vacu-sealing BP

[camoloc]

had to buy around 5 lbs of 2F.

decided it might be good to use my food sealer to vacu-seal the remaining 4 lbs to keep it safe from moisture.

anybody else do this or overkill?

camo

 

[camoloc]

I put it back in the nice box it shipped with with all kinds of warning stickers so the family would know to keep away.

even the fillipino wife knew the severity of this warning.

 

[DuncNZ]

I'm using Goex ffg which I purchased 30 odd years ago , I have kept it in the tin , in a cardboard box in a cool dry place and it is as good as the day I got it . I guess if you vacu-seal the tins it wouldn't hurt , but I don't think it is necessary unless your property is prone to flooding .

 

[deerstalkert]

i have been storing BP on a shelf in a shed for about 60 years and never had any go bad. some got damp and had to be dried out but moisture doesn't harm the powder.
if it were to get so wet it was semi liquid there is the remote possibility the Kno3 could leach out.
but moist to the point it is hard to light doesn't harm it. just dry it out.
i store mine in plastic bottles with just screw on lids.

 

[camoloc]

so in a semi-humid basement.........im safe?

relatively speaking of course discounting any unnatural acts of God?

camo

 

[camoloc]

could move it to my shanty shed........

but all kinds of varmints visit there.........that doesn't seem good to me. but maybe wrong. store the mower, chainsaw gas, etc there.

might look better for insurance purposes. lol.

have a solid excuse then.

camo

 

[TDM]

anybody else do this or overkill?

camo

Yes, it is overkill. As said above, BP is very forgiving on how it's stored. I keep mine in a conditioned shop so mine will last longer than me. I've used BP and smokeless powder ( not in a muzzleloader) that were well over 40 years old with no problems.

 

[hawkeye2]

had to buy around 5 lbs of 2F.

decided it might be good to use my food sealer to vacu-seal the remaining 4 lbs to keep it safe from moisture.

anybody else do this or overkill?

camo

Put it in food saver bags and you might end up having it served to you for supper. Think what would happen if the wife tried to bake a cake with it.

 

[deerstalkert]

i have a cannon ball from the war of northern aggression that has no timer fuze in it. the port is open to the weather. it sits in a flower bed away from the house. one can look in the port and see huge grained powder. every summer i turn the ball over a piece of news paper and catch a few grains that have loosened from the tar binding in the ball.
being a terminal delinquent i then lite off those grains away from the ball of course. last i knew the war was over a considerable time ago. that powder, dried out still burns furiously! well enough i keep the ball far from the house. just neat to have.

 

[smoothshooter]

had to buy around 5 lbs of 2F.

decided it might be good to use my food sealer to vacu-seal the remaining 4 lbs to keep it safe from moisture.

anybody else do this or overkill?

camo

Yes, very much overkill.
How would moisture get inside of a plastic or metal can with the lid screwed on tight?
You could take an unopened bottle of powder, throw it in the ocean, retrieve it in a couple of years or more, and it would still be dry inside.

 

[tenngun]

Yes, very much overkill.
How would moisture get inside of a plastic or metal can with the lid screwed on tight?
You could take an unopened bottle of powder, throw it in the ocean, retrieve it in a couple of years or more, and it would still be dry inside.

Have to agree there. When I got out of the navy I packed up to Wyoming. Went from fort Bridger to grand Tetons, back south to the union pass, then along the east face south to Lander where I sold my horses.
I had old one gallon antifreeze plastic jugs that I had poured powder into as a one gallon jug was easier to pack then eight tins.and I could put one jug in each pannier. Fill my horn alternating
Well I didn’t shoot a whole pound in the whole trip. And took me some years to go through all the powder. Kept it in those jugs and it was good at the end as the start.
It was rained and snowed on and fell in creeks with out any trouble.

 

[necchi]

I wish I could add to this,, but everyone already said it.
Leave the sealed plastic jugs alone, put'm in the basement, and rest well in comfort.

 

[yonderin]

It's that's how you want to store your powder, your business. If everyone on here subscribed to "the conventional wisdom", there'd only be one lube, one way to clean your gun, one diameter ball for each caliber,.....

When I get going with my dehydrator and vac sealer, the missus often gives me one of those WTH reactions.

 

[Jim K]

i have a cannon ball from the war of northern aggression that has no timer fuze in it. the port is open to the weather. it sits in a flower bed away from the house. one can look in the port and see huge grained powder. every summer i turn the ball over a piece of news paper and catch a few grains that have loosened from the tar binding in the ball.
being a terminal delinquent i then lite off those grains away from the ball of course. last i knew the war was over a considerable time ago. that powder, dried out still burns furiously! well enough i keep the ball far from the house. just neat to have.

“Terminal delinquent” that’s a good one

 

[Sean E Bug]

the original containers are well designed to keep the powder dry, prevent static build up, and vent properly if it does ignite. In many places the regulations on storing black powder specify the original container. if unopened the containers are sealed.

 

[flconch53]

My powder magazine is in my workshop in SW Florida. I doubt you are more humid than here. I have powder that is decades old and it works just fine. Just keep the container closed tight. Don't overthink this stuff

 

[SOLANCO]

Back in the day powder did pretty well stored in wooden kegs. It's not going to go bad long as you keep the lid tight on the plastic bottle.

 

[smoothshooter]

had to buy around 5 lbs of 2F.

decided it might be good to use my food sealer to vacu-seal the remaining 4 lbs to keep it safe from moisture.

anybody else do this or overkill?

camo

Do not store BP in a military steel ammo cans with the lid buckled down tight like so many do.
If the place you have ammo can catches on fire and the can gets really hot, you will have a massive explosion.
Those ammo cans are so heavily built they will let the pressure spike much higher before they let go whereas a flimsier container will blow sooner with less pressure buildup.

 

[user 51067]

i have a cannon ball from the war of northern aggression that has no timer fuze in it. the port is open to the weather. it sits in a flower bed away from the house. one can look in the port and see huge grained powder. every summer i turn the ball over a piece of news paper and catch a few grains that have loosened from the tar binding in the ball.
being a terminal delinquent i then lite off those grains away from the ball of course. last i knew the war was over a considerable time ago. that powder, dried out still burns furiously! well enough i keep the ball far from the house. just neat to have.

Just imagine that iron ball being struck by lightning!

 

[APG]

Can't seem to keep the stuff around long enough to worry about long term storage.