How long will powder & primers keep

[Romokid]

I'm just getting back into reloading now that the kids are older I'm finding more time to go shooting and taking them with me. I started going through my stuff and found inside a .30 cal ammo can 2 open 1lb containers of powder (Accurate #7 and Winchester 231) and about 150 primers. Everything seems dry in the ammo can. The gasket seal is real good, but looks can be deceiving. This stuff is probably 10+yrs old. Is it still good? I'm thinking the primers might be ok but I don't have a clue on what the shelf life is on this stuff. Boy prices have changed, the powder was marked $14 & $17 and the box of Winchester small primers $15 per 1000. I'm heading to Cabela's on Thursday to pick up some fresh powder and primers, but I was wondering if I should just junk the leftovers.

 

[Marcus5aurelius]

I would just try loading it and see, I bet it's fine as long as it's air tight but you never know unless you try. Otherwise I'd just give it to someone who has a gopher problem, they could certainly put it to good use.

 

[mac1911]

I have some old herco powder, its no less than 20 years old. in cardbord type round container. It worked fine. I also was given a few thousand 209 winchester primers that are almost as old. Kept high, dry and some what stable should keep a long time. Read somewhere that hodgdon has a test batch of powder thats as old as the business and it keeps going bang. I would just dump some out and look at it closely see if anything really odd or if its clumping

 

[Fixxah]

Give it a sniff. Rotten egg smell and I would fertilize the lawn. Otherwise load it up.

I have 5lbs of Red Dot that is in the big round cardboard container that's 10 or so years old and still works.

Sent from the Hyundai of the droids, the Samsung Replenish, using Tapatalk.

 

[jaypap]

Smell it, if it smells acidic it may be bad. If it was in a cool dry location it's probably fine.

 

[drgrant]

If you keep it stored under dry/sealed conditions without radical temperature excursions, it'll probably store indefinitely. I have friends that are using primers that are at least 20+ years old.

-Mike

 

[Gammon]

I have kept powder and primers for over ten years with no problems. They were stored in my cellar which is dry as a bone. I inherited some components when an old friend passed away and found that the powder was ok but some of the primers (shotgun) went bad. My experience indicates that it is difficult to predict how long components will last. It would probably be best to load some small samples as a test. I learned the hard way; I loaded fifty rounds of hand cast 12 ga slugs with bad primers.

 

[Romokid]

Thanks for the reply's. There is no egg smell or acid smell to the powder. It was kept in a basement that is relatively dry and was up on a shelf about 5' off the floor. I think I'll try a small batch of each powder and see how it goes.

 

[Romokid]

Oops, delayed double tap

 

[Dnotarianni]

the powder was marked $14 & $17 and the box of Winchester small primers $15 per 1000. I'm heading to Cabela's on Thursday to pick up some fresh powder and primers, but I was wondering if I should just junk the leftovers.

Get ready for sticker shock from the new prices especially lead!!! From what you described load it up. I just loaded some 40-50 year old Alcan pistol primers and every one went bang and I found them in a drawer when I was doing a cellar clean out. Storage conditions vs age is your concern and in an ammo can I wouldn't worry at all.
Dave