old powder question

[GoodOlBoy]

A buddy dropped these off at the house the other day to see if they were worth anything. The HP38 has not been open, the rest have and have from a tiny bit to almost a full can of powder in them.

1. Are the can's worth anyting to a collector?
2. Would the opened powders be safe to use?
3. Would the UNopened powder be safe to use?

These were apparently stored in a spare bedroom at the house of the person he got them from. They guy decided he wasn't going to reload anymore and wanted it all gone.

GoodOlBoy

[Dom]

I'd say open each up separately and smell it. If it smells like it's supposed to, i.e., NC, then it should be good to use. If it smells like anything else, well, sprinkle it around on the yard. Same for the unopened one.

I guess it's like anything to a collector, if you find someboy who collects and wants them, fine -- but you might be looking long and hard for one.

If they smell fine, load 'er up GOB, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

P.S. For those cans with only a small amount I'd just sprinkle them.

[Catfish]

What Dom said. It`s very easy to tell by the smell of the powder weather powder is good just by smelling it. Bad powder smells bad.

[Jack]

None of those cans are really old, so I doubt very much they'll have any collectors value.
Bad powder smells acidic, acrid, etc, with kind of an ammonia smell.
The sealed can of HP38 I'd keep and use- it's an excellent powder for light pistol loads like wadcutters.
However, the open cans of powder.....
I'd dump em- you have no way of knowing how they were handled, i.e, did someone accidentally dump 2 different powders into the same can? I wouldn't bet my life that powders didn't get mixed- and that's exactly what you are doing if you use opened cans you got from someone else.

[Dan Morris]

Open cans and third party.....DUMP em....no way of being sure!
Dan

[Classicvette63]

Is old powder safe to use? If it doesn't smell bad, it should be fine. I have a can of W296 that I'm still using. The price tag on the can says $4.97. I'm sure that it is more than a year or two old.

[GoodOlBoy]

Yeah my concern was weather or not the opened ones really had what they said they did in them.

Probably will save the hp38 (I have a 38 woa coinky dink?) and use it if it doesn't smell when I open it.

Thanks guys, thats kinda what I figured.

GoodOLBoy

[Rocky Raab]

Oh, I dunno. They're probably fine.

Pour out a bit of each and take a close look. If it all looks the same, it's probably what it says on the can. W748 is a fine ball, and IMR 4198 looks like tiny pieces of really fine pencil lead. Bullseye is black flakes.

The HP38 is exactly the same as W231, and data is interchangeable, BTW. Good stuff.

From the prices, they aren't that old. I'd use 'em myself. But I'd make up a test load at Start level and compare velocity versus what the book said. If it's close, I'd grin and start loading.

But, your choice. It's certainly worth what you paid for it!

[Mr. 16 gauge]

Those metal cans of 4198 may be of interest to a collector....they are no longer being made. I still have a few metal cans of IMR powder that I am putting on a shelf as decoration, with the hope of maybe someday putting 'em on ebay.

[Contenderizer]

Don't do what I did when I had some old powder that was starting to smell funny. A neighbor suggested it was better than Draino. "Simply drain the tolet bowl, pour in the powder, light a fuse, slam the lid and run" he said. The cover to my septic tank was never found.

[Joe Boleo]

The unopened container is a keeper. If I knew the history on the other powders and trusted the story, I would use them. Otherwise, the opened cans would end up on the lawn. Take care...
Joe

[PJgunner]

I'd go along with what Rocky said. The stuff ain't that old. W-231 and HP-38 are the same and are good stuff. Both of those and Bullseye are double based powders and store much better than single based powders. As there are two cans of 4198, there's a 50/50 chance one may not have been opened. Your choice.
Paul B.