Don't be too quick to answer that! But every time I open a can of powder I take a big whiff. It's probably hazardous as hell, but I cannot help myself. Something about that smell�..it hits me like an aphrodisiac. Does anyone else do this or is it just me?

Yep I do the same thing but it more to check the powder - have always heard that if the smell changes or goes away then the powder is going bad. A old wives tell Im sure but it gives me the excuse to get a whiff of powder fumes!:::MV

Hodgdon Data Manual (and others) notes that an acidic smell in powder indicates it's gone bad.

Powders are nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose.

Nitroglycerin is used as a heart medication to dialate vascular tissues. Besides giving you a screaming headache, it will drop blood pressure.

Manuals all warn against eating/drinking while reloading. Getting nitrogylcerin and lead into your system can't be healthy.

But what's really toxic is gunsmoke, especially black powder smoke. Besides which, it has lead and other metals floating around in the smoke particulate.

(And I like the smell of gunsmoke.)

Hoppes #9, guns that have been fired, powder, gunsmoke . . . they all smell good.

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.223 Ackley Improved Wildcat Forum:
http://www.hotboards.com/plus/plus.mirage?who=223ackleyimproved

I thought it was just me. I think I first did it because I read about the scent changes due to the powder going bad, but it grows on you I guess.

Hey, if that's all you're snorting up your nose, then you're OK by me, Longbob! Better the black granules than those white ones, y'know?

What does it for me is a fresh jar of Jif peanut butter. Peel back that paper/foil seal and inhale deeply. Takes me back to about age 9 or 10 and doesn't hurt a soul. <G>

Doesn't sound messed up to me. I do the same thing. I have even been guilty of (Carefully)burning a small bit in a steel pan in my garage so that I can smell the burnt powder. I even smell the cases sometimes as I extract them from the firearm. Come to think of it....I must be messed up! :-)

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"If it ain't a 45/70, it's just a passing fad"

Longbob,
What you are sniffing is basically ether and alcohol, it's the solvent they use on smokeless powders.

Now if I haven't heard it all.

Hold on guys I'll be right back. I got to go sniff some gun powder!

What we got here is a bunch of wild and crazy Powderheads

Longbob, you are right!! Also, I have always loved the smell of Hoppe's No. 9, but it doesn't seem to smell as good as it used to!! None of the newer solvents ever had as good an odor as Hoppe's!!

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Larry

Just don't smoke.

I would have to agree that the smell of a freshly opened can of powder is almost as good as a freshly opened jar of peanut butter.

Mudruck

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"Our Country won't go on forever, if we stay soft as we are now. There won't be any America - because some foreign soldiery will invade us and take our women and breed a hardier race!" - CHESTY PULLER, USMC
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Utah Varminters Association http://www.armscenter.com/uva

Fellow Powderheads,

Hi, my name is Randy and I'm a "sniffer"! It's become a ritual while shooting trap and skeet to smell the empties before I throw them in my bag! I've even started to do it while sitting at the bench testing loads for the rifles. I have it so bad I can tell you which shotgun powder you use in you reloads. My favorite is 700X but clays is a close second!

I guess we just started a sniffers anonamous!!

PERVERTS!!!

Hi, my name is J.W. and I too am a sniffer.

Last year I was even "busted" by my friends while sniffing the chambers of my skeet gun. I didn't even realize I was doing it until I heard the snickering behind me. I was embarrassed at first, but after taking third place in the tightly contested skeet league, others have begun to sniff their chambers too.

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J.W.
Hero of the Hapless
Master of the Obvious

Hi, My name is Mark... and I too, am a chamber sniffer.

Hi -- my name is Jeff and I am a sniffer too.

I must admit that I have not sniffed a can of powder (until after I read the beginning of this thread) but I have been guilty of gulping in large quantities of smoke while shooting trap, skeet, sporting clays, IPSC, rifle shooting and even smelling the empties after such events and while hunting.

I too have resorted to burning a small amount in an ashtray on the basement floor to remove other foul odors from the reloading area.

I also love the smell of Hoppes #9, but have been warned off sniffing Butch's Bore Shine or Sweets 7.62 as the ammonia can cause serious respiratory problems.

I also love the small (and taste) of a freshly opened jar of Jif.

I realized that I was really sick tonite at supper when my wife asked why I always like to sniff from a fresh jar of horseradish.

Can I be saved???

[This message has been edited by jdllyons (edited 04-04-2002).]

I'm hooked on the smell of fresh ground coffee and Hoppes #9. If the ladies had a perfum that smelled like either of those I'd be totally in their power.
Jim

I've been sniffing for years. BBBBut ttrussst mememe..... itttt's absssssolutelyy nnnnot tttoxic.

I used to sniff until one day I sneezed while sniffing and blew my nose off.

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Never teach a pig to sing.
It wastes your time and annoys the pig

Could it be that reloaders represent a rare genetic population of mutants? Maybe our affinity for powder is linked to mutation of an olfactory gene on the Y chromosome. That might explain why we seem to be a distinct minority.

I dont sniff unburned powder,I am a smoker,I wish to keep my nose in good shape I smell sometimes the empty cases...

Is this going to be like the "Best Coffee " post but with the twist "Which powder do you like to sniff more IMR 4350 ot H414?

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Doug Humbarger
NRA Life member

Okay, if you're going to get personal, be advised the smell of just-fired PB shotgun powder is the other part of the nostalgia associated with Hoppe's No.9.

Paladin

ish

quote:

---

Originally posted by Longbob:
Don't be too quick to answer that! But every time I open a can of powder I take a big whiff. It's probably hazardous as hell, but I cannot help myself. Something about that smell�..it hits me like an aphrodisiac. Does anyone else do this or is it just me?

---

my favorite is IMR4831;D

[This message has been edited by tsturm (edited 04-04-2002).]

Gawd, I love the smell of fresh burnt Reloader 22 in the morning..
"Admission is the first step to rehabilatation"
PHA(PowderHeadsAnonamous)
*Nut*

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My wife said "If you load ONE more box of ammo, I'm gonna take the dog and leave"
God, I'm sure gonna miss that dog. )

There is a real money making opportunity here!
I am either going to start a 12 step program called "Powder Sniffers Anonymous" or open a powder huffers bar, kinda like Starbucks, where you can choose your powder and burn it at your table in a special aroma concentrator called a huffinator.

Some of the best memories I have ever had are asociated with two things: being a kid, and being in the Army.

As for being a kid, good old Skippy PB does it for me.

For the military memories...........

The smell in the air just after you have fired either your AR15 loaded with BL(C)-2, or your M1A loaded with IMR 4895. All I have to do is close my eyes, and I can still hear the firing line commands.

LOL-well, better gun powder than bicycle seats, I guess - Dan

When cleaning out my reloading bench,I throw the leftover to the wood burning stove;the combined smell is not that bad.

Yup me too on the powder. But the sweetest smell I ever snarfed was the aroma of a freshly fired paper shotgun hull. Wisps of smoke curling up from the bottom of western paper target hulls, oh man how I miss that smell!

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if you run, you just die tired

I like a blend of burnt powder, wet dog, swamp gas and dead mallard, washed down with a vintage Hoppe's #9

That smell brings back memories of many fun hours spent at a loading bench.

Shooting is a sensory thang!

Slow burning smells better than fast burning, and IMR extruded stick smells better than WC ball. Nothing like opening one of those MTM boxes with 50 or 100 loaded large rifle rounds...it seems like only the most refined vapors can make it out of the case past the bullet to fill the MTM box. Mmmm....can you smell the recoil and the small groups?

I'm not hooked, and I can quit anytime I want to!

I left for a fews days of therapy and I am shocked to see how many are as affected as me! I was wearing celophane underwear when I went to see my psychiatrist. He said "I can clearly see your nuts."

Just can't pass up a freshly opened can of powder OR freshly ground coffee beans!! I may even have to purchase a bottle of Hoppes No 9 just for a stroll down memory lane!
Good Hunting,

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Andy Cooper