VV N133 powder went bad

[JayBuckler]

So I had a nearly full jug bought in 9/05 go bad on me. Built new house, moved, life happened and finally getting back to the BR rifle. Opened jug and really strong acrid smell. I thought this not good. Shoot patterns on paper instead of previous bug holes. Not real happy since its always been indoors no more than 75F. Plus I have other cans of US powders way older that smell sweet and still shot good. So need some new powder and am hesitant to buy more N133, Looking at Benchmark or LT32. Has anyone else had N133 go bad? Is this common? The jug before that was good but it never smelled like domestic powders smell. Thanks

[Butch Lambert]

No and I've had mine in all temps to 120deg.

[zippy06]

No. I have a couple jugs of N133 2008....All good.
Just checked again. Got 3 open. 2 friends past away and my own open jug. All same lot. Smells nice and sweet.....
Shooting it this weekend.....

[SGS]

I have had a number of old cans of VV powder go bad, all at around 18 - 20 years after the lot date. Powder with 94 lot number was bad in 2013. Kind of a shame considering I have much older 8208 surplus that is as sweet as ever. I had some N550 from the late 90s that did not go bad, the powders that did were all single base rifle powder, N130, N140 etc.

[alinwa]

I've been on this forum since the '90's and this question has come up many times.

With no answers, only experiences.

I've personally never had any powder go bad.

Nor have I ever found a reason nor a rhyme, to the best of my memory (failing, admittedly) no one has ever advanced an explanation, nor is any one brand/mfgr/date/lot/type implicated as better or worse.

[alinwa]

And while I was typing Scott comes in with some REAL INFO.....LOL

Thanks SGS

[JayBuckler]

Well after reading all this I checked all my powders, sweet smelling except for 2#'s VV N165. Doesn't smell bad but not as good as others. They'll get used up next 2 months. Ain't nuying no more VV powders. Hate wasting $200+. Thanks all

[Tim Oltersdorf]

Powder can go bad mostly due to storage in hot conditions. The acid smell is from nitric acid used in the manufacturing process. Really bad powder will corrode a metal cap, have a strong acid smell and may release an orange cloud when opened. It will burn unevenly, may not burn at all and, worse of all, may spontaneously combust. The thought of this last possibility in your powder magazine should send chills down your spine. Supposedly those powders containing mostly nitroglycerine such as bullseye are the most stable. Powder just going bad will lose its solvent smell first. My experience with this is that it just won't shoot well. I have experienced the acid smell, red cloud and corroded cap. Thankfully I have not had any combust. I know two people who have experienced the spontaneous combustion. both had removed the powder from their magazines prior due to it going bad. I guess the lesson to be learned is if you have any real old powder to periodicity check it (like I do with my old underwear) with the nose test. Tim ps. If you see a red/orange cloud when you open a container of powder DO NOT sniff it.

[glp]

Powder can go bad mostly due to storage in hot conditions. The acid smell is from nitric acid used in the manufacturing process. Really bad powder will corrode a metal cap, have a strong acid smell and may release an orange cloud when opened. It will burn unevenly, may not burn at all and, worse of all, may spontaneously combust. The thought of this last possibility in your powder magazine should send chills down your spine. Supposedly those powders containing mostly nitroglycerine such as bullseye are the most stable. Powder just going bad will lose its solvent smell first. My experience with this is that it just won't shoot well. I have experienced the acid smell, red cloud and corroded cap. Thankfully I have not had any combust. I know two people who have experienced the spontaneous combustion. both had removed the powder from their magazines prior due to it going bad. I guess the lesson to be learned is if you have any real old powder to periodicity check it (like I do with my old underwear) with the nose test. Tim ps. If you see a red/orange cloud when you open a container of powder DO NOT sniff it.

colored underwear?

[liljoe]

I found this just before leaving for the SS. Tim is right about sending chills down your spine when you think about what could have happened.
Joe Hynes

[Dave Coots]

Wow, that's bad Joe. Could have been disasterous. You need to keep those lids oiled.

[adamsgt]

Not gunpowder but a metal keg of Hoppe's #9 that gave me a surprise. Was searching for something and had to move an unopened keg of Hoppe's and shortly after moving it heard a strange noise. When I went to pick up the keg I noticed that it sat unevenly on the floor. Looked at the bottom and saw that it was all pushed out. I immediately took it outside and slowly loosened the cap and heard gas escaping. Evidently moving the keg started some chemical reaction that caused release of some type of gas. Guess that's why the old Hoppe's cleaned so well and smelled so good, it was potent stuff.

[Dave Coots]

colored underwear?

Definitely don't sniff Tim's underwear with the brown racing stripe.................

[Wayne Shaw]

I found this just before leaving for the SS. Tim is right about sending chills down your spine when you think about what could have happened.
Joe Hynes

I just found a one pound can like that I had N135 in. Nasty brown crud coming out if the top.

[Tim Oltersdorf]

Not gunpowder but a metal keg of Hoppe's #9 that gave me a surprise. Was searching for something and had to move an unopened keg of Hoppe's and shortly after moving it heard a strange noise. When I went to pick up the keg I noticed that it sat unevenly on the floor. Looked at the bottom and saw that it was all pushed out. I immediately took it outside and slowly loosened the cap and heard gas escaping. Evidently moving the keg started some chemical reaction that caused release of some type of gas. Guess that's why the old Hoppe's cleaned so well and smelled so good, it was potent stuff.

Those who have been around Coots are very familiar with "some chemical reaction that caused release of some type of gas". In Dave's case it was beer and convenience store microwave burritos. The results are truly "potent stuff". Tim