Re: Old Varget Powder?
My Dad remembered those old Hodgdon paper bags and told me about them.
And he bought some Ball-C(2) from a gun shop on some one-way street in Pocatello ID in the 1950s, from a barrel sitting on the floor.
Scoop it out and weigh it was the plan.
Loaded my first cast bullet loads for the M1 Garand with the last of that stuff.
When checking old stuff, I DON'T poke my nose at the opening and take a deep whiff...my sources say that can yield a dose big enough to ruin at least the next five minutes, if not the whole day and half your lungs. IMO, it's better to look if the opening is big enough, squeeze some air out if possible and look for reddish dust, and lightly sniff from a distance first.
Fundamentals of chemistry say that heat is one of the bigger killers of powder, especially repeated swings into and out of that above-85 degree F zone.
We finished his 1993 can of WW-231 a year ago. I've used 40-year old powders and loaded ammo with no problems ever.
Dad saw one team win a Service Rifle match with ammo from WWI. It was 45 years old then, and grouped best if the rounds were whacked to un-settle the granules. It didn't make a sound when shaken, despite a half-inch airspace in the cases, until a sharp whack un-caked the powder.
