Do you guys store gun powder inside a safe with a golden rod inside? The rod heats up to displace moisture.The rod doesn't get that hot but is it SAFE?

I wouldnt know, I just have it all on a shelf in the garage.
It is cool in the evening and fall/winter.

Only time it is warm in there is in the summer at midday.

Powder storage, at least in my experience, has been the least of my troubles.

I've shot 30 to 50 year old powder that has sat in these conditions, and they still work the same and give the same results as brand new stuff from the shop.

-Spencer

When I first started reloading, I put some powder in the safe. I was told not to do that. A fire marshall friend of mine saw this and his eyes got real big and said, "remind me if you house catches fire, not to get near it". He said I just made a big ole garnade. It makes sense. If you house catches fire ane pressure builds in a safe and it gets hot enough to ignite the powder, now you have created an enviroment for a bomb. Where if its on the other side of your house, it just burns real bright and hot. Should explode so much.

I work with flammable/explosive environments as a career (instrumentation/control systems in refineries, chemical plants, and such).

The problem with low temperature elements like the goldenrod is not so much when they are working, but if they short out. When working fine, they do not produce enough heat to hurt anything. If they should fail, and that failure is a short, and the breaker doesn't trip, and...and...and...it starts a fire in a rigidly confined space...well, you get the picture. Worst case scenario is as others have said, you have a grenade, and the first you will know it is burning is when the safe door goes through several walls of your and your neighbors homes.

Bottom line, a Goldenrod has probably never started a fire in any safe, ever, but it is not a risk I would consider acceptable.

The thought of gunpowder stored in a safe, with or without a goldenrod, scares the fool out of me.

quote:

Originally posted by RiflemanZ:
Do you guys store gun powder inside a safe with a golden rod inside? The rod heats up to displace moisture.The rod doesn't get that hot but is it SAFE?

Store your powder UNCONFINED in a cool, dry place where if it catches fire, it will merely burn, and not build up pressures!

If you decide to test it, please give me a one hour running start.

I too stored mine in wooden cabinets in the garage, until my failed pine box bullet trap was turned into a powder magazine that is six feet tall, and 18 inches square, with padlocked pine board door. It has plywood shelves adjustable in 6" increments.

Wooden storage boxes are recommended. They can blow apart at low pressure.