Thanks, I guess I just haven’t did a load up in awhile and my sniffer was just sensitive.Not unless it gets wet or contaminated, generally. Or exposed to extremes of heat in some cases.
In sealed or airtight containers with the lids screwed down... it lasts a long, long time.
I made the mistake of buying an 8lb can of bullseye in the early 1990s. Still loading .38 wc from it!
sirhr
Man that does suck.I ruined about 20 pounds of powder back about 10 years ago. H1000, H4831SC, Varget - all gone. The H1000 was brand new, sealed. The others were opened previously.
I moved into a new house and stored the box in the attic accidentally (mislabeled box), and here in a Texas it's very easy for an attic to get up into the 120 F plus range during the summer. It stayed up there for about 6 months as was focused on a few different things. I knew I had screwed up when I found it and it still ignited fine, but the velocities and ES for everything that was reloaded with those powders was all over the place. In tune to the low 100's spread. Sealed or previously opened - didn't matter. The heat alone had acellerated the deteriation. Humidity is guaranteed to do the same.
That's a great idea. I have some of those Omaha steaks coolers my sisinlaw gives me. They suck for riding in the truck because they squeak so much, but they would be perfect for powder storage. Thanks!Big temperature swings and humidity are the only real problems for modern powders. If kept in the original container with the lid tight, probably good to go on the humidity side but that leaves the temperature.
One of the best and least expensive ways to store powder is to utilize a closet that is not on an exterior wall of your house. The closet is not very affected by the HVAC system, it is quite temperature stable. More so if there is not an exterior wall that will heat and cool from the outside.
I use the cheap styrofoam coolers to keep powder and primers in. I have several in a cabinet that is in a room in my shop, not a closet but as temperature stable. I label the outside on a piece of tape with a sharpie and then I use the thin packing tape to help keep the air out. Between being in that cabinet, in that room and in the styrofoam cooler, the temperature MUST be real stable but I have never tried to do any quantifying data collection. Also, the stuff is in it's manufacturers packaging and then sealed again inside the coolers so I would think the humidity thing is also covered, especially since I live in a real dry climate but, again, no data to prove anything.