Flatland Shooter Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Acquired three 1# cans of Winchester 540. Its my understanding that 1) its long discontinued and 2) it was replaced by HS-6. The stuff is probably 10 to 15 years old but in unopened containers. Storage conditions are unknown. Probably stored in a Texas Gulf Coast unheated/uncooled garage. Is this powder still usable? Will probably use it for practice loads in 9mm, both major and minor. Thanks. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelie Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I'd shoot it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillM Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Smell it! I've only ever smelled powder that was bad one time but compared to good powder, which has a "sweet" smell, stuff gone bad clearly stinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caspian_45 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I've shot a lot of that back in the '90's. Worked great in my 38 super open guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Yep, WW540 = HS6 I still have a few pounds of WW540 and use it on occasion. The stuff I have was bought new in 1990 and it works fine. Do the smell test as mentioned above and if it passes that test you are good to go. Use HS-6 load data and a chrono. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatland Shooter Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 Yep, WW540 = HS6 I still have a few pounds of WW540 and use it on occasion. The stuff I have was bought new in 1990 and it works fine. Do the smell test as mentioned above and if it passes that test you are good to go. Use HS-6 load data and a chrono. Opened one of the cans and it smells good. Will take the time this week to load up a few rounds. Thanks. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I'm still using WW231 from 18 years ago. With a chrono .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdinga Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 I would load and shoot it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 It's an excellent powder for 9mm. Smell it and if it is not acrid then use it. The ball powders have a very long shelf life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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