Anything to look for or watch out for using some old powder and/or primers? I picked up a pound of Solo 1000, Accurate No 5 and 1000 CCI 300 large pistol primers all for 15 bucks. Both powders have been opened, but looks good inside the can. I figure I will put a few rounds together with a low end load to test it all out first. Picture of it below.

I don't think you'll have any probs. Powder loses "umph" over time; it doesn't gain it. This is where a chrony would be good to compare your velocity against a book.

If it was kept in a good place it should be ok.
I just finished a can that had a 7.33 price on it.

One of those cans says 12.36 and the other is 13.05. Both long before I started reloading 9 years ago, so no idea what the actual age is.

Being in Florida the heat and humidity could have been an issue if it wasn't stored well.

If it has a real acrid smell or looks rusty I'd use it for fertilizer. If it smells ok and isn't stuck together I'd try it.

On the primers, if It were me I'd snap a few and if the all go fine I'd use them for target or informal shooting but likely wouldn't count on them for loading crisis ammo. Nate

I am shooting some H380 price marked $2.50. No problems at all.

This is from a ballistic engineer:

If a single-base propellant is left is storage with too much heat and/or a poorly sealed container, the volatile plasticizer escapes into the air. This loss makes the granule more brittle, and brittle means the granules shatter into smaller ones when the primer blast strikes, increasing their surface.

This increase in surface area results in the propellant being faster burning (so don't listen to the poster that said powder gets slower burning) that when it was new. I you used a max charge of 60 grains of a single-base propellant when the can was new, that same charge weight would give higher velocity and pressure when the plasticizer content is lost. That is dangerous.

The well used "sniff" test is to detect the remaining alcohol-either plasticizer in a single-base propellant. It's a crude test, as it cannot tell you how much plasticizer remains, and its benefit varies from nose to nose. If you doubt your sense of smell, get a second opinion.

Double-base propellant have a harder time losing their plasticizer because NG is much less volatile that alchohol-ether, and it binds with the NC. They often do not have such a noticeable odor. I have seen some rifle propellant of Chinese origin that uses camphor compounds as the plasticizer. It smelled just like the old medicine that our moms used to put on our cold sores.

There aren't really any scientific tests a hobbyist can use; however, sniffing still has a place, even if imprecise. You probably know that the odor of new single-base propellant is typically pleasant. If the odor seems to burn your nasal passages, the lot is probably bad. If there is a reddish-brown dust on the the propellant and the inside of the can, it's absolutely bad. It will still burn with gusto, but it is simply not safe to use in a firearm due to the change to a faster burning rate.

So, the bottom line is, if the propellant you burned was single-base, old, and had no smell, you may have saved damage to your rifle or yourself.

I'll add that most, if not all, stick or extruded powder is single-base. Most ball powders and spherical, plus flake of flat round powder is double-base.

The sky is falling, the sky is falling! I will put this chemistry lesson from a ballistics engineer right up there with the one that sez if you drive around with your ammo in the glove box of your truck, it will grind the powder down into another burn rate.
Too much real live emperical info to believe his theory.

I've shot 30 year old powder without issues. Just open the can and smell it to make sure that it hasn't gone bad. Look for red powder and a sour smell.

I've also used primers from the 1960s and they worked fine.

I'm not sure they've even used up all of the milsup powder from WW2. I know they keep coming up with supplies of foreign milsup ammo from countries that don't even exist anymore. Most of it will go bang even though it doesn't give you the velocity of new stuff. No blown up rifles that I've heard of.

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:
I'm not sure they've even used up all of the milsup powder from WW2. I know they keep coming up with supplies of foreign milsup ammo from countries that don't even exist anymore. Most of it will go bang even though it doesn't give you the velocity of new stuff. No blown up rifles that I've heard of.

I've got about 14 pounds of H4831 that may well be WWII vintage. Haven't had any problems yet. The WWII 8mm ammo of various types I have shoots just fine and some of it seems to be a little hot. roger

Ive been shooting a lb. of H380 that came outta a keg that was bought back in the late 50s. Dont chrono it but it shoots less than an in. at 100 in a 22-250.

quote:

I've shot 30 year old powder without issues. Just open the can and smell it to make sure that it hasn't gone bad. Look for red powder and a sour smell.

I've also used primers from the 1960s and they worked fine.

+1. I have lots of powder in Dupont cans, and it works like it is supposed. I like the sky is falling comment too!! LOL!

Jerry

To bad you don't live within driving distance! As long as it smells OK I'd use it. Solo 1000 is my absolute favorite target load in 45 ACP, and #5 is my favorite "working" powder in the same caliber.

I think you will be amazed at how clean the solo 1000 burns.