old powder ?

[yetti462]

I bought a tin keg of imr4198 at an auction yesterday, it is unopened. It appears to be of some age. Will it be ok?

 

[openwell]

I bought a tin keg of imr4198 at an auction yesterday, it is unopened. It appears to be of some age. Will it be ok?

smell it?
chemical odor? that's what it's supposed to have.
then test some loads using starting data.

I have 22yr old can of IMR4198
originally bought for ny 45/70 govt.

Since April 2020 I have used it very successfuly on about 200 rds of .222 Rem.

If the powder gives you accurate, safe loads for about 3 rds & use 3 or more FACTORY rounds. Then I load more being careful to examine cases, primers and targets.

I use caution. and you may not have enough experience to use it.

good luck

 

[shibumiseeker]

If it looks and smells ok then it is fine. You will want to carefully work up loads as formulations change over the years and current load data may not be accurate. If it has a heavy acrid odor then dispose of by pouring over your lawn or the like. It a good nitrogen fertilizer so spread it thin. A light acetone odor is ok.

I am using some powders, new production as well as pulled, from the 40s for my .50BMGs and I'm using some H110 in my .458 socom and my 300BLK that was manufactured in 1963 and stored in a basement. The guy who gave it to me (20lbs) bought it when he was in his 20s. It's in paper bags (from the factory) and has been shooting fine, I've been through three pounds of the 20 I got.

 

[Leadeye]

I bought a tin keg of imr4198 at an auction yesterday, it is unopened. It appears to be of some age. Will it be ok?

You can probably sell the empty keg on Ebay if it's one of those small black DuPont drums.

 

[DadSmith]

I have 23 years old powder RL22 and CCI lr magnum primers I still use. It all depends on how it was stored.

 

[NKBJ]

If you find there is red misty looking powder floating up when you pour it into the hopper or as a residue in a funnel then proceed with caution. Once it starts breaking down the chemistry is different and who knows what you're gonna get.

 

[DadSmith]

If you find there is red misty looking powder floating up when you pour it into the hopper or as a residue in a funnel then proceed with caution. Once it starts breaking down the chemistry is different and who knows what you're gonna get.

Good information there. So far it smells looks like it should. The primers i was a little worried about but they did fine in the 338 Lapua and I got 0.678" 5 shot groups at 100yd with them primers. The RL22 went into 7mm Remington magnum 150gr Nosler partition 64.8gr and them old CCI 350 primers. It was producing 1.384" 5 shot group at 100yd. Good enough for deer hunting in Southern Indiana.

 

[led4thehed2]

Same as other have said - old powder MAY be fine, it may not. Smells change and the fine red powder/dust others mentioned is supposed to be a sign of the powder is breaking down and should be discarded.

I've used some 20+ year old powder that worked fine, some I have had to discard due to the reasons listed. I'm not an expert, but that's the advice I was given when I started.

 

[DMTJAGER]

I can tell you what I was told from a rep from Hodgdon and IMR prior to Hodgon buying IMR at a Sifarri club international Meeting in Lostwages (Los Vagas) in 2002. When I asked both what was the shelf life of gun powder, primers and loaded ammo they both told me essentially the same thing. If stored properly in a air tight container and kept in a low humidity temperature controlled environment powder, primer and loaded ammo will last almost indefinitely.

My experience has been with an 8lb jug of Unique and an 8lb jug of W231 I bought both at least 25 years ago and I'm still using both to reload 38/357, 45acp and now 9mm with both and the rounds chrono fine and have had no issues with the reloads what so ever. I even used the Unique for reduced loads in my rifle rounds for short range plinking fun.

The gentlemen from IMR went on to tell me about a multitude of incidents were ammo had been brought up from transport ships sunk in WWII that had been submerged for over 50 years that after being brought to the surface removed from their still intact storage cans they still functioned in their respective firearms.