50 Year Old Powder (Red Dot) - Still Works

[Hi-Power Jack]

Found a 50 year old can of Red Dot powder (from my shotgun

reloading days), and it looked/smelled fine.

So, I got adventuresome, and loaded 3.2 grains under a MG

115 gr JHP to see what would happen.

I don't have my Chrony here right now, but I fired all ten

rounds at 10 yards thru my BHP, and they fired

perfectly, grouped well, and had NO recoil - primers all

looked fine, except for the little dimple in the middle.

So, next time you're wondering about that 20 year old

can of gunpowder - don't worry about it - it's probably

just fine.

I'm going to load up some more of these, with FREE powder,

and see what 3.5 grains will do.

[rdinga]

That is great to hear! My compliments on your long term powder storage.

[superdude]

NO recoil? Bummer. Guess you had to cycle the gun by hand.

[JimmyZip]

NO recoil? Bummer. Guess you had to cycle the gun by hand.

There's always a wise guy.........

[Hi-Power Jack]

NO recoil? Guess you had to cycle the gun by hand.

Guess I'm "under springed", but it fed perfectly.

In my BHP (32 ounces), it felt like a .22 going off!!! Lots of fun to shoot.

[Hi-Power Jack]

compliments on your long term powder storage.

Wish I could take credit for proper storage conditions, but

it spent many years in a basement, and many in an unheated

garage.

The top of the can is rusty, and doesn't seal real tightly.

When I found it and looked at the can, I thought there wasn't

any way it could possibly still be good.

But, I've got myself about 1.5 - 2 lbs of Red Dot powder for

my 9mm minor loads - looking real good.

[sschultz]

I have a 8lb keg thats 20 to 30 years old I only used it for my 45 loads. With the shotgun powder shortage its come in handy. And it still shoots just fine. Oh and someone gave me the powder.

[BSeevers]

Storage is the key. I understand that they have the original lot of Bulleye that they load and check. Its supposed to be perfect. How old is that?

[Pasley]

I have some around that vintage or a little newer, an 11 ounce can of Bullseye with a $3.50 price tag and a 13 ounce can of Unique that was $2.75. I'm saving it for an emergency.

[Hi-Power Jack]

13 oz of Unique $2.75. I'm saving it for an emergency.

:roflol: :roflol: :roflol:

[Steve RA]

I remember reading about the Bullseye, stored in distilled water, dried out for tests. It's now over 100yrs old !!!

[dauntedfuture]

That's great. I had some VV 160 that went bad. I had transferred it to a another bottle with a metal lid. the powder apparently broke down and ate through the metal lid. Needless to say it got hot in Texas in the summers so that's a likely contributor. the powder was 5 yrs old or so.