Old Powder still good?

[at99sy]

Hey guys noob questions here. My father in law just went into assisted living with dementia and we are going through his stuff. There is a ton of brass, bullets, and powder.
We are wondering if the powder has been stored in an air tight container and is dry, after 15-20 years is it still good?
Also there are thousands of 9mm,45,.308/7.62, 357, 38,380, 12ga casings and shells. Is there a market for these?
Thanks for looking

cheers

 

[Uzi2]

Smell the powder and see if it has an acrid vinegar smell. Look to see if it clumped up, If neither is the case, then it is likely still good.

Yes there is a market for all reloading stuff. Sort it, price it and put it in the classifieds here.

 

[71montess]

Hey guys noob questions here. My father in law just went into assisted living with dementia and we are going through his stuff. There is a ton of brass, bullets, and powder.
We are wondering if the powder has been stored in an air tight container and is dry, after 15-20 years is it still good?
Also there are thousands of 9mm,45,.308/7.62, 357, 38,380, 12ga casings and shells. Is there a market for these?
Thanks for looking

cheers

Unless you want to go through the hassle of itemizing and sorting, just put the brass up for any takers take all. The powder should be good but can also be fertilizer.

 

[Rick O'Shea]

Yes old powder is fine if properly stored.

 

[mac1911]

Hey guys noob questions here. My father in law just went into assisted living with dementia and we are going through his stuff. There is a ton of brass, bullets, and powder.
We are wondering if the powder has been stored in an air tight container and is dry, after 15-20 years is it still good?
Also there are thousands of 9mm,45,.308/7.62, 357, 38,380, 12ga casings and shells. Is there a market for these?
Thanks for looking

cheers

it should be good.
I have some herco the container is labeled 1978" it still works. I load up range blasting 12g with it. Smokeless powder will last a very long time if stored correctly.

Yes there is a market

2 ways
1. liquidate you can sell all the brass in one bulk lot for a few bucks more than scrap as is
2. Clean and sort and sell at a higher cost but this probably wont be worth your time if your a busy person making more than 19,000 a year

 

[DW357]

I personally don’t buy/use powder that’s already been opened. Sealed powder containers are much easier to sell IMO. If some are still sealed I wouldn’t recommend ripping off the seal. Unless they were stored in a damp basement over the last 20+ years, they’ll probably be fine?

 

[at99sy]

Thank you for the info. All the brass is sorted by caliber, I hope to get it all laid out soon so I can get an estimate of just how much is there. There are boxes and boxes of Brass everywhere we look. up to 30-40 pounds of some calibers. The powder has all been stored in a 20MM ammo can for years so I know its been dry and tight. I have not opened any of the jars, cans etc to see how many of those are individually still sealed.

 

[mac1911]

Thank you for the info. All the brass is sorted by caliber, I hope to get it all laid out soon so I can get an estimate of just how much is there. There are boxes and boxes of Brass everywhere we look. up to 30-40 pounds of some calibers. The powder has all been stored in a 20MM ammo can for years so I know its been dry and tight. I have not opened any of the jars, cans etc to see how many of those are individually still sealed.

went through this a few years ago, can be very time consuming.
I found the best way was to hook up those around me that will put it to good use. Offered at a good price that warrants zero complaints.

This chart is close enough for bulk sales by weight.
When I was selling a haul of 9mm I added 10% buy weight to cover the " loose count" no one complained.

It was so much easier to scoop the cases out of the drum and weigh it then add another scoop

Brass Counts by Weight

We've calculated the brass counts by weight for many calibers. Arm or Ally has bulk brass and reloading components for your pistol and rifle reloading needs

www.armorally.com

 

[Wickedcoolname]

I'm still using powder and primers that I bought in the 80s. Never had an issue.

 

[Tallahassee]

Still have some powder from my uncle, well over 30 years old. Worked as of last year.