Bad Smokeless Powder

When smokeless powder goes bad it has a very acrid scent and gives off a reddish-brown powdery mist when you pour it. I recently found several pounds of IMR4227 a friend had passed on to me which had rusted through the can and showed the classic signs of deteriorated powder. As I demonstrate in the video, burning smokeless powder in the open is one of the safest ways to dispose of it.

[@CottonChopper486]

Every container I’ve ever seen, reads: STORE IN A COOL DRY PLACE

[@stinger4583]

I've never had to deal with bad powder before. Thanks for the heads up on how to take care of it.

[@frankwright5528]

Good demo, Sir. I had a similar occurrence with about 2/3 of an identical pound can of IMR 4350. This was 25 years ago and the powder was then less than 20 years old. The powder line on the can was starting to rust through. No other rust visible. I had purchased it new and it had always been stored cool and dry inside at room temperature. Only such incident since I started in '65. It can happen... Good video!

[@marchindy]

Glad you noticed the color change before you loaded something with it. Thanks for sharing the info.

[@anangryranger]

I've been reloading since before 1960. In the years I've been around, I've found that many people have their loading gear in the garage. Exposed to extreme heat, humidity, extreme cold. This not only rusts presses, dies, and such, but really destroys the chemical composition of powder and primers. It's the worst place for loading and storing of your stuff. I personally, always have loaded and stored all my loading gear in a temperature controlled room indoors. And never experienced issues with components, or rusted equipment. I know most guys let their wives run the house, and they'll set up in the garage to "keep the little woman happy". However, if "the little woman" ever told me to move my gear into the garage, I'd start moving her stuff to the garage. 😅

[@fruitfarmfords8243]

You've been reloading since my dad was born (1959) and in my short experience reloading, I've seen and agree with everything you said! Even what I'd do if my wife kicked my stuff out!

[@anangryranger]

@@fruitfarmfords8243 Yes sir, I was 8 years old in 1958 when I began loading 45 Colt ammo with Lyman 310 tool. Of course my old great uncle only loaded black powder, as he said smokeless powder was just a passing phase. I got my Lyman Spartan press in 1960, and a Spar-T turret press in 1962. Still have em, and still use em. I figured if it ain't broke why fix it. 😄

[@iamnobody9542]

I have had the same problem, with both single and double based powders. And yet... I still have a lb and a half of WW2 surplus Hodgdens 4831 in the original cardboard cartons and it is still good. I will use it till it is gone. Velocities and accuracy have been very consistent.

[@christhirkell755]

Series idea 💡 would really enjoy a reloading series with the process and powder selection, measures, etc.

[@artwebb6939]

Thanks for posting this, I'm looking at getting back into reloading in some of my powder is pretty old, now I know how to check it

[@ibnewton8951]

Informative to be sure. Thank you.

[@N5KDA]

If you put smokeless powder in your garden or in your yard, make sure to water it in after spreading it thin. There is lots of nitrogen in this stuff and it WILL burn the grass. I recommend mixing it into the garden and tilling it in in the fall.

[@kennethkeefer9080]

Good info

[@wizardofahhhs759]

I've shot 60 year old shot shells that I found in an old house that was falling to the ground, windows broken out and no doors. Remington -Peters and Eley paper hulls. Still have a handful of both.

[@moreme40]

I wish I could see the video. I keep getting “tap to retry”

[@brucearney9536]

Today's prices , what a shame ! Keep in a dry , cool place .

[@independentthinker8930]

I had some vitavori go bad, clumped and corroded cases

[@robertrobert7924]

Thanks for this video. I need to sniff some of my smokeless to see if it is OK.

[@fruitfarmfords8243]

I figured it was hanging out with the wrong crowd and smoking... har har

[@Olorinii]

You could load up some rounds using old and new powder and then compare the results. Is it really still the same?

[@denniscastle936]

😊old powder MUST be treated as suspect even without the typical telltale signs of deterioration as discussed in this video. Best way to deal with old/suspect powder even not showing the signs of deterioration is to load test same as you would with a new powder lot. Aged powder will have the tendency to become more volital and the burn rate will/could change.

[@Kinetic.44]

If it burns, it burns. What would it really hurt if you used this, especially with conservative loads? It's just a bit of oxidation right? You could probably just wash the powder with alcohol to get rid of the rust dust.

[@ibnewton8951]

You sound just like Reagan.😅

[@Kinetic.44]

​@ibnewton8951 man that is pretty funny

[@empireoflizards]

Very interesting. Is it possible for certain powders to become dangerous if it goes bad? I've heard of certain explosives like dynamite becoming unstable if it 'sweats' (breaks down creating nitro-glycerine excretions) but can powders actually detonate under certain decomposition?

[@lockloadwithdickfairburn-cr1jb]

I have not heard that degraded smokeless powder can become "explosive." I suspect its burning rate could go screwy and cause overpressure problems in loaded rounds, but I don't know that for sure. My experience with true high explosives is limited, though a former supervisor was military EOD trained and a Law Enforcement Bomb Squad guy and some of that rubbed off. Buy the way, you should never trust a bomb squad called Lefty! TNT and other military explosives are pretty stable, as they must be. Commercial Dynamite, however, is simply nitroglycerine saturated sticks of an inert substance. While dynamite is much more stable than liquid nitro, it is still shock sensitive. A dynamite stick containing 80% nitro or higher can be detonated by the impact of a bullet. Old dynamite can leach out the nitro which forms as crystals on the outside of the sticks and they can be VERY dangerous. A rancher brought in a box of OLD, CRUSTY 2 pound dynamite sticks one day and the bomb squad guy took it out to "render it safe" which is bomb squad guy speak for - blow it up. He took several young cops along to use the event as a training session to recover evidence, etc. He detonated half of the box then went to recover the second half and found it had gone off "sympathetic detonation" more than 100 yards away from the first detonation. He said, "Gee, I guess it was a little more dangerous than I first thought!" No shit.

[@empireoflizards]

@@lockloadwithdickfairburn-cr1jb Thanks for the info! I'm sure you have seen some interesting stuff in the field.