How To Dispose Of Unwanted Powder?

[davidwiz]

I looked in the FAQ and did a search, but could not locate this topic: How to dispose of powder that isn't needed anymore?

Burning it is out. Can I bury it? What's the best way to get rid of it? I'm thinking I got a pound or 2 of W540 that I don't use anymore and that no one around me uses.

TIA,

-David

[eerw]

too bad you are so far away...

[George]

Dang, I use 540. But, I have something like 15 lbs kickin' around ;-)

Try buying a "Thunder Mug". It's an old maritime signaling device that uses gunpowder to make a loud boom. It uses powder at a ferocious rate and is lotsa fun too!

http://www.cannon-mania.com/thunder-mug.htm

--

Regards,

[rubberneck]

You could always call the BAFTE and ask. Another possibility is your local bomb squad or K-9 unit might be willing to take it off you hands for training purposes.

[folsoml]

Your local Sheriff's Office should take it for you.

[anachronism]

Gunpowder makes good fertilizer, from what I hear. Pour it on a section of grass, and water it in well. I often just pour it in a straight line on the sidewalk, and just burn it. I know of others who simply flush it down the toilet.

Bob

[davidwiz]

While I would like nothing more to light it on fire in the backyard and watch it fizzle, I live in a residential area and I don't think the neighbors would take too kindly to it.

[Larry White]

Pour it on the ground and soak it in with a hose of your choice.-----Larry

[Rikarin]

I was wondering that! How about live bullets. Like, I have loads of bullets I can not shoot (doesn't go through case guage nor chamber). Do I have to pull bullet out of each round? How can I just "toss" all of the bullets?

[BritinUSA]

I'm in the same boat, I have a couple of hundred that I need to PULL. There is no alternative that I know of. The trick is to PULL them straight-away. If you throw them in a bucket then before long you will have a couple of hundred and it will take hours to pull them all.

As to the powder, wait till your goldfish dies, and flush it and the powder down the lavatory, as it starts swirling around, toss in a match and give it a Viking funeral....

[sargenv]

I usually burn powder that is of unknow origin on a piece of plywood so that the plywood gets marked up instead of my cement slab. I prefer not to flush it if I can and utilize it either by fertilizer method, burning, or giving it away to people who can use it. I bet if you ask at your local shotgun range, someone can probably use it as it makes good high velocity shotshell loads. Like everyone else is saying, I wish I were closer to you, I'd take it off your hands in a second

Vince

[ChuckS]

You heard that explosives can be made from fertilizer, well that road goes both ways. Spread it on your lawn or what ever....

[ipscron2000]

Sprinkle it on the lawn. It will only take 10 seconds to get rid of 2 lbs. of powder.

Don't sweat it.

[XRe]

I have this fantasy... my grandfather is an old trap shooter. He's got a couple of *DRUMS* of Red Dot, plus various pound and four pound sizes of other powders. I know that at least some of it has gone over. I'd *LOVE* to pour it all out on a piece of cement somewhere and toss in a match!!! That'd be sweet....

FIRE!!! FIRE!!!! heh heh heh... yeah, FIRE!!!

[AikiDale]

Make it the first place prize at your next match.

[stingerjg]

Take it to your range and light it off.

[Nolan]

Several years ago I had to dispose of a couple of 8 pound kegs of rifle powders that had gotten mixed (I think it was 4895 & 748). So I built a rocket powered toy car out of an old RC chassis and a 1/2 pound 748 powder can. It was a lot of fun launching it down the driveway. My brother Gene came over in his brand new pickup truck so I showed him the rocket car. Of course the battery in the controller died just as I lit the fuse. The little rocket took off and went straight under Gene's truck where it wedged under the front a-arm, spewing smoke and fire! Good thing it was a new truck and not his old leaky truck!

On second thought old powder makes good fertilizer!

Nolan

Skilled, but otherwise unremarkable.

[sargenv]

I'd *LOVE* to pour it all out on a piece of cement somewhere and toss in a match!!!  That'd be sweet....

Red dot can be really entertaining... I've done what I call a "jet engine" I get one of those 26 ounce metal cans that peaches or tomato sauce come in. Of course this is after it has been evacuated of whatever commodity is in it.. Oh hell, here's a pic....

This was about 3-4 ounces of Surplus AA #2. Red Dot will be similar. The can was maybe filled about 3/4".

This was a night pic, obviously. It lit things up pretty well and I set the digital cam to -2 otherwise it would be too bright. I did this in my back yard on a concrete slab.

Vince

[GuildSF4]

Hey, anyone want some H108???? I have a about 20-24#...

Normally I burn the excess powder or the dregs (and powder from pulled rounds) 20-24# is too much for me to burn though.

[Rikarin]

So I got the idea..... maybe its great idea to have swapmart/fleemarket at the Forum Shoot. Whoever wants to get rid of stuff can be the store clerk in turn.

[chuckbradley]

Mix about 1000 primers with it and stand back about 100 yards and shoot it. Just do it safely.

[sargenv]

Mix about 1000 primers with it and stand back about 100 yards and shoot it. Just do it safely.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I had one or two primers in a batch of waste powder go off one time when I was burning it. It got my attention real quick.

Other than making me jump, it was mostly harmless.. 1000 primers? I'd rather use them to load ammo..

V

[davidwiz]

You'll be happy to know that I didn't not dispose of the 540, I gave it to a friend who is going to use it.

[Carmoney]

davidwiz: Glad you got your problem resolved!

For the benefit of everyone else:

I'm a trial attorney, and I recently defended a lawsuit involving a young man who was very badly burned, after stepping on a discarded cigarette that happened to be in contact with 5 to 8 pounds of Bullseye powder that my client (a former competition shooter) had poured out onto the ground in his backyard at least six months before the fire. Witnesses described the victim as being engulfed in an "8- to 10-foot fireball of yellow flames." After being transported to the hospital, the guy was given a 50/50 chance of survival. Fortunately, he lived and is now back to work.

During this litigation, I deposed several chemical experts from different parts of the country, as well as a key product expert witness who is now retired after 40-some years with Hercules Incorporated, the former manufacturer of good ol' Bullseye powder.

Needless to say, I learned a lot about smokeless gunpowder during this case.

The bottom line: The only safe way to dispose of smokeless gunpowder is to burn it under controlled conditions. Water will not permanently neutralize it. Oil will not permanently neutralize it. Smokeless powder is extraordinarily stable and non-hygroscopic by design, and until it is completely consumed by burning, it must be considered flammable, and at least potentially dangerous.

Interesting side-note: The powder involved in this incident was determined to have been manufactured sometime in the early '60s. I kept a left-over square metal powder can as a souvenir of the case. The powder is definitely still flammable (as controlled testing proved) and I suspect still perfectly usable. It looks and smells exactly like the Bullseye powder I bought at the gun shop a month ago!

Mike

[folsoml]

Your local Sheriff's Office should take it for you.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We have a trailer that is desiged specifically to dispose of old ammunition, powder, and fireworks. Put it in, light the propane burner, and stride briskly away. Any law enforcement agency should have access to something similar to destroy ammo seized for whatever reason.