Old powder?

[Blue]

I scored at grandmas house today and came home with a ton of reloading stuff. There's roughly a pound each of Bullseye and Unique, and it's pretty old. Both of them have been opened, but it's been stored in a cool, dry place for the last 15+ years. Should I try it out or dump it? I have no idea how old it is, grandpa died in '97 and the price tags are $5.75 a pound

ETA there's also a bunch of old primers too.

[tankerman]

I've got some 80 year old powder that works fine.

Never had any problems with old Bullseye or Unique, find some every year at some ol'timer's barn garage sale. The stuff came in cardboard containers.

Depending on how old the primers are they may be corrosive, which isn't a big deal if you throughly clean you gun after shooting. How old are they?

[Blue]

I've got some 80 year old powder that works fine.

Never had any problems with old Bullseye or Unique, find some every year at some ol'timer's barn garage sale. The stuff came in cardboard containers.

Depending on how old the primers are they may be corrosive, which isn't a big deal if you throughly clean you gun after shooting. How old are they?

The powder is in cardbored cylinders with metal tops/bottoms. The primers are mixed CCI, Winchester and Remington. Two boxes are unmarked, and has WOODEN dividers inside the cardboard. The Remington, Winchester, and CCI all say "Non-Mercuric" and theres nothing on the older unmarked boxes.

[tankerman]

I've only used unopened old powder. Back in the 'olden-days', some folk used to scoop military surplus powder from large barrels, sometimes filling their empty powder containers from home.

Unique doesn't look like any of the surplus powders I'm familiar with......certainly wouldn't use it around my kids, if your unsure fertilize the garden with the stuff.

[Blue]

I've only used unopened old powder. Back in the 'olden-days', some folk used to scoop military surplus powder from large barrels, sometimes filling their empty powder containers from home.

Unique doesn't look like any of the surplus powders I'm familiar with......certainly wouldn't use it around my kids, if your unsure fertilize the garden with the stuff.

Nah I'm sure that it's not mis-labled. I might try a small batch out and see WTF happens. Is there anything to look for when a powder goes stale except the fact it doesn't work as described?

[tankerman]

Some bad powder smells kind of acidic-ish. (not sure exactly how to describe it)



Fresh batch Unique smells funny to me, also kind of acidic but not as strong in the nose smell.

[Blue]

Some bad powder smells kind of acidic-ish. (not sure exactly how to describe it)



Fresh batch Unique smells funny to me, also kind of acidic but not as strong in the nose smell.

This stuff smells kind of like elmers glue to me.

[Fjold]

The first sign of powder going bad is a strong sour, ammonia smell. Most powders will also look a rusty red when they start to break down. I have some Bullseye from the early 80's but they're marked $8.99/pound. I'll bet that those cans are from the 60's at the latest.

There is still a lot of WWII mil-surp powder being sold.

[Beelzy]

Unique will discolor if it goes bad.

Old powder burns just fine if it isn't contaminated.

[Blademan21]

I understand powder that starts to get lumpy is no longer any good. Your powder score should be fine if it was stored as you said. Primers should also go bang if stored right. I remember those 1lb. containers.

[Sunwolf]

Go ahead and shoot it,I`m still shooting 30 year old powder.

[gunboat]

Unique is a double base powder and under normal storage just does not go bad ---- I am still using a can of bullseye from the 60's and have never seen any indication of deterioration. While I am sure there are others, the only powders I have had deteriorate were 4895 and 4831, both gave off a yellowish vapor when opened. A real shame there was about 5# left in the keg -
The only powder I have ever seen "lump up" was a black powder substitute, forget the name, made in las vegas I think --
Unless your U.S. primers are really old, like 1920's or older they will be NMNC unless marked corrosive or mercuric -- In fact I don't think there were any mercuric primers made after about 1900 -- Mercuric primers eat the brass. There are some national match primers that were corrosive but the boxes are marked --
my ha-penny

PS -- Unique is a great powder, very versatile --

[Blue]

Sweet. My son and I spent a couple hours earlier cleaning and sorting brass. I think tomorrow we'll load some 38 up then

On another note, I've got a bunch of projectiles here. I've got a couple of boxes of Speer copper jacketed hollow points that look really nice, except the lead is changing color. Can I throw those in the tumbler and clean them up or is that stuff stuck on there until I pull the trigger?

[rabagley]

It's my understanding that the lead changing color is due to the migration of zinc in the alloy. It slowly moves to the surface and then oxidizes where it creates whitish facets that eventually flake off. If severe, this migration can result in sponging of the lead alloy and a weaker bullet, but that's not likely to happen in only 50-60 years.

[Blue]

It's my understanding that the lead changing color is due to the migration of zinc in the alloy. It slowly moves to the surface and then oxidizes where it creates whitish facets that eventually flake off. If severe, this migration can result in sponging of the lead alloy and a weaker bullet, but that's not likely to happen in only 50-60 years.

So, think it'll tumble off or am I just wasting my time?