I haven't used my RCBS press for about 20 years. I want to start using it again now that my .357 revolvers have somehow multiplied over the last 2 years. On the bench is an opened 1 lb. container of Blue Dot. It is in my basement that is cool but also damp. I'm thinking get rid of it and start new. Any thoughts would be helpful. Thanks, Gary.

I'd use it.

open it & look at it - if it isnt the normal color - rusty or brown that is bad. also take a careful whiff - if it smells acrid or sharp smelling then it is bad. it it is stil black or dark grey and has the normal faint chemical smell then it is still good

__________________
Steve

If you are in doubt, powder is cheap.

I have powder (4831) from the 1960's that is still as effective as new. I have also had other powder that deterioriated and had to be discarded.

The previously mentioned sniff test will tell you if it has gone bad. I discard bad or spilled powder by scattering it on my lawn - it will eventually breakdown to fertilizer.

__________________
6/23/2022

I have partial cans of pistol powders that are more than 20 yrs old
that I load from with no problems. The only type of powder that has
ever gone bad on me has been the extruded rifle powders in the metal
cans from IMR. No handgun powders. If it looks and smells ok I say
use it and don't worry.

what steveFI said is all true. color and smell. i also have powder from 50s-60s i use. one can of imr4350 is marked 3.95 so it is old but shoots small groups.

I have some Bullseye that I paid under 3.00 a pound for back in 1973. Still smells good!

.............and the cost of using defective powder would be? Spend a few bucks and replace it.

Thanks to all for the replies. For peace of mind I'm going to replace it.

Why would one keep powder for 20 years? Mine never lasts that long.

"It is in my basement that is cool but also damp."

At the relatively low cost of new powder, I'd dump the old in the garden. They make more every day.

Same experience here. Have several cans of BE and 296, 15+ years old with no problems. My IMR 4227, same age, in the old blue IMR metal can gave off a dark brown cloud when I opened it the other day. Added it to the compost pile, saving the can though as a collector item.

Same experience as most of you. I smell and look at the color. I used up all the powder my dad left after he passed and it was 20-30 years old at least. It smelled and looked fine so I used it and I'm still using some of it and have had no problems.

I just finished a couple cans of Unique and Herco from the 60's. They were still good and produced good velocities within manual range, which I will cross check loads with the new production I just bought.

I was in Sportsman's Warehouse to pick up a LB of Herco - all the Alliant powders were $17.95 - still one of the cheapest available, so if you are in doubt, it's a cheap choice to buy new.

I also have some really old powder of various kinds, as far back as the late 1960s, which is still as good as the day it was made. I came into a large quantity of Hercules HiVel #2, which has not been made since the mid-60s, and it still performs perfectly, with no indications of deterioration. The ONLY old propellant I have encountered that demonstrated deterioration was some WWII-surplus Hodgdon 4831, and it became rusty (turned to rusty-colored powder) and corroded the steel cans. I poured it out on the ground and threw a match on it, and it burned very slowly, nothing like good smokeless powder.

Note that WWII small arms ammunition usually is sure-fire, even today, and that says a great deal about the longevity of both primers and propellants. I recently fired some .38 Special ammunition that had to be nearly 80 years old. It was still good, and all fired properly.

the only powder that i saw go bad was with some cans i bought from a friend. it was marked imr 4895 and stored in a coffee can! i would not have used it even if it smelled good, but i think the steel can ruined it as well.

If in doubt, replace it. Powder is cheaper than new body parts.

If it was in it's original full sealed container... I would use it.
If it had a bunch of air space in the container I would think twice and just use it as fertilizer.

Just smell check any powder you question, and your nose will let you know if it is no good.

If you can't smell the nitro leaching out of the powder you should be good to go usually when the powder goes bad you can really smell the fumes leashing from the powder pretty noticeable. When in doubt through it out thats what they say...

Rick

I would imagine that the powder is still good but I would replace it. I would bet that today's Blue Dot has a slightly different burning rate than one that's 20 years old. Blue Dot has a narrow operating range and goes over pressure very quickly so work up slowly if you use this. You also will have a minimum required load to preclude secondary ignition.

__________________
Dick

I have used a lot of older pistol powder that was either given to me or bought cheap. If it looks and smells good, it usually is. If it looks or smells bad give it to the lawn. I've used a lot of Alcan AL5 and AL8 that has not been imported since the 1970's. Start low, try out some loads, and then load up the rest with a load that you tested and works good in your gun. Also, as powder gets older, it can become weaker, not stronger.

I just broke open a can of Alcan-5 that has been sitting on my shelf for a few years. It fired just fine.

I just chrono'd 3 sets of 240 LSWC 44 mag loads with old Herco, one load set was with powder that was sitting around in a shotshell loader bottle from the 70's, one from an unopened cardboard container also from the 70's and one from a brand new bottle just bought.

1120fps= Old opened bottle sitting around in shed for 30+/- years.
1200fps= Old unopened bottle
1170fps= New bottle

I should test some more from the new bottle as I only loaded 5 rounds for that sample.

A friend of mine uncovered some powder from some 25 years ago and it worked fine; use it.

i too would use it...and have

__________________
SWCA#2208
KK4EMO

If you have any doubt about it,

THROW IT ON YOUR LAWN, it is after all FERTILIZER.

Personally, I'd fertilize with it and buy a new can of powder.

__________________
NRA Pistol/Rifle Inst. RSO

Does reading this stuff bring the experience home to roost?...

Tonight I was finishing up the last few granules of that unique I mentioned on a few post up, with some 44 mag 250gr LSWC I had laying around. About half way through I noticed some golden reflection from the powder and upon closer inspection I saw that some of the flakes have started to turn from grey to golden color (not yet a rust shade). So I stick the 'ol snozzel in the bottle and take a good deep whiff..... nope, not a smell of any kind, nothing... Now I swear, just a few weeks ago I nose-tested it and could still smell a faint whiff of nitro but tonight... nada!

At least it isn't acrid, So, I think it _is_ going bad, but isn't quite all the way there yet and I better try shooing this stuff up ASAP. Now all I gotta do is find all the different loads I used this powder for!

For comparison, I will load a few from a more recent can I have and see how they chrono against each other.