Backcountry_IDN
Well-Known Member
Bought 3lbs of an older H1000 label. I'm guessing they're ok since they aren't opened but want to see what the consensus is.
Thanks
Thanks
Old powder ok??
- Thread starter Backcountry_IDN
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motrapper
Well-Known Member
They should be just fine I still load with powders in steel cans.
Backcountry_IDN
Well-Known Member
Awesome thank you!
Backcountry_IDN
Well-Known Member
Couldn't pass it up for $100 for all 3
Critter Picker
Well-Known Member
It should be OK if stored correctly. Open 1 and smell it, it should have a kind of ether smell. If it's brown and dusty it's been stored incorrectly. I have powder that's still marked $5.95 and it's fine.
If you want to be safe just mail it to me and I'll use it up for you. (That's what a nice guy I am.)
If you want to be safe just mail it to me and I'll use it up for you. (That's what a nice guy I am.)
archangel485
Well-Known Member
Yep, open one, pour a little bit out on the lid and look at it. If it has what appears to be rust (it's not actually rust but looks like it) then it's started to deteriorate, otherwise it's good.
as already said, it shouldnt smell bad, look reddish, or clump together. Also, if its before the extreme line of hidgdon powders, it may not work with current data. The current extreme powders are made by ADI in Australia. Id email hodgdon and ask before trying it.
I few years ago I Found 3 tins of IMR 4064, 4831, and some fff black powder that I bought in Abilene Texas in the late 1980 early 1990s. They kinda got lost when I retired from active duty and moved away. They spent the last 18 years in a hotter than hell Laredo Texas attic. They looked and smelled fine and I would have loaded and used them if i knew what it would be like today. I only tossed them because I had already bought new. However, I also found a couple thousand CCI 200 I did not throw those out. I loaded and used every single one without a single miss or hang fire
Backcountry sports
Well-Known Member
Yes use them
Rebell
Well-Known Member
Smell it, use it.
I just used two pounds of 4831 my dad purchased in bulk and was in a prune juice jar. Working great.
I just used two pounds of 4831 my dad purchased in bulk and was in a prune juice jar. Working great.
Given the shortages over the past years where I have bought in larger quantities, I will generally test powders that I have opened/owned for more then two or three years, checking velocity, accuracy and SD. It not been uncommon for me to see changes over time. Enough to require changes in ballistic inputs for serious competition and long range hunting. For more general/lower demand use, I will check odor and coloration with powders I have had on hand for many years.
Kendoist4162
Well-Known Member
If it turns out bad, it is still great fertilizer. Less fun than lighting it but…
turkeyguide
Well-Known Member
Rotate the jugs to agitate the powder, then open them and smell them, if they have an acrid smell they're no good, if they smell ok then load away. I still have powders in metal cans with $2.95 & $3.95 stickers on them and they are fine.
After pulling 450+ bullets with unknown powder "boxes said 4895" and I knew the ammo was stored in a very hot garage here in AZ for years, I decided to scatter the powder on a spot in my lawn. Everything in the area died! Perhaps the statements about powder being a good fertilizer is just "fertilizer "! Glad it didn't get spread on the flower beds, the dog likes to sleep alone.
