Storing Black Powder in Phoenix

[Dave in the Desert]

Hi all. I am getting back into muzzleloaders and want to switch from Pyrodex powder to real black powder. My garage in Phoenix gets up to 115 to 120 in the heat of the summer. I am curious where to keep black powder in the summertime. I saw some articles and videos that showed black powder is more stable than you would expect. I understand the dangers about keeping powder in a safe. Currently, I keep my Pyrodex in the house.

DaveK

 

[Tumbledown]

Keep it in the original containers. If you store those in a thick-walled wood box (use 1" boards,) it will be fairly fire resistant. Keep that box in a closet in your house if you're worried about summer heat. Don't worry about a fire, if it burns long enough to burn through the heavy wood, you have bigger problems.

 

[Nobade]

If you wanted to be official you could build a powder magazine as described in the BATF orange book, but I always just kept it in the original containers in the house too. I was more worried about smokeless powder deteriorating from the heat than anything happening to black powder. Pyrodex will also go bad eventually because of that. Takes a while though.

 

[FishDFly]

Just put it under your bed, you will be fine.

 

[Dave in the Desert]

Just put it under your bed, you will be fine.

And if it doesn't work out I won't know anyways

 

[Dave in the Desert]

Thank you for the feedback. I don't mind a container or two of Pyrodex but obviously with the availability and cost, buying only a couple containers of black powder at a time doesn't make financial sense.

 

[akroguy]

BP is very durable. Anywhere inside is fine. Many of us here have burned BP many decades old (or even older) and it goes bang just fine.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Storing black powder in Phoenix is too far away for me.


Mine is in the bottles it comes in and in a wooden box in a shed.

 

[wayne1967]

Might be wrong but I'd think Arizonas low humidity would be better? I've got 18 year old metal cans in southeast Missouri that haven't been an issue..