Supply Bonanza

[Velocat]

A friend of my wife’s coworker allowed me to come over to his recently deceased uncle’s house to look through some reloading stuff. I was looking for a tumbler as it is the only component I don’t have yet. After going through some of the supplies, the nephew told me to just take all the reloading stuff and sell it and we will split the money. I plan on buying a large part of the stuff myself. (Primer shortage solved!)

I plan on selling the remainder for 70% of what reasonable retailers are asking.

Questions: 1) Would you buy powder at that price that had not been opened or had been opened but appears to be good (smell, look, no “red dust” etc.) that might be a few years old? (Powders were stored indoor)

2) There is some misc. hand loaded ammo. How should I price that? I know some people won’t shoot someone else’s loads.

3) The prices I see for new RP brass seem really high compared to say Starline. Ex: on Dillon site, 1000 new RP 45acp primed is $432. How ridiculously priced is that?

I plan on keeping the 231 and Titegroup and maybe another but I’m not sure which. The 700X is a versatile powder right? I will be loading 40sw for now and 9mm later, maybe 45.

I can’t believe how lucky I got on this. I went from buying equipment and supplies to start loading in the last two months and paid $35 for primers at my local gun shop, to having about 15k primers and a great price. (Was in there last week and they are now $39!)

I was thinking about loading everything I want to sell and showing up at one of the local matches. Maybe I shouldn’t take the powder, or just keep it in a cooler to keep the temp more stable and getting too hot.

Any suggestions on what to keep, what to sell etc. would be appreciated since I am a rookie at this. I haven’t even loaded my first round yet! Planning on doing that later today. (my Starline brass finally showed up!)

Edited March 3, 2013 by Velocat

[nj mike]

That's a great find I would keep it all till you decide what you may not need. as far as the reloaded ammo you can always take it apart and start over with your formulas.Happy reloading

[jmorris]

You would have to be an idiot to pay $400 for 1K primed 45 acp cases.

So, you'll want to list the stuff on ebay and watch the idiot's get after it.

Talked to a friend last night that got over $1000 for a 650 with one conversion and no case feeder. If you have stuff to sell now is the time to do it. Put the money in a jar and buy new stuff at 1/2 the price once the fools hit their credit card limits.

[PROBIKE101]

i will take the 2 lbs of tite group powder..............

[David.Hylton]

That's a great find. Too bad about the circumstances.

Personally I would not sell the reloaded ammo. I'm not a lawyer, but it seem that you'd be setting yourself up for liability issues. If something bad happens (blown up gun etc.), the ammo could be blamed and you'd have a bunch of headaches. I recommend pulling the bullets, dumping the powder and selling the brass. I know that reloading ammo for sale requires a Federal Firearms License so you could end up with other troubles if you have a lot of reloaded ammo for sale.

HTH,

Dave

[Velocat]

Thanks for the feedback guys,

nj mike: I am keeping most of it, don’t have a 9mm or 45 ACP yet but might as well keep the brass and bullets since I'll probably aquire those caliber guns eventually.

Jmorris: That’s what I thought, only someone really desperate or with a lot of disposable income would pay that much. I’m thinking Starline prices plus primers is more realistic.

Probike101: As I mentioned in the post I’m keeping the titegroup for sure. Any powder I sell will be locally, sorry.

David H: Good advice. I don’t want any legal issues. I’ll let the Nephew decide if he wants it back or he wants me to break it down. I’m tempted to shoot the 40 cal ammo myself. But there’s not enough of it to risk it I guess.

I'll probably sell the .357 brass, bullets, HP38 powder and keep the rest.

Anyone know if I can look up powder lot #'s on the manufacturer's websites?

[Yelrdog]

I'm finishing off an 8# keg of 700-X I bought in the 1990's. Old powder shouldn't smell funny and should be tested w/ work-up loads. It's probably okay.

[EEH]

I would keep ot all,just have to come to a price that will please everyone considering the price of things now,..

[Buzi]

Hell I've used my own powder from the 1970's just in the past few months, same with primers

IT does not go bad unless someone stored it horribly.

In my case it was stored often, for years, in a concrete floored garage here in the Texas Gulf Coast a 1/4 mile from the bay. However I did have it in a ancient aluminum

exterior and interior aluminum 'cooler' that probably dated from the 1960's. Not hermetically sealed but I'm sure it helped stabilize temps a tiny bit.

A fair number of them containers were the old Hercules cardboard tubes powder came in. Not exactly as humidity proof as containers you see today...

Just saying.

I'd not be fretting in San Antonia bout 'temp' messing up your new to me looking containers of powder for decades. Keep it.

[Velocat]

Buzi, there were one each of the Hercules cardboard tube containers of red and green dot that weren't in the pictures. They were well used with only about 25-30% left in the containers. I have now had a chance to pour out a sample from all of the containers that are not at full weight and did a visual and smell test. Every one had that good solvent smell and no signs of red dust so I'm calling it all good.

I'm loading up my first batch of 40sw with the 231 right now.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback.

[Babaganoosh]

My cousin had some ancient powder (win 231) that was so old it was in the above mentioned cardboard kegs. He found that it worked but showed a drop in velocity. He bumped it a few tenths and was good to go.

[skeet028]

Hate to tell ya but you guys don't know ancient I have some Hi Vel #2 dated 1937..and it is still good. I also bought way back when a hundred pound keg of 4831 from Hodgdon(70 dollars delivered if i remember correct.). WWII surplus powder and have about 6 lbs left..still good. I also have some WW II surplus ball powder from 30 Carbine They called it WC820 in later years(like 296 but a bit finer). Most people don't know this but alot of the Winchester/Olin ball powder made in the WW II era was WW I era cannon powder they made into ball powder with their new ball powder process in the 1930s. Or so I was told by a Winchester Chemist from the era. I even have bulk smokeless that is still good. And this is a true story. I bought a bunch of stuff from a widow for a fair price..but the powder cans were all filled with water. I took a container of Lil Gun and poured the water off. dried the powder for 3 months. Tried loading it and it still works just fine with the velocities just where they should be with the LIL Gun data. No..I do not recommend this...but ball powders are very stable. Hercules/Alliant still keep a container of Bullseye in the chem lab that was made in 1898 if I remember right and it is stored in water. They test bullseye lots occasionally for consistency with that original lot

[brnhp35]

just a heads up that a lot of people say w231 and hp38 are same powder so you may hang on to the hp38 as well.....i would not switch without reworking up loads but at least should be good replacement if cant find 231 sometime in the future.