dlcrouch Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 I want to start reloading, but am going to store everything and work out of my garage. Any problems or concerns with the Texas heat humidity i should worry about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 Keep the powder inside the house - and don't leave it in the powder measure when you're not actively loading. Otherwise, it will degrade quickly, and will absorb moisture (which changes the energy content per volume and weight).... Primers should also be stored inside, but don't seem to fair anywhere near as poorly as powder in those conditions.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 Powder and primers inside.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 Reloaded for 8 years outside and I left my powder and primers on a shelf in an unheated - uncooled metal bld..with powder in the hoppers for periods as long as 18 months at a time with no apparent degradation in performance or dependebility..AFAIK. Limited to TG, Clays and AA#7......... Your results may vary...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingerjg Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 Reloaded for 8 years outside and I left my powder and primers on a shelf in an unheated - uncooled metal bld..with powder in the hoppers for periods as long as 18 months at a time with no apparent degradation in performance or dependebility..AFAIK. Limited to TG, Clays and AA#7......... Your results may vary...... I forgot to remove the Tight Group from my powder measure when i deployed to Iraq for 14 months. Ive loaded several hundred rounds w/ no change at the chrono after being exposed to the temp and humidity in my garage. (25-95 deg and up to 90%humidity) I have stored my primers and powder in the garage for the last 15 years and havent noticed a change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganShootist Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 As a former Houston resident--- I can understand your concerns. It might be a great idea to invest $30 - $50 in a dehumidifier for your work room/ garage. I believe the humidity is the risk you face not so much the heat. I now live in an area when during my reloading season (January through March) it's not uncommon to have -15 degree temps. so my problem is keeping my workship and components warm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisStock Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 I have often pondered this issue myself, as I live in Florida, and have to do all of my reloading and component storage in the garage. The only thing that I have observed so far is that if I don't load for a week or so, when I go to check the powder rate, the powder sticks to the inside of the cases, not completely emptying on the scale for measuring. Somewhat of a PITA, but it has worked out for the first 12K I have loaded without a hitch except those caused by my own asshattery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 I am glad that everyone has not had any bad experiences from keeping components in the garage...but my thinking was that if I spend the time and effort to go to, say....the Nationals, spend a week off from work (-$2000), the gas to drive (-$300 to 500) the cost of the food and lodging (-$500), do I really want even a SMALL chance that the ammo I reloaded for the Nationals won't go bang when you want it to...? Not me...!!!! Why take the chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XD Niner Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 I live in northcentral Florida where heat and humidity are just part of our daily grind. I keep my powder and primers in a locked cabinet in the garage. All my loading is done there as well. I use Clays and IMR 4756. I do keep them sealed in the original containers but routinely leave them in the powder hopper between runs. I have not had any problems with the powders I use absorbing moisture and performing poorly or not at all. Get yourself a cheap box fan to keep you cool when reloading. It doesn't take much to work up a good sweat in a humid environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfinney Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 My powder stays in the garage, locked up. Except for the N320 and Titegroup in my funnels, which stay there all the time, and just get topped off. Primers I do keep inside, controlled temps and humidity, just to be sure. Never had a consistency problem with the powders so far (knock wood). (North Texas) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim thompson Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 I put my powder and primers in an old freezer that insulated and store most of it there in an outbuilding. I bring some in from time to time in my garage that has a dehumidifier in it. I've never lost anything and some of it is over 20 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 There are a lot of warnings about powder 'absorbing' moisture and such in the reloading manuals, but I've not seen any empirical data as to how much over what time. Given as how powder is pretty much like plastic (Nitrocellulose was used to make billiard balls long ago), I'd guess that it either levels off pretty fast or is only in somewhat extreme circumstances. Guy Neill probably knows everything there is to know about this topic. Guy? Heat and humidity will shorten the life of about anything, but that useful life is a lot longer than we need 99% of the time for reloading components. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 Well.... I can tell you that, at least in some circumstances, leaving powder in the measure in a humid environment can lead to going minor.... ask me about my '99 A6 experience, and root cause.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38superman Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 (edited) Never had any issues with powder and primers being stored in a hot humid shed. Never really had a problem leaving powder in the powder measure. The one exception to that has been with Titegroup. I left it in an RCBS powder measure and it practically welded itself to the interior of the hopper. Never seen anything like it. I couldn't even scrape it off with a screw driver blade. Tony Edited July 28, 2007 by 38superman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubback Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 Well.... I can tell you that, at least in some circumstances, leaving powder in the measure in a humid environment can lead to going minor.... ask me about my '99 A6 experience, and root cause.... OK Dave,I'll ask................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 Loaded ammo (double checked charge weight - always do when I start loading after being away from the press), and chrono'ed. 180PF (this was old major, remember). Had left the powder measure full of powder for a couple of weeks. Came back - checked charge, and adjusted for weight again. Loaded match ammo for A6 using the same lot of powder, same lot of primers, same lot of bullets, same brass. 174.9 PF. The bullet weighed what it was supposed to, just too slow. Small change in elevation and such between locations, etc. Came back, double checked charge weight - it was OK. Set aside powder left in the measure, and cracked a fresh pound from the same lot, adjusted weight - 180 PF. At that point, the powder that sat in the measure for a couple of weeks was gone - it was the first stuff loaded in the match ammo. So, no way to cross check to be certain. However, since then, I've never left powder in the measure, and never seen a re-occurrence of anything similar (knock on wood). That was with VV N350, BTW. The only plausible explanation that we could come up with was that something was different about the powder in the measure. The powder was kept temperature controlled - but we lived in Atlanta, so the humidity was present. Just bizarre... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revchuck Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 I can personally vouch for the fact that 231 soaks up water out of the air like a sponge. I kept all of my stuff (except primers) in my carport until Hurricane Rita pushed a 3-1/2 foot thick native pine onto it, changing its height to two feet in places - but missing my loading bench. I then moved everything into my home office, and am much happier. I still need to clean the rust off the ram on my Rockchucker. The powder I kept in closed containers caused no problems. If I left it in the powder measure, though, I never trusted it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlcrouch Posted July 29, 2007 Author Share Posted July 29, 2007 thanks for all the replies. Now I just need to pick out the right equipment. And work on the "it will actually save money" speech. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moredes Posted September 2, 2007 Share Posted September 2, 2007 I'm in Mississippi. I store all my powder, primers, and electrical equipment (timer, rangefinder, electronic scales, etc.) in the shed. Each type of supply is stored in a derelict refrigerator--one for primers only, one for powders only, etc. I got the refrigerators by asking the manager at Lowe's if I could have them. Lowe's and Home Depot remove old refrigerators when they deliver newly purchased units, if the owners want them to. Lowe's just saves them for garbage pickup, so the manager was happy to let me have them. Only use the rubber gasket-sealing refrigerators--the metal-locked doors will not allow expansion in the event of a fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Neill Posted September 2, 2007 Share Posted September 2, 2007 I guess I never saw this topic earlier. Heat will degrade powder over some period of time, though it will not be apparent for a number of years (unless really high temps). Primers, too, will degrade, but, like powder, will take a long period of time. Powder are subject to humidity but generally atmospheric won't be much of a problem. Primers are made wet and dried, so atmospheric humidity won't be much of a factor other than slightly changing the powder density. Light will also affect powder and it is not normally recommended to leave it in clear powder measure tubes for long periods. This is part of what you see when the powder discolors the plastic tube and actually etches the tube material. Mostly,check any powder stored for prolonged periods for spoilage on some sort of regular basis. If it shows indications of spoilage, discard it (safely). DO NOT keep spoiled powder around, or try to use it. I hope this is helpful. Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Right2Bear Posted September 2, 2007 Share Posted September 2, 2007 (edited) There is an article on this in the Sept/Oct edition of Handgunner Magazine called 'Taking Care of Ammo'. The author did several test with both primers and powder. He was focusing more on the effects of other components such as WD-40, solvents, and oils of the gun being absorbed into the ammo. The theory - as he states it - is oils or solvents left in the gun will end up on the primer, penetrate and render it inert. From the article - "I began by taking five boxes of Federal .40 S&W ammo and putting all the rounds nose down in loading blocks. Then I put several drops of water, WD-40, Hoppes #9, Break Free and motor oil on the primers. Each block received one contaminant and they were checked daily. If the substance had dried, more was added to be sure the primer was always covered. Then, at weekly intervals, I'd remove five rounds from each block and shoot them. My expectation was none would last a week - yet all did. This continued for full ten weeks, and at the end a grand total of ZERO rounds had failed." Without going into the whole article, the article showed the biggest potential problem was with the powder, not the primers and the least cause of problems was from water. The article is worth the read. The bottom line of the article is that we probably don't have to worry much about the ammo, powders and primers dying unless they are abused. Is storing components in the garage abuse? You be the judge. I'd probably store the bulk of the components inside and only put what I needed for the immediate future in the garage. Edited September 2, 2007 by Right2Bear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzShooter Posted September 3, 2007 Share Posted September 3, 2007 I keep all my powders in the garage but make sure the caps are secure on the cans and on the powder drippers on my machines. Another thing is to have a fan operating. Turn it off when measuring or your scale will fluctuate but leave it on while reloading and drink lots of water. Simple things but worth remembering Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidnal Posted September 3, 2007 Share Posted September 3, 2007 I want to start reloading, but am going to store everything and work out of my garage. Any problems or concerns with the Texas heat humidity i should worry about? Unfortunately, I load in Houston in my garage...yep, 90+% humidity, heat and even some cold...probably some mosquito parts incorporated in my ammo too. You've got to pull the handle fast to catch those buggers. All of the bulk supplies are stored inside, but there are always several hunded primers and several pounds of powder in the garage. The powder resovior is always full. When loading, it's not uncommon for me to be standing next to a dripping car or it's pouring rain outside. Or hot...Or Cold... For me these are unavoidable circumstances...have to load as time allows. All that said...every round goes bang in my STI, the gun runs perfect...so does my para and XD. XRE is probably right, before going to a major match it would be a good idea to have controlled loading conditions, but that is not always possible. Time usually dictates when I can load. Can't measure the humidity, temp and only load when the conditions are right or I'd never shoot. Loading conditions would account for a couple of PF...aim for 171PF and it should be okay. Before going to a major match always chrono. Hey XRE...we missed you today...where were you??? I'm currently in ongoing negotiations with my wife to set up a loading room upstairs...wish me luck! L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dajarrel Posted September 3, 2007 Share Posted September 3, 2007 Here in Muggy Mobile, AL, I have all my reloading components in a shop outside connected to the carport. I put a de-humidifier in for my primers and powder and a small air conditioner for me I leave the powder in the hoppers (a 550 and 650) but I also put a dessicant pack in each of them. I've never had to change them. Between the A/C, dehumidifier and dessicant, I've not had a problem. Don't know if I would without them, but why take a chance? FWIW dj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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