Old stock powder life span

[A5BLASTER]

Ok gents got a local gun shop doing a clearance sell on all the merchandise, closing down the store front and just keeping the range and gunsmith business open.

Was looking around and they had some aa2520 and some h335 in unopened 1 lb and 8 lb tubs but they are very old the 1lb tubs had a original price tag sticker on them of 12.95 just to give you an idea of how old they are.

Is it worth trying to load with powder this old, store owner wasn't sure how long ago he had got them but he has been in business for 20+ years.

What say the board. Are they worth my time at 5 dollars a 1lb tube and 7.50 for the 8lb tube. Are or they just to old of stock.

[Londerko]

[LR1955]

Ok gents got a local gun shop doing a clearance sell on all the merchandise, closing down the store front and just keeping the range and gunsmith business open.

Was looking around and they had some aa2520 and some h335 in unopened 1 lb and 8 lb tubs but they are very old the 1lb tubs had a original price tag sticker on them of 12.95 just to give you an idea of how old they are.

Is it worth trying to load with powder this old, store owner wasn't sure how long ago he had got them but he has been in business for 20+ years.

What say the board. Are they worth my time at 5 dollars a 1lb tube and 7.50 for the 8lb tube. Are or they just to old of stock.

Absolutely worth it.

I am shooting IMR 4895 that was made at least fifty years ago.

I have shot Tri Cities 30-06 dated 1943 and although the ammo was pretty lousy and most likely used corrosive primers, the powder was fine.

Also have some Frankford M-72 Match dated 1959 that shoots fantastically well. Also Lake City M-72 Match dated in the early 1960's.

Even some Turkish 8mm from the late 50's that has always shot exceptionally well.

LR55

[A5BLASTER]

Cool deal thanks for the reply gents.

Looks like I'm going pick up 200 pounds of powder tommorw for dirt cheap.

He had cci 400 series primers but don't know if I want to devieat from the cci 450's because that all I have used since I started learning how to load my own rounds.

But he did have 10,000 of them and I can get them very cheap as well.

[Londerko]

[A5BLASTER]

The dealer isn’t in Oregon is it???
I would be trying to beat you there
Ha ha ha

Naw local shop near my home in louisiana.

Wondering if I should grab up all the cci 400 primers he has and use them after I run throw the batch if 5000 450's I bought when I first got into loading.

[Popeye212]

When I first started loading everything I used was WWII surplus 30yrs. old or so. How far is this from Tyler Texas is that in NW Louisiana??? I am about an hour and a half from Shreveport.

[A5BLASTER]

When I first started loading everything I used was WWII surplus 30yrs. old or so. How far is this from Tyler Texas is that in NW Louisiana??? I am about an hour and a half from Shreveport.

Yep in NWLA Sabine parish to be exact but I just got off the phone with him and I got everything grabbed up.

Going pick it up tommorw.

[tommag]

Powder lasts a long time, even longer when kept at a fairly stable temperature. 65 to 75 degrees as found in most stores should make it last a bit.

[tommag]

When most smokeless powder goes bad, you can tell that it smells way different than fresh powder.

[Sticks]

You are going to have a lot of new friends. Buy up his inventory.

[1Shot]

As long as it has been stored correctly powder will be stable and last a long time. I am shooting some IMR 4895 that was pulled down from military 30-06 ammo that was made back in the late 50s early 60s and it shoots right with new IMR 4895 with in the standard deviation between two different lot numbers which is pretty close usually. A few years ago I got some 8mm Mauser ammo that was European made and was in poor condition. I pulled the bullets and run them in my vibratory case cleaner to clean the canker off of them. I salvaged the powder that was the weirdest stuff. It was square flake powder. I measured a number of powder charges from some of the cases and averaged the weight for a load. I loaded the powder into Winchester cases with CCI 200 primers and seated the cleaned bullets to the original COAL. Shot two of them in a rifle that I tied down in an old car tire pulling the trigger with a string just in case. Everything looked good. Set up on the bench shooting at 100 yards and proceeded to shoot a 10 shot group under 2 inches with a stock Yugo military open sighted Mauser. I loaded up the rest of the bullets with powder that I had left the same way and shot it in some military rifle bench rest matches some friends and I came up with because we could not get down into all the positions any more. I won one match and came in second in two others using this ammo and some were shooting K-31s and Swede Mausers which are notorious for being super accurate. I wish I could have gotten some more of that powder and those heavy BT bullets. Who knows how that ammo had been stored temp wise and it was for sure stored in damp conditions with the green canker on the cases and bullets and boxes showed exposure to dampness. You should have no problems with your powder.

[DDRanch]

Just finished up shooting my white box Winchester primers, still all go bang. Still have some Unique and GreenDot in cardboard canister that also still go BANG!

[Dead Center Miss]

If ite still sealed and was stored correctly it will still be good. I'm pretty jealous. I never seem to find deals like that lol