Old Powder? use it or pitch it?

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chubby ninja

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I'm gonna put this out there , and see what you guys think.About 7 or 8 years ago I bought some Clear Shot
powder from GOEX. Powder was sealed in a metal can.I e- mailed GOEX to see if it was ok to use, they told me to pitch it .My thinking is that they said that for liability reasons,not because it was dangerous[ c y a ].was thinking of using it up in the 12 ga New Englander.I have experienced old powder getting weak. A few years ago I couldn't get any kind of a grouping at the range. The problem turned out to be old powder.bought a new can of pyrodex and the group tightened right up.what is the concensus? pitch it or use it. My thinking is that the 12 gauge would be more forgiving than one of my rifles.
 
I would ditch it as well. Sprinkle it on your lawn. I don't think there is a problem in it being dangerous, but you may have hang fires and cause you to miss a deer. I know it happened to a friend of mine in shooting a very old can of Pryodex P.
 
Test it. You get to take a trip to the range to try it out! I have never used clear shot, but i would give it a try. Start with a modest load and try shooting groups .
 
I have had "fake " black powder go bad. However, I have smokeless that is over 20 yrs old is is fine. I used one of my dads old 22 LR bullets a few yrs ago and it still shot, however, it was not very loud. It did , kill the coon though.
 
I won 5 pounds of that powder at a rendezvous 2010/ 2011. I tried using it for plinking loads and had mixed results with ignition . It also was lower in velocity, shot about 10" lower at 110 yards. May be part of the reason it did not stay on the market. When I was younger I always wanted to try the new hot thing. I'm older and I just like the old tried and true powder:cool:
 
A few years back I had some .54 cal Pyrodex Pellets go bad in less than four years. By bad I mean multiple caps with no ignition.
 
I have had "fake " black powder go bad. However, I have smokeless that is over 20 yrs old is is fine. I used one of my dads old 22 LR bullets a few yrs ago and it still shot, however, it was not very loud. It did , kill the coon though.
I also have smokeless powders over 20 years and still using it. I guess it depends where and how it's stored.
 
Rob 162 said:
I am sure about the subs, but regular Goex is good forever as long as you keep it dry.

I was under the impression that over time black powder crystallized and formed nitroglycerin. Could have been one of those things I heard that wasn't true.
 
Rob 162 said:
I am sure about the subs, but regular Goex is good forever as long as you keep it dry.

I was under the impression that over time black powder crystallized and formed nitroglycerin. Could have been one of those things I heard that wasn't true.
I believe your thinking of dynamite. Age can cause the nitroglycerin to seperate and form crystals outside the carrier. Very unstable when that happens.
 
One of the hardest things I ever did was dispose of 8 lbs of Goex and Elephant FF that for some reason survived a house fire. Didn't trust it after being though the fire. Dumped all 8 lbs into a 5 gallon pail of water, then after a week dumped that into a hole and buried it. Sad times. :(
 
I'm still using triple 7 that is 10 years old. It still goes off and kills deer. If I have any left over in speed loaders I use it in the muzzleloader shotgun for squirrels.
 

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