Is 2005 Goex powder okay?

[Skychief]

I have read that Goex had its good years and their bad years (maybe because of a plant move?). I just bought 5 pounds of Goex 2f from a friend and it is marked as being made in 2005. Is that year considered okay? BTW, all cans are of the same lot number, so, no worries there. Thanks for any replies/thoughts!

 

[bucktales]

If you have any doubts, send it all to me and I'll let ya know if it works. :shocked2:

 

[Many Klatch]

I have shot up about 25 pounds of 2005 Goex and it all worked good for me.

Many Klatch

 

[jtmattison]

I shot 10 pounds of 2005 Goex. No problems.

HD

 

[blacksmithman64]

Gunpowder is like wine, it just gets better with age! Well, maybe not, But ya always hear stories about somebody finding live artillery shells from the CW and they have to call the bomb squad! :shocked2:

 

[Zonie]

About the only powder I'm aware of that had its good years and its bad years was Elephant.
No, I don't remember which years were good and which years were bad.

I know that during some years all of their powder was fair and in some years it was very bad.

The only real consistancy seemed to be that it was always weaker than Goex or any other companies for that matter.

It was also famous for creating more fouling than any other powder around.

Goex, KIK, Schuetzen, Swiss and a few others I can't think of at the moment are all good powders.

 

[Bob Gular]

What Bucktales said.

 

[smallmouth]

Personally never had trouble with ANY real black powder. Watch storage, cool, dry place and to me even the cool is less important (up to a reasonable point) than the dry.

Did have some trouble with pyrodex but that's not real IMO

Sirjohn

 

[Stubert]

I have powder that my father in law left me from 1976. works fine.

 

[silverfox]

I was given about 15#s of DuPont about a month ago. It was all given away at last months match. Some was used in the match and it was as good as new. Don't know how old it was but I wouldn't worry about any US or German made powder. Also got some Itallian caps from 1969 they looked new and were marked #11 but are American size 10's for pistols. They all worked well also. Just keep you caps and powder cool and dry and it should last your lifetime.
Fox :thumbsup:

 

[Dphar]

About the only powder I'm aware of that had its good years and its bad years was Elephant.
No, I don't remember which years were good and which years were bad.

I know that during some years all of their powder was fair and in some years it was very bad.

The only real consistancy seemed to be that it was always weaker than Goex or any other companies for that matter.

It was also famous for creating more fouling than any other powder around.

Goex, KIK, Schuetzen, Swiss and a few others I can't think of at the moment are all good powders.

Trust me GOEX used to have them too.
Sometimes 1/4 of the can was to dusty to use.
But this was largely cured with the move from Moosic.
Their powder these last years is fairly uniform, a great improvement over Moosic production for a couple of reasons.

Elephant had their problems, they over compressed some and it caused problems, they ignored some advice and this did not help either. Before they got things really sorted out they had a large fast fire and destroyed most of the plant.
Swiss and Schuetzen are the best right now, this is not likely to change. Since its importation Swiss has been the most consistent. But it is a very carefully made powder that they hold to very strict standards. It is a true "sporting powder" and is comparable to the old late 19th century premium sporting powders produced by C&H and a couple of US makers like Hazard and Laflin and Rand. They were made with the purest sulfur and saltpeter, they were milled longer, pressed harder, polished better (no graphite at all) and the charcoal was made from select species of trees and then charred to strict specifications.

Dan

 

[Dphar]

Personally never had trouble with ANY real black powder. Watch storage, cool, dry place and to me even the cool is less important (up to a reasonable point) than the dry.

Did have some trouble with pyrodex but that's not real IMO

Sirjohn

If stored too warm there will be some degradation of the sulfur. Would have to do some re-reading but think under 70F is pretty safe.

Dan

 

[Skychief]

Thanks for all the responses guys! :applause:

 

[texcl]

When my dad bought me my 1st 1873 trapdoor rifle, the old guy he bought it from gave him a bag of old lead round nosed cartridges with copper primers, well not relizing they had collectors value (maybe they didn't back then) I shot them all up, some were smokeless and some left a big cloud of smoke, I imagine the black powder in those had to be 100 years old, I'm not sure when they stopped making them. None of them misfired. I also shot all my whole jar of musket balls I found, out of my slingshot at rabbits.