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H4831 Surplus Powder
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Is there any demand for original Hodgdon 4831 surplus powder from the 70's?
 
Posts: 1070 | Registered: 02 April 2008Reply With Quote
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Of course; all powder is like gold now. Don't think powder from the 70s is old; that is like new to me. Unless it has obvious signs of deterioration, which I won't elucidate here; look it up. Ok, for stick powder, if it still smells like ether, it is good. If it smells like acid,and has red dust in it, it isn't. I have fired some with a little red dust and it was fine.
Ball powder seems to never go bad, and black powder, being a mechanical combination of ingredients, never goes bad.
 
Posts: 17476 | Location: USA | Registered: 02 August 2009Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by thirdbite:
Is there any demand for original Hodgdon 4831 surplus powder from the 70's?

GunBroker has all kinds of vintage powder and primers for sale. People are buying everything and anything.
 
Posts: 130 | Location: mo | Registered: 18 January 2007Reply With Quote
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There is no such thing as "surplus 4831" from the 1970's. It might have been purchased in the 1970's, but all of it was war surplus, the latest made in the mid-1940's. Bruce Hodgdon bought it and stored it, along with surplus 4895, in grain bins. The supply ran out in the late 1960's, so Hodgdon contracted with ICI-Nobel in Scotland to manufacture "Newly Manufactured H-4831". Current "H-4831" (which is slower than the surplus stuff and not nearly as consistent in my experience) is made in Australia by the successor to Australian Defence Industries (ADI). Don't confuse any of these with the significantly faster-burning IMR 4831 which is now made in Canada.

But as dpcd says, if it smells of ether and has no rusty dust showing up, then it is as good as the day it was made. Surplus 4831 was what both my ammunition and my son's ammunition was loaded with when we made a trip to hunt in Africa a few years ago. I would hardly have trusted a questionable powder for use on such an expensive and important hunt.
 
Posts: 13280 | Location: Henly, TX, USA | Registered: 04 April 2001Reply With Quote
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I think of it as a nice pepper-solvent smell...which means it's just fine. Moldy smell... not so good.
Also, scoop and shake a cup-full back into the container and make sure its not "dusting" a ton.
If it meets that criteria, I'd use it, NP.

Zeke
 
Posts: 2270 | Registered: 27 October 2011Reply With Quote
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I just shot the last of some 4227 that I inherited from my father that had a red dust to it. It appeared to be from the can it was packaged in. It was actually the most consistent batch of ammo I shot out of my .45/70.
By the way the old price tag on it was $3.47 so probably from the 60s im guessing.
It smelled good so I shot it and wish I had more or it..




If it cant be Grown it has to be Mined! Devoted member of Newmont mining company Underground Mine rescue team. Carlin East,Deep Star ,Leeville,Deep Post ,Chukar and now Exodus Where next? Pete Bajo to train newbies on long hole stoping and proper blasting techniques.
Back to Exodus mine again learning teaching and operating autonomous loaders in the underground. Bringing everyday life to most individuals 8' at a time!
 
Posts: 3090 | Location: Northern Nevada & Northern Idaho | Registered: 09 April 2005Reply With Quote
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I shot a lot of H4831 in the 70s. Seems like I paid $1.99 a pound for it.


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Posts: 2658 | Location: Minnesota | Registered: 08 December 2006Reply With Quote
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I bought some WW2 4831 in a stainless steel suction lid 150 keg of old 4831, the stuff that Jack O'conner liked...It was and is the best powder by far than anything on the market today for the .270 and 30-06 it give more velocity and less pressure than any powder I know of..I still have about 40 lbs of that stuff and its clean and fresh to this day..The con side is like all 4831 it cuts grains and each load probably should be weighed for accuracy, but it shoots good without weighing in every gun Ive used it in! It has been for years like gold and brings big bucks...Its also the safest powder in that you can;t get enough of it in a case to run 50.000 PSI or even 48,000 Psi....O'Connor used up to 62 grs in his .270. mine will only take 60 to 61 as 62 pushes the bullet forward over night..Good stuff and I should sell mine, just have not got around to it.It can get 3200 FPS or bettr, depending on your 270 at 48.000 FPS with a 130 gr. bullet..

I don't use it much these days as H414, RL-15, 19, and 22 go thru a measure slicker n snot and weigh to the exact charge every time.


Ray Atkinson
Atkinson Hunting Adventures
10 Ward Lane,
Filer, Idaho, 83328
208-731-4120

rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com
 
Posts: 42344 | Location: Twin Falls, Idaho | Registered: 04 June 2000Reply With Quote
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When I worked for Hercules, it was ethyl alcohol in the dehydrate/premix and acetone for final mix/extruding after.

I had a flood in the basement which submerged two three lb coffee cans of 22lr. I couldn't bear to toss them so I dried on the driveway(August) three days and only during the day. which didn't work. So I got a gallon of acetone and soaked them over night and dried in driveway. Now train the kids in fail to fire drills, one to three out of ten fail. When I get enough of the FTF's, I'll soak'em again.
 
Posts: 659 | Location: "The Muck", NJ | Registered: 10 April 2004Reply With Quote
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