just like his..

Art

[Jim]

All my powder is in a decommissioned refrigerator here in the gun room. I keep a little kitty litter in a coupla' plastic bowls in there. Keeps the humidity down and makes it smell nice, too!