old black powder

[hrt4me]

I acquired some old black powder; can anyone tell me what exactly I have, as well as whether it is still safe to fire? The label seems to be made of paper and is starting to peel from its metal cannister

 

[Okie Hog]

When properly stored black powder does not degrade over time Curtis and Harvy is good powder, shoot the stuff.

 

[ord sgt]

The can is a collectable, too. But yeah, as long as the powder flows freely, it should be good. Try lighting a small sample of powder, outdoors, of course. If you can safely get it to ignite, go ahead and use it. Or keep it as a collectable.

 

[andy52]

I'm still shooting powder that's 30 years old, and it works just fine.

 

[excess650]

If the powder had gone bad, the can would show rust from the inside out. If it pours freely, shoot it. If it is somewhat clumped, break up the clumps and shoot it.

 

[deerstalkert]

post 1964 as it has a zip code on the address. APC was devoured by Dupont, then others.
i have powder from earlier that still goes band every time. about the only thing that has a bad effect on Black Powder is H2o. keep yer powder dry!

 

[SDSmlf]

I acquired some old black powder; can anyone tell me what exactly I have, as well as whether it is still safe to fire? The label seems to be made of paper and is starting to peel from its metal cannister
View attachment 107477
View attachment 107478

Appears you have an old C&H blackpowder can. You need to verify that what ever is in it is actually blackpowder before you just ‘shoot it’. I have personally come across smokeless powders in the incorrect containers, blackpowder powder in old smokeless containers with the labels removed with FF written on the can, powder stored in old coffee cans with plastic lids and some stored in old canning jars. You never know what you will find going through someone’s stash.

 

[deerstalkert]

SD, you been going through my stash??

you missed the 5 lbs in vitamin bottles!

 

[William Lincoln]

Bought old powder can from flea market--circa 1953 vintage.
Pre zip code. About 20% left of old powder.
Was caked but I loosened it up.
Fired extra smokey but still was adequate.
Black powder is good for decades--maybe much longer.
It is composed of basic stable ingredients.
Subs watch out--they degrade. Especially after exposure
to atmosphere.

 

[deerstalkert]

i corresponded with a gentleman in Michigan (i think it was Michigan) about deactivating a WBS cannon ball i have. just after i contacted him he was killed deactivating someone else's . he had done the deactivating as a business for years.
my cannon ball is still charged and doesn't live in the house. i can see the grains through the fuse hole and they look back like snake eyes!.

 

[Okie Hog]

From 1959-62 i was stationed at Fort Bragg, NC with the 864th EOD unit. We responded to several incidents involving individuals killed or injured by Civil War explosive ordnance. One man near Washington, NC was killed while brazing a lug on a 10 inch cannon ball. He was attempting to make a boat anchor.

 

[Whitworth]

i corresponded with a gentleman in Michigan (i think it was Michigan) about deactivating a WBS cannon ball i have. just after i contacted him he was killed deactivating someone else's . he had done the deactivating as a business for years.
my cannon ball is still charged and doesn't live in the house. i can see the grains through the fuse hole and they look back like snake eyes!.

I took a 20 pound Parrot shell to a well known expert for deactivating. He takes me and the shell out back to his garage where he has an old Craftsman table top drill press and vise mounted in the back of a kid's wagon with a garden hose attached. He clamps the shell in place, turns on the water to spray it down and we retreat to inside his wooden garage. He plugs in the drill press and while peering out a crack in the door starts pulling on a rope to lower the drill and start drilling, this in a residential area no less I could see other houses. Well I looked around and found a masonry support column to stand behind while he was drilling, my folks didn't raise kids dumb enough to hide behind a board wall in case of an exploding artillery shell. The whole thing was surreal, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, I had expected a sheltered bunker or something like that for such work. I could have done the same thing at home but I thought it best to leave it to an "Expert". YMMV

 

[deerstalkert]

I have my cannon ball sitting in the yard, nestled into the hub of a wagon wheel. fuse hole toward the heavens and rain.
been there for 20 years. still not going to try to dig out those big grains of powder!

 

[Timber Wolf]

I took a 20 pound Parrot shell to a well known expert for deactivating. He takes me and the shell out back to his garage where he has an old Craftsman table top drill press and vise mounted in the back of a kid's wagon with a garden hose attached. He clamps the shell in place, turns on the water to spray it down and we retreat to inside his wooden garage. He plugs in the drill press and while peering out a crack in the door starts pulling on a rope to lower the drill and start drilling, this in a residential area no less I could see other houses. Well I looked around and found a masonry support column to stand behind while he was drilling, my folks didn't raise kids dumb enough to hide behind a board wall in case of an exploding artillery shell. The whole thing was surreal, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, I had expected a sheltered bunker or something like that for such work. I could have done the same thing at home but I thought it best to leave it to an "Expert". YMMV

So did you live to tell the tale? ; )

 

[Whitworth]

So did you live to tell the tale? ; )

No, my post was written by a Ghost writer .

 

[Okie Hog]

I took a 20 pound Parrot shell to a well known expert for deactivating.

Worked on jobsites with a man who was in USMC EOD. In the late 1980s he was inerting a Parrot round. After removing most of the powder, the round exploded, badly injuring him. He was granted a medical retirement. At his retirement the general introduced him as "the last USMC casualty of the Civil War".

 

[DuncNZ]

When I was ten I was given my first centerfire rifle , It was Tower made 1861 Enfield which had been converted some time later to a Snider breach loader . I was also given several cases of the original brass and paper wrapped ammunition , made in about 1869 . I shot that ammo for years , shot every thing from chickens to Red Deer and never had a misfire . The rifle was stolen about 18 years later ,but I still had some ammo left , as well as more modern made stuff . I last shot a wrapped case round in 2007 , It still worked perfectly after 138 odd years .

 

[44Bro]

I have my cannon ball sitting in the yard, nestled into the hub of a wagon wheel. fuse hole toward the heavens and rain.
been there for 20 years. still not going to try to dig out those big grains of powder!

Use a pressure washer to flush the powder out. Wet Holy Black almost never kabooms. Hot water will dissolve most of the nitrate.

 

[deerstalkert]

Use a pressure washer to flush the powder out. Wet Holy Black almost never kabooms. Hot water will dissolve most of the nitrate.

if i did that i wouldn't be able to watch the "oh $#!^" look on visitors faces when they discover it!

 

[Rudyard]

We are all saying the same good black powder lasts for ages Ime' mostly useing Curtis & Harveys number 4 it hasn't been made since the mid 60s .
Rudyard