Black Powder storage life?

[Todd Rickard]

I'm considering ordering about twenty pounds of black powder. Can anyone enlighten me on the storage life of the powder? I would keep it in the original (unopened) containers, and could store it in air-tight ammo cans...

 

[Rebel]

As long as your alive and then some. :grin: Should last a whole lot of years if kept dry.

 

[jeepwj992002]

I'm with Rebel. As long as you keep it dry it should last indefinatly.

 

[FishDFly]

I keep my powder in the original cans and in the original box, so anyone will know what is in the box. I am shooting 12 year old powder at this time.

I keep the powder in a closet in the house. I do this so the temperature remains constant.

Some might say, what if the house catches on fire:

1. Don't stay in the house.
2. With the local VFD, it is going to the ground
before they get here and attempt to put it
out.

I had powder that lasted longer than my first wife!!

RDE

 

[No Deer]

You will use it all up before it will have any chance of going bad.

 

[n8dawg6]

Some might say, what if the house catches on fire:

1. Don't stay in the house.

:grin: thats my philosophy, too. you could also git one of these:
[url] http://www.cabelas.com/cabela...e+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=powder+storage&noImage=0[/url]

of course, i dont think it will stop the fire. it'll just limit the explosion. :shocked2:

 

[dboone]

I bought some Goex 3f 19 years ago and I'm still using it because I stop shot blackpowder for a long time.Its still good as the day I bought it.

 

[tg]

I have some cans marked 1982 that I got from my cousin when he passed away that works fine...

 

[shortstring]

I've won matches in the last year or so with 1F from the mid sixties.

 

[alton russell]

just wondering, what type will you be ordering?????
Grits

 

[nchawkeye]

Dang...sounds like you guys need to get out and shoot more often... :rotf:

I'm thinking about stocking up as well...Nobody "local" stocks anymore, and the Goex distributor is only an hour and a few minutes away...I called the other day...$11.55 a can...Plus...I need a little road trip... :grin:

 

[JiminTexas]

There is one factor that nobody has yet mentioned. and that's static electricity. static electric discharge will set off black powder. Go ahead, ask me how I know this. Oh yes, and don't wear a silk shirt when you handle your black powder. Yep, it happened right here in my hotel room. Thank goodness it was only 90 grains of FFFg. I was weighing out a charge to verify that the 90 grain powder measure I had just bought was really 90 grains. I put the powder horn on the floor and turned to weigh out the charge. Just then I had a call of nature, so I went to the bathroom and came back and as soon as I touched the powder measure the powder started burning. It didn't explode, but still it was a good thing that my bladder was already empty.

 

[renovato]

Decades if kept sealed away from heat and humidity. This last summer I used up some powder and caps both that had been sitting in a box since we moved when I was a kid. That was back in the mid '70's. Everything worked just fine. The last 2 cans of powder before I made my bulk order were from the '80's and they work fine too.

 

[Heidi 1672]

I attended A seminar put on by a nationally well known Blackpowder shooter several years ago and he was talking about accidents that happened in the same way that you are describng.Apparently some pretty big explosions have happened this way.Anyway the place that he reccomended keeping your powder was to store your cans in ZipLok storage bags in the freezer away from static electricity and such things.

 

[Juice Jaws]

We must have the same VFD. :rotf: Keep the powder dry and it will last intill the cows come home. :hatsoff:

 

[Frank/Pa]

Longer than you will be alive. :grin:

 

[RedFeather]

I attended A seminar put on by a nationally well known Blackpowder shooter...recommended keeping your powder was to store your cans in ZipLok storage bags in the freezer away from static electricity and such things.

I was going through the freezer jettisoning some old left-overs and noticed that, even when double-bagged, some had quite a bit of ice crystals in them. Even older factory sealed things like those mini-pizzas can eventually allow moisture to get inside. Must migrate through the plastic wrap. For that reason, I would opt to store the powder someplace where it's dry. Maybe use a grounding strap or something?

The warning about static electricity is very timely. I get zapped regularly this time of year.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I am sorry, but Static Electricity cannot ignite black powder. It was demonstrated here when someone posted a film clip showing an experiment, where you could actually see the static electricity charge pas through a small pile of black powder. There is not enough heat generated by static electricity to ignite the powder. In fact, according to that source, the electricity uses the graffite coating to go around the powder itself and not through it.

If you store the powder in its original cans, and keep it in a cool, dry place9 like a closet in an air conditioned home, it will last indefinitely .

You can put the cans in some of the inexpensive ammo cans sold in surplus stores, and that will give added protection from flame in a fire, but they will eventually go off if enough heat is applied. The same can be said for the more expensive " safe " being sold. You can make a wooden or metal box, lined on the inside with styrofoam, or even dry-wall, to insulate the powder and delay an explosion until the fire can be knocked down. Insulation is Insulation. YOu can ask the fire department what the fire rating is for various thicknesses of drywall, or some of the suppliers know that. Your library should have access to the local fire and building codes, or the national BOCA code, and you can look it up yourself. If you use an old Coleman style metal cooler, and line the inside with insulation, it would make a very fine storage safe, and let you put a lock on it for security, too.

 

[oldarmy]

I bought 25 lbs from the Main Powder House and he had an oringianl can from the "war of northern aggression" :grin: otherwise know as the civil war and he was sure the powder would still work.
Of course the can was worth more then the powder

 

[paulvallandigham]

An old refrigerator also makes a fine powder safe. You can install a padlock on it for security, and even put some holes in the top of it to direct any fire or explosion out of it, if you feel it is necessary. I would consider putting that spray type foam insulation between the walls of the refrigerator just to increase the insulation to protect the powder from heat. Leave the old, motor- removed, refrigerator in the garage, so that it is much less likely for the heat from a fire getting the powder hot enough to touch it off, and it will be easier to get to with water to cool the box down.

If I was really nervous about fire, I might even rig up my own spinkler system using PVC pipe, and an old tank holding water up in the rafters, or on the roof of my garage, so that water would help put out a fire, and keep the cooler cool.