Old gun powder should I use it

[lazyhawk]

A friend brought me several pounds of powder going back to 1996 some have never been opened & some partials any thoughts on weather I should use them or chuck them .
thanks

lazyhawk

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[Xmark1]

Bad powder smells real bad.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Yes.

 

[fstdraw]

Use the unopened without reservation. Opened? carefully I suggest.

 

[crossbow5]

Make sure it does not smell bad and also, there should not be any indication of red powdery deterioration. I have used powder from the 1970's just a couple of years ago and it was fine.

 

[Bobbygun]

Yeah, I've got lots of powder older than 1996 that I'm still using. It has all been stored properly.

Like mentioned above, funny smell and red dust when you pour it are not good signs. Use that stuff for yard fertilizer.

 

[Spitpatch]

Despite universal claims to the contrary, Cats can indeed be herded.

This is the very best (perhaps the only) arrival at consensus that has ever existed on this forum (maybe any other).

EVERYBODY is right, and EVERYBODY agrees!

I'm so damned proud.

 

[Mark W.]

I have as recently as 10 years ago used powder my dad bought in 1968. The results were the same as expected from the loads. I used my dads books from the same time period.

 

[lazyhawk]

thanks for the input all .I was leaning towards using it I feel better about it now.

lazyhawk

 

[2ndtimer]

thanks for the input all .I was leaning towards using it I feel better about it now.

lazyhawk

I heartily suggest trying it in small doses, working up and carefully observe results at each charge. A chronograph would also be a good tool to see if velocities are both consistent and correlate with published data.