Indoor Powder Storage

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  • 87iroc

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    4   0   0
    Dec 25, 2012
    3,437
    48
    Bartholomew County
    Where do you store powder in the house? I was thinking I'd just store it in my safe with the other ammo and my guns then the realization hit that thats not a good idea.

    So, did a INGO search and see that the general consensus is to store it in the house.

    I have a couple options as I live in a ranch home with no basement....

    1) I have some kitchen cabinets that are used for storage in the utility room I could put jugs of powder in. The area where I'd consider storing it is about 12 ft from the furnace/hot water heater...I plan on reloading in the garage as that's all that's available to me. The Utility room is far away from anywhere we'd have to go in case of a fire.

    2) Closet close to fireplace(its around a corner from the fireplace...but the backwall of the closet butts up to the fireplace).

    I am thinking the back cabinet in the utility room. Option 2 is in a location where we'd pass by that closet on our way out of the house in a fire...so I'd hate to have a bomb there at our exit location.

    My thought is just put the jugs of powder in the cabinet...no special storage...

    That said, if I buy boxes of primers....do you store those in the same location as the powder or different? Primers+powder=boom...and that wouldn't be an issue to put them in a different cabinet in the utility room from the powder...but they would be in the same general area of the house.

    Anyway, thanks for sharing any wisdom. Ideally I'd just leave everything in my garage. It never freezes out there but I know the humidity is bad...but I don't want my supplies to deteriorate over time.
     

    shibumiseeker

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    49   0   0
    Nov 11, 2009
    10,708
    113
    near Bedford on a whole lot of land.
    Small amounts (1lb-8lb jugs) store anywhere that is temperature stable and not on the overly hot side (anywhere you'd regularly be is cool enough, the attic may be too hot and experience toowide of temperature swings) and dry, no big deal. Note that there are maximum amounts that the NFPA guidelines say may be stored in a residence (25lbs in original containers IIRC and 10k primers). Unless there are local codes (and many places use NFPA guidelines as the basis for their legal requirements) it's not a legal requirement, but your insurance may deny claims if you violate it and there is a fire.

    If it is surplus powder of dubious origins, I would NOT store it inside a house.

    Primers and powder together is no big deal unless you are dumping the primers IN the powder.
     

    Kirk Freeman

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    8   0   0
    Mar 9, 2008
    47,969
    113
    Lafayette, Indiana
    A shelf under my work bench in the armory (near the press in the photo). Primers are stored on shelves above (which you can see on the shelf above the press).

    20131130_184134_zps9889d27e.jpg
     

    amboy49

    Master
    Rating - 83.3%
    5   1   0
    Feb 1, 2013
    2,293
    83
    central indiana
    I have been loading for more years than a lot of folks on here have been alive. I hadn't loaded any metallic cartridges for quite awhile until I decided to start shooting handguns last year. With the factory ammo shortage reloading seemed to be the better alternative than high prices and lack of availability. So . . . . . once I got a press I started looking around through my powder inventory - found some pistol powders I hadn't used in 20 years. Not wanting to simply toss it I made up some initial loads. All rounds fired without issue and subsequent chronographing revealed no extreme velocity variations. The purpose of all of this - the powder was stored in my non-temperature controlled garage. Hot in the summer and down to 40 degrees in the winter. Humidity levels in the garage rose and fell with the ambient air. I also have a number of plastic kegs of shotgun shell powder. Same storage method. I'd rather have the powder in my unheated garage than stored inside my house given the choice. The OP indicated he would be reloading in the garage. My suggestion - put all of the powder out there too. Same thing goes for the primers. If you stop and think about it the components get subjected to extremes during shipment with no apparent ill affect.
     

    shibumiseeker

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    49   0   0
    Nov 11, 2009
    10,708
    113
    near Bedford on a whole lot of land.
    I have been loading for more years than a lot of folks on here have been alive. I hadn't loaded any metallic cartridges for quite awhile until I decided to start shooting handguns last year. With the factory ammo shortage reloading seemed to be the better alternative than high prices and lack of availability. So . . . . . once I got a press I started looking around through my powder inventory - found some pistol powders I hadn't used in 20 years. Not wanting to simply toss it I made up some initial loads. All rounds fired without issue and subsequent chronographing revealed no extreme velocity variations. The purpose of all of this - the powder was stored in my non-temperature controlled garage. Hot in the summer and down to 40 degrees in the winter. Humidity levels in the garage rose and fell with the ambient air. I also have a number of plastic kegs of shotgun shell powder. Same storage method. I'd rather have the powder in my unheated garage than stored inside my house given the choice. The OP indicated he would be reloading in the garage. My suggestion - put all of the powder out there too. Same thing goes for the primers. If you stop and think about it the components get subjected to extremes during shipment with no apparent ill affect.

    I'm using powder manufactured in 1963 and packaged (by the manufacturer) in paper sacks and stored in a closet of a house with no problems.

    But anecdotal experience is not a good guide. Yes, if powder is going to be used within a few years of manufacture and for rounds that aren't driven right to the edge of performance then you can pretty much abuse it at will.

    Here's the thing with powder. If it's made and stored properly, it is good for much longer than the average human lifespan. But it does deteriorate, and heat and moisture make it deteriorate faster. The more heat, the faster it deteriorates. The more it's exposed to oxygen, the faster it deteriorates. Out in the garage in the cold isn't as much of a problem as in the attic in the heat, but in both cases a temperature stable environment is still better than one where the temperature swings dramatically between day and night as is the case in an attic, but not so much in a garage. The good news is that unless it is actually decomposing which can cause a runaway ignition (and this tends to only happen in large storage containers) that powder generally becomes less dangerous as it ages as it loses potency.

    The reason I say temperature stable is because thermal cycling causes non-airtight packages to breathe as the internal pressure rises with increased temperature and falls as the temperature decreases. When it does this, ambient moisture can condense inside. Not much, but enough to increase the internal moisture content. That plus the volatiles are driven off and new oxygen is introduced, thus shortening lifespan. 20 years is nothing as far as a commercially manufactured powder is concerned, they all can deal with that. They could probably do it in a pile in the open air on a table next to the window of an attic, but why change the characteristics any more than we have to?

    (please note, I am not disagreeing with you, I would much rather have powder stored outside of the house even if it isn't optimal storage conditions, but for some folks it's not an option)
     

    87iroc

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    4   0   0
    Dec 25, 2012
    3,437
    48
    Bartholomew County
    Thanks for the information guys. I was reading about the powder limitations on a SAAMI? sheet.

    I figure I'll use the powder fairly quickly...but who knows what time will bring. Going to start picking up the components shortly so am just trying to make plans for where to put it. My wife will freak out I'm sure if she knows too much. :) I"ll have to ease her into the idea of having it in the house.
     

    roo

    Plinker
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Oct 17, 2013
    7
    1
    Rolling Prairie
    I keep my powder stored in the reloading room closet and primers stored in a small locker. I would like to get a fire locker to store these stuff but that is further down the road.
     

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