An older varmint hunting friend of mine recently passed away. His wife has some unmarked bulk ball powder he used in his varmint rifles. Anyway to identify it? If it can not be reliably identified shouldn't it be destroyed?

Hawkeye58

If the ball powder can't be identified properly, it's better to just get rid of it. I don't think it's worth the risk to blow up a rifle using the wrong powder in it. As a reloader, I understand the reluctance to ever throw or dispose of anything that may have a use, but the risk outweighs convenience in this case.

Ditto on above.

Use it as fertilizer on the lawn.

I'd make a game of it and develop a load for it in a small-caliber rifle with a heavy breech section, like your garden-variety varmint rifle. Start out slow and work it up. The problem is that you might find it to be accurate beyond your wildest dreams and then when it's all gone, it's gone and so is that accuracy. Tough game, this shootin' stuff...

What quantity are we talking about? I could see working up a load if I got 25 pounds of an unmarked powder, but if there is only half a can ditto the fertilizer idea, or I'd wait until the next 4th of July.

Did he leave a notebook or two laying around you could browse through?

Good advice. Check for a realoding book. Set it on fire

Cheers
/JOHAN