Old powders

adamsgt

adamsgt

Jerry Adams
I've been consolidating my reloading supplies and found 3 unopened 8 lb cans of Dupont 4064 Powder. been kept in climate-controlled storage G.ood or any particular value?
 
I'm sure it will still work, not sure if it's BR worthy, I'd be interested in hearing from others. I've loaded a lot of old (~20 year, some still in cardboard cannisters) powder with no discernible lack of performance, but I wasn't shooting BR with them.

GsT
 
MOST LIKELY JUST FINE. does the container have any steel parts ?? if so, open and check for rust( as opposed to deteriorated powder)..rust can be removes with a magnet and powder still used . i have some WWII 4831 that had rust, cleaned with a magnet, and shoots just fine
 
I had two metal cans of IMR 4064 that that had a red cloud emitted when poured out, the kernels looked like a rat had chewed on them, absolutely had gone bad. Also had some 2001 133 that I tried to shoot this year (looked and smelled fine) but when I shot it with medium loads after 2 shots couldn't hardly open the bolt. cleaned and repeated same thing. Looked down the bore and there were a large amount of kernels that did not burn laying on the bottom of the barrel. Both had been stored properly. Powder sometimes does go bad. It all is different I have some old 8208 that has had many birthdays and is still fine.
,
 
How old are the blue and white cans?
I went to check it. Got it 10 yrs ago. I think it was 10 yrs old then. There was some rust on the bottom.
Thanks for the post. That got me to look at it. Still smells good. But, it's almost gone. I thought I had a full can/jug. Dang. That stuff is really expensive today.
 
IMR 4064 use to be the go-to powder for the 270 Win, and does surprisingly good in the 22/250. I would suggest you remove the powder from the metal cans and put it in some 8 lb plastic jugs ( like 8 lb Hogdon ones ). I've had the IMR cans rust from the inside and give you a false indication of decaying powder. JME
 

IMR 4895 - move to HDPE plastic, Black best.​


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Shot some IMR 4198 that had red rust from metal can. Was not as bad as the 4895 can. Shot normal, after blowing red dust out of powder.
 
Dave Dowd said:
That was not my experience with 4064, not only did it have red dust in it, the kernels about half eroded away. Like I said in my first post the kernels looked like they were chewed on by rodents. I can't hardly think that would be OK.
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You most certainly had eroded powder. It's just that sometimes when the metal cans rust from the inside it can fool you into thinking that the powder has gone bad when in reality it is just the rust from the can . I had this happen to me with a can of IMR 7828.
 
murray brook said:
You most certainly had eroded powder. It's just that sometimes when the metal cans rust from the inside it can fool you into thinking that the powder has gone bad when in reality it is just the rust from the can . I had this happen to me with a can of IMR 7828.
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Oh. Okay.
 
Dave Dowd said:
I had two metal cans of IMR 4064 that that had a red cloud emitted when poured out, the kernels looked like a rat had chewed on them, absolutely had gone bad. Also had some 2001 133 that I tried to shoot this year (looked and smelled fine) but when I shot it with medium loads after 2 shots couldn't hardly open the bolt. cleaned and repeated same thing. Looked down the bore and there were a large amount of kernels that did not burn laying on the bottom of the barrel. Both had been stored properly. Powder sometimes does go bad. It all is different I have some old 8208 that has had many birthdays and is still fine.
,
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Dave that reminded me of the last N133 jug I had. It was starting to smell bad. Someone on here wanted to know about bad powder. That got me to check. I had a couple of open jugs. From friends eastates. I used it up last summer.
 
The red dust coming off the old powder as well as a vinegar smell is due to nitric acid a breakdown product of the nitrocellulose in the powder. I have known where a can of old powder spontaneously combusted when it got to this stage. I have only had one very old can of powder like this. I discarded it. It wouldn't even burn.
 
WHAT YOU DO WITH YOUR POWDER IS UP TO YOU,
but
i have had powder that looked ok except for red dust coloring.
stirred it with a magnet...guess what iron oxide...red rust.
used the magnet, and slow pour in path of a small fan.
loaded shot and chrono...just fine.
again the powder kernels look fine
if found in a plastic container, i think i would run!
 
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