I just opened a can of Winchester 231 and noticed that the price tag was from a shop where I lived almost five years ago. The powder appears to have a brownish tint to it. I wich I had a new can for comparison, because I'm not sure that what I'm seeing isn't my imagination. How long does powder last? This is in the original can. It's been in a room where the temperature has been maintained between 65-75 degrees. Is this stuff still good? Thanks in advance.

I bought a 4 pound plastic jug of WW 231 about 2 months ago.

The powder is dark gray to black with some of the flat flakes shiny from light reflection. Not a trace of brown color.

I once bought a bad can of IMR powder. It had rust red dust and smelled strongly of acid. I spread it thinly on my front lawn for fertilizer.



I'm still using some Bullseye that's over 30 years old and it works just as well as when I bought it.

My grandfather's blackpowder ammo from the Alsakan gold rush only went off half the time when I shot it in 1972.

My IMR4895 from High Tech was pull down from the '60's and it is every bit as good as the stuff in the purple can I get at the gunstore.

I think the secret is to keep the lid on tight.

Ferdinand - a friend gave me a pound of IMR powder from a lot he had gotten right. When I shot some of it , I got a real nice muzzle flash and the strangest sounding muzzle blast I ever heard. Checked the powder later and it had this rusty red color to it with a fine red dust (one of the signs of deteriated powder). Be careful.

I'm using up some powder now that is about 25 years old (WW452) I dont think there is a shelf life, some surplus ammo the guys are shooting is way old. The brown color could be from the can rusting. I would guess if it gets an odor, I would dump it. Load up a few rounds and see what happens.

The first batch of Unique ever made still gets yearly testing last time I knew. That stuff is, I think, over 100 years old. Works just fine.

If you store powder where it is WAY to hot you can have problems but the shelf life if that isn't the case is pretty long.

I recently loaded some 40 s&w with a can of herco I have had since 1987. About 17 years for that one and no problem. However, everything I have heard or read says that if it is turning red or brown it should be thrown out. Personally, I would throw it out and buy some more, thats pretty cheap insurance.

Good luck and good shooting,
Eterry

Yes, but the reasons for throwing it out are two...



1. Inconsistent burning, thus poor accuracy, and

2. Possibility of spontaneous combustion causing a fire in your house.



Other than spontaneous combustion,though, not much danger. Powder loses power as it deteriorates, it doesn't gain power.



AC

Rusty red tint ?

Pitch it.

Some of the surplus powder on the market is WW2 surplus , and still works fine. I have a can of Bluedot that is over 15 years old, fine too.

But it sounds like yours is bad.

Travis F.

While ya'll are on the subject of rusty red powder, I've had the same can of Reloder 7 for about 5 years and the last time I used it, I noticed that it had kindof red flakes mixed in with the black similar to the way Red Dot looks. I don't remember them having this from before, but then again, i don't remember them not having this. Can anyone tell me if this is normal?

I have some DuPont IMR powder from the 60's that is still fine, but it hasn't been opened till I go to use it.

I have also had powder that has had the red dust which I didn't use. Dispose of it!!!! Why take any chances????
JMHO
muskrat
live to shoot- shoot to live~

I am useing powder that is over or near 30 years old still
good, one can of IMR has aprice tag of $ 4.50! IMHO, Look
Smell, If that is ok use it If not dump it scatter it on the lawn or open space. Datil

I recently loaded some shotgun shells with the last of a 3 pound can of Red Dot that still had a $5.00 price tag on it. It shot just fine.

I just opened a new jug of Reloader 7 and there weren't any red flakes, my older can didn't have any either. Could you have accidentally contaminated the powder? I think I would toss it. If you have anohter can, look at it and compare.

I don't now the answer to your question on how long powder will last. I bet its a long time if stored properly.
A friend I use to work with asked me if I wanted some lead and powder. I said sure. He brought it in to work and he had a box full of powder, bullits and primers. Wow! About 30lbs of NEW cans of imr 3031,4350,4831,4320,H4895,4831 and a few 1/2lb cans of alcan5,and 7. Prices ranged from 1.50 to a top price of 3.75. I still have some and its all good. Ther was also a couple thousand bullits and I forget how many primers. They were fine also. I asked him what he wanted for it and he said just take it. I struck GOLD...

Powder usually lasts a lot longer than 5 years. It must have been on the guys shelf for ages, or air got to it. It makes great fertilizer though. One note of caution. If using it in your front yard be certain to mix it into the soil thoroughly. A careless postman or deliveryman discarding a lit cigarette can cause you some degree of heartache. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Just to confirm that there are no red flakes in my RL 7 either. Bought it in July of 2000 although I have no way of knowing how long it sat on the distributor's shelf. I can't make heads or tails of the code numbers on the jug.

I just goota throw my 2 cents into this one . . .

The Herco I'm shooting in my 45-70 CB loads was purchased in 71.

I'm still shooting some Milsurp 4831 purchased in either 1967 or 68. If it were sold as surplus then, just think when must have been produced!

Rust red and/or acid smell and any powder I have will be dumped for lawn food! Both together or separtly have always been reported by all as the indicators of failing powder.

Red flakes . . . first of all are you sure it is RL7? Does it look right for RL7? Could be an experimental lot from back when the feds were gonna require taggants in smokeless powder.

As long as smokeless will last, black powder should alway be as new (IF it does not get wet) because as a mixture there is little likelyhood of chemical breakdown.

Course then I could wrong about all of this too . . . just the way opinions seem to work out.

I still use my Gray B Powder and it was bought in 1967
1 and a half cans left there both marked $ 1.25
I still use my hurters 209 trap powder and i guess we all know how old it is..
one of my keg's of 700x must be atleast 5 years old

Pottsy

Unlimited provided it is kept dry in moderate temperature and in the original containers. I have been told if powder is going through a degregation process it will have an "ACIDITIC" smell...whatever the hell that means. I still use powder that I had bought back in the late 70's and they still go off when I pull the trigger. Think about it all the old military ammo still being use from the earlier wars.

Concerning the red flakes in my RL 7, I called alliant today and the customer service rep said that it was normal for them to be there. According to her, the amount of flakes varies from lot to lot. I'm just wondering if she wasn't confused with red dot.

She would have to be a piss poor customer service rep to get Reloader confused with Red Dot!

Ferdinand - if you really want an answer, why don't you contact Winchester? Perhaps you could mail them a small sample to evaluate/test. Let us know if you do!

stll reloading bulleye from 1960 no problems.

Same here. My can of Reloader 7 is at least 30 years old. It's in a square one pound steel can with the u-press-it punch lid, it sold for $6.50. It definetly has red identifier granules the same shape and size as the powder granules.

As I remember, all the hercules powders had color identifiers in them, except herco. Green dot, red dot, blue dot all got their names from the color of their idrntifiers.

Ferdy yer kiddin,,,,right? R-7 was originally made by Hercules, now made by Alliant,(they bought out Hercules).