Need some opinions from those more knowledgeable than me. I drew my Wyoming moose tag for this fall. I intended to use my round of choice, my.338 Win Mag with a 210gn XBT in front of 64gn of RL15. Last time shooting this round was 12 years ago. At that time I chrono'd it at 2865. but I went out today to sight a new scope in and it was running only around 2710. That's a big difference. How likely is it my powder degraded over the last 12 years? Seems unlikely but I'm a little frustrated at the moment.
Thoughts anyone?

Thanks
Darrell

Powder if properly stored,does not go bad.
I still use propellant that is over 100 years old.
When was your ammo loaded?
Cold or warn day?
At what altitude?
What humidity?
Was the bore of the rifle clean or had been fired?
How far away from the muzzle was the chrony?
Where was the sun overhead?
I myself would not worry about the different readings.
If powder does go bad, there will be a very strong smell of acid solvent or even be fuming.
I've only seen it once in 58 tears of reloading.

I was going to write exactly that. Only it's a mere 56 years.

I was given loads of 8x57 military ammo.

Made in Egypt over 115 years ago.

I don’t have a rifle fort his caliber, so I pulled bullets from a few rounds.

Flake powder.

Looks absolutely new!!

I loaded it in 7-08 Remington.

Got very good results.

Tried it in 308 Winchester and 6mm PPC USA.

All worked very well.

Then pulled the bullets of a whole case, and used that powder.

Thanks for the replies. I was hoping that was the case.
I loaded the ammo 12 years ago for my last Elk hunt.
yesterday was too hot but that's like when I had originally put it together. The bore was clean and the Chrono was about 10 feet in front of the muzzle. I do have some clear tape over the sensors from when I was messing with my muzzy so that may affect the sensitivity. I'll remove that next time just to see.

I feel better. Just have to spend some more time with it I guess.

I just loaded some 4320 with a sticker price of $4.97, must be about 50 years old, plus or minus. Shot great in a 7x57. And yes, I would buy more at that price.

quote:

dministrator
posted 22 June 2023 13:37 Hide Post
I was given loads of 8x57 military ammo.

Made in Egypt over 115 years ago.

I don’t have a rifle fort his caliber, so I pulled bullets from a few rounds.

Flake powder.

Looks absolutely new!!

I loaded it in 7-08 Remington.

Got very good results.

Tried it in 308 Winchester and 6mm PPC USA.

All worked very well.

Then pulled the bullets of a whole case, and used that powder.

just asking, but how did you know what the burn speed of that powder was, or how many grains to load

I agree with the view that powder, stored properly, will last a very long time.

That said, for a Wyoming Moose and everything that hunt entails, buy some new powder. Don't want any doubt

I just shot some 375 H&H loads that I loaded in 1996 for a Brwon bear hunt in Alaska. The recoil felt like I remembered and the groups were as good as back then.

quote:

Originally posted by lechwe:
The bore was clean...

How many shots did you measure? The first shot or two on a cleaned bore will usually be a little different.

Well, I just poured 8 lbs of IMR 4895 and 1 lb of IMR 4198 on my lawn. Stored perfectly since purchase. Went bad. It can happen if powder not rinsed sufficiently in production. I also have German flake that is 85 years old and is in perfect condition.

Dang, that's some mighty expensive fertilizer Bobster!

I agree it last and last depending on storage. I have some H4831 from the 1950s and 60s, still color clean and proper smell and still works great.....

Depend on temperature in storage. Heat bad.

Yes a cool dark spot seems to be the best for my old 4831..1950