- Thread starter danatkins
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Depends on how they’re stored. I have partial, paper kegs left of Herco, Blue Dot, and several AA powders (as well as some metal ones). All good, and preform to spec via the Lyman 2nd Edition, or a half dozen old books from the ‘50s and ‘60s. Use it to make one 80% and see if it goes bang. Worst thing it might do is stick a bullet in your barrel. It definitely can’t become more powerful, only degrade.
How? If it got wet it would fizzle. If it got damp or previously hot it could reduce burn rate, but I don’t see how it could increase unless it was hot upon ignition like new powder can do if left to cook in a hot barrel. I’ve thrown out some that would go bang, but had become very weak. I could see the .357 bullets going down range like a light .38 load. Plenty of people will tell you not to use it, but I would not be scared to at least test it.
The nitrocellulose degrades to make the acids. Would the residue be corrosive?
Maybe, but how low does the ph get?
About Pistol and rifle primers. I accidentally used small pistol primers for 500 rounds of 223 on my Dillon 650. Fuck if I was gonna pull all of them. I shot them all no problem out of an AR. I didn’t see any issues.
I tried a few pistol primes in .30 carbine. Pireced about half of them. So depending on brand, the pistol primer are thinner or will take less psi than the rifle primers. Wolf brand in my case,
Just depends on load with small primers. Low pressure 300 blk is good to go. Lrp have some dimensional issues that preclude their use in rifle brass, even low pressure as far as I know.
A 45acp or 44 rifle would be a good way to use those up!
A 45acp or 44 rifle would be a good way to use those up!
Yes, it could.
Burn rate is controlled by two things, the size of the grain and by chemical retardants added during the manufacturing process.
Time and/or poor storage conditions, especially exposure to high temps, can cause these chemicals to break down and increase burn rate.
Exposure to moisture damages the outer retardant coating of the powder grains and wicks nitroglycerin to the surface increasing the initial burn rate which leads to pressure spikes.
Double based powders tend to deteriorate faster than single based powders.
A simple test to see if powder has degraded is to pour some on a clean white sheet of paper and shake It around a bit, then pour it off. If there is a grayish powdery film left on the paper the powder has degraded to some extent.
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What spp did you use?
CCI 550 magnum spp and CCI 400 srp are identical and interchangeable according to Speer/CCI.
From the thread "A Primer on Primers":
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Wow! That's great to know. Thanks!
Saw that...
Bought 10, 1 pounders, a few years ago from the PX at $10/bottle.
The generous Hide member made me a great deal I highly appreciate. That dude must be highly intelligent and handsome. I could probably sell that shit now to finance my kids education but I will do as intended....use it for loading my 30-06 Model 70....just have to wait until that gun is running 100 percent. Already got a box of test loads to run and a bunch of prepped brass ready to fill.......
If your ever interested in letting go of some of those vintage containers please let me know! I'd love to have them!
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