Black Powder Storage and safety?

[Poor Private]

There has been lots of discushion on the forum about black powder, but I have a question.
Where is every one storing thier powder? I store mine in my basement in thier original containers in G.I. cans, with desicant. I feel that up here in Michigan that the basement has a more even all year temp. We get temps from -20 to +95(faren). Should I be storing in a strongbox? I also store my modern ammo the same way.
Should I notify my fire department that I have several pounds of black powder and live ammo in the basement? Or should I keep mum?
Does anyone hide stuff for the posssible breakdown of our society?

 

[Bountyhunter]

Powder? What powder? I dont have no steeeeking powder.

 

[Ridge]

You don't have to worry about the modern ammo in a fire. When that happens the brass expands, the bullet pops out, the powder burns and the primer pops. John Wayne had it all wrong when he tossed his ammo belt on the campfire.

Black powder...well, from what I understand a pound of powder is not as dangerous as the little propane tanks that you buy for campstoves.

 

[MSW]

nope.

there are no mountain lions in vermont (just ask the game warden)

and there's no powder in my basement (just ask the home owner).


having said that, if you keep it dry, and in the original can, it should last (literally) hundreds of years or more. if you want to go any bury a bunch of 20mm ammo cans that have been wrapped in fiberglass tape and coated with fiberglass sealant and surrounded by sand, along with some scrap iron in other places to mess with anyone using GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar, not the other GPR), that's entirely up to you.

anyway, if you sneak around my place, the homeowner is the least of your worries... once the stock dog gets you...

just don't end up like Randy Weaver's wife

 

[Mull Dover]

Powder? Why would anyone have powder? To use in what?

 

[Poor Private]

I didn't want this to be turned into a social/political discusion. I just want tips and ideas of storage of your powder and cartridges. Like I stated mine are in GI cans with desicant in my basement. Does anyone have real/regulation magazines? if so what did it cost you? I hear of people storing their ammo in the old style latch refrigerators buried in the ground secured with hasps and padlock-a regular powder bunker.
What should be the quantity that each person have available for use? I usually store as much powder as I can afford, sometimes it's a couple of pounds and a few hundred rounds of lead for my colts and remingtons, and a few .58 rounds for my long guns. Other times it's more, sometimes it depends on how much I have been firing at my range or using in civil war reenacting.

 

[JohnnyO]

I don't have a powder storage, but have about 10 lbs in my gun safe...along with my ammo, and yes I've heard don't store ammo in the same safe as your guns but where else would I put it? I like the safe cause well...it's a safe...and it's fireproof. If my house was to burn down I sure wouldn't want any firefighters injured. I've actually thought of one day buying a smaller fireproof safe and using it just for ammo/powder :thumbsup:

 

[Hawkeye]

I store mine in the original cans, in the freezer compatrment of an old frfrigerator (Non-working) that I use to keep my fermenting beer warm while brewing in cooler weather. Some firefighter pards have told me they have gotten cool drinks out of the burned remains of homes from the reefer. Seems they are designed to insulate the stuff in them, who knew?

 

[mazo kid]

My wife doesn't want blackpowder in the house so mine is in an unheated outbuilding (except for powder horns and if I am bulk reloading for BPCR). I have an old metal hanging file cabinet lined with wood and a loose cover. A rope tied to the front and stretched out to the door allows anyone to pull the unit to safety. I need to put some casters on the bottom someday. Here we are allowed up to 50# of BP without an approved powder magazine.

 

[Rat Trapper]

Black powder isn't real easy to come by around here. Couple months ago I was able to pick up 10 cans rather cheap too. I have it stored outside in an unheated building in orginal cans and in 50 cal ammo cans. This building is not hot in summer, but here in the midwest it can get down to -20 in the winter. Chance of fire in this building is pretty low, almost zero. It's mostly cement blocks and cement floor. Powder is stored up off the floor in a cabinet. Anyone see a problem with this type of storage?

 

[roundball]

The ATF lets us store up to 50lbs BP in a single family dwelling, and my state of NC has no state over-rides, so 50lbs it is. If you haven't done so, call your State Fire Marshall's Office and ask if your state has imposed any more restrictions than the ATF regs.

When I order a case of Goex, it's shipped cross-country for a few days, loaded on and off trucks, and then left sitting in the sun on my front porch...in nothing but a sturdy cardboard box...I take it into the house and set in on the floor of a storage closet that nobody else goes into but me.

The way I see it, it's far safer and undisturbed there compared to the hundreds of miles it just traveled in that simple cardboard box...and not a thing in the world is going to happen to it on the floor of that closet uless the house catches fire.

Even then the house will have to basically burn to the ground to get the cans heated enough to burst and flash...and we'll either be away at the time and unharmed, or have already died from smoke inhalation and it won't matter.

 

[ohio ramrod]

If you live in a rural area one of the safest places to store your powder is between the riser cap and the actual lid of the septic tank. Just vacum pack the cans and stow them away. No one looks in septic tanks and the riser connection is solid concrete.My self I store mine in an unused chicken house away from the other buildings and with no electric. I recieved a questionare from the local fire department a few years back about any possible hazardas material I might have. When I listed my paint thinners and laquar thinners they were more concerned about them than the gunpowder.Since I buy a case every three years or so I have a reasonable quanity at all times untill we shoot it up. I have two sons and my nephew has three so we shoot a lot of powder.

 

[Allan Gray]

I store mine in a locked job site tool box, (Knack box) inside a locked room.

I don't make it public knowledge that I keep black powder, (until now)

When I was a kid our garage burned down in the middle of the night. In it was 2 lbs. of 3f powder. We told the fire fighters when they arrived to battle the blaze. The garage was completely engulfed in flames.
I remember seeing a huge billowing cloud of white smoke at one point and knew it was the powder. No big Hollywood style explosion...seems the cans it came in gave way with little effort or drama.

 

[renovato]

I buy 25 lbs at a time and store most of it out in the shed. I keep some in the house. It gets pretty hot in the shed during summer. As long as the cans are sealed it doesn't bother the powder though. Last summer I was shooting a few cans I had "lost" in a move and recently found. They were from the '70's and they shot just fine. I store a lot of smokeless powder that way too.

I do hide stuff away for a SHTF situation. Nothing black powder related, but a lot of modern stuff. Differing methods and several locations.

 

[Deadeye]

I keep most of mine in a cement block building in an old refrigerator but keep several cans in the basement. 2 weeks ago I closed the bolt on a rifle and it discharged. A door was open and between me and the shelf where the powder was. The bullet went thru the door, hit the middle can of powder and the 4 cans exploded, blew the door off, the windows out, set the room on fire, the blast went up the stairs and blew 2 other doors apart and damaged 2 others, shook the house so hard that cracked the ceiling in my bedroom so that the entire ceiling will have to be replaced.
That door saved me. I was only 6 ft. from the blast, blew my glasses and hat off. Smoke was so thick I couldn't see anything but was able to find a fire extinguisher and put out the fire then run upstairs and get a breath of air. It made a mess that I'm still cleaning up. I don't plan to keep BP in the house anymore. I have 8 or 9 horns with powder in them that I would like to have available but am considering putting them in the frig.
Deadeye

 

[paulvallandigham]

Why were you loading a live round into a rifle, that you had pointed at your powder magazine? And why were you loading a rifle indoors, anyway? Seems to me those are the two corrective actions that need to be taken, not storing your powder outside. Other opinions will vary, of course. :hmm:

 

[roundball]

Wonder what a lead or copper bullet would do to a can of powder that would cause it to ignite...

 

[Captain outwater]

black powder is harmed by water, so all you have to do is keep it dry. Temperature changes do not affect it.
Prevent it from coming into contact with electricity or heat sources and you are fine.

 

[bingo1952]

It will tear a steel can so fast that it will generate enough heat to light off the powder and if in a plastic container the resistance is also great enough for it to generally light off assuming you actually hit the powder. Black powder is also percussion sensitive at those speeds. In other words don't shoot your cans of powder.

 

[Mull Dover]

Deadeye,
I Won't question you loading a weapon in your house. I'm sure many have done so many times. It is easy to pick up a weapon that someone else last carried without realizing that there are live rounds in the magazine. I guess that brings to mind the first rule of gun safety huh? I am impressed by the power of the blast and didn't know that shooting a can could detonate it!
Glad you were unhurt!