How long does loose powder last

[DannyD]

HI folks,
I started using loose pyrodex powder and opened a bottle of it last year. I capped it with it's original screw on cap to store it. How long can I expect it to last where it is still reliable

[big rockpile]

Long as its dry I see no problem with it lasting a long time.I have some thats at least 3 years old.

big rockpile

[cayugad]

As already stated... As long as it is kept dry and in a relatively low humidity area of the house it will last years and years. You will know when it goes bad because no matter what you do, the accuracy from shot to shot will not be consistent. In all my years of shooting I have seen only one pound of Pyrodex go bad. A friend of mine was shooting one day and he could not group anything. I asked him how old the powder was and he said about five years old. I offered him some of my powder and he started shooting groups.

The strange part was, to look at the powder, there was no clumping or discoloration of it. It just would not shoot. He was going to torch it, but I asked him if I could have it to play with. I learned that if I increased the normal powder charge about 15% the accuracy returned.

I've had other powders around the house for as long as seven years with no ill effect. I also shot Goex one day at a friends. His Goex was so old I had to look twice at the can to even know it was Goex. It too, shot perfect. So keep the lid on tight, keep it in a cool dry place and you should be fine. Some people put a silicon bag in them. I save all of them little silicon bags from medicine bottles like aspirin, but then forget where I put them. My intention was to drop them in older powder. But my powder never gets old..

[lemoyne]

My son had some of the original [pyrodex]from many years a go and we open it and shot it the other day works just fine. I usually buy in big batches when its on sale some times enough to last several years so far no problem;
on the other hand you might run into problems on the APP its very senitive to any moisture[that includs all asorbic acid base powder] about the others I am not sure,never had any problems so far. Lee

[DannyD]

Thanks guys. I just started with the loose stuff and was thinking that when it's on sale at the end of the year i'd like to buy a few. I wasn't sure if it would last a couple weeks, months or years.
It sure has been a lot of fun using it. I had always used the pellets and they have their place but it sure is cool changing the powder levels and seeing how it effects the bullet and accuracy

Thanks again for your help

[frontier gander]

Just to use as an example. My sister bought me 2lbs of Real blackpowder and the dates labeled on the cans were 1978 and 1989. Both shot perfect. As long as it stays dry, it will last a darn good while.

[eldeguello]

ORIGINAL: DannyD

HI folks,
I started using loose pyrodex powder and opened a bottle of it last year. I capped it with it's original screw on cap to store it. How long can I expect it to last where it is still reliable

As long as it is still loose, and stored in a cool, dry place, it will last indefinitely. I have used some (Pyrodex) that was kept in its' original plastic jarwith the lid screwed on tight that was over 10 years old, and that was in Central NY where it rains more than in Seattle WA! It shot fine. If it gets damp, it will clump up. If this happens, I would use it for fertilizer.......

NEVER open a container of powder until you are ready to start using from that cannister.

When I lived in France, someFrench farmers were always digging up exploding shells fromtheirfields, mostly from the Napoleonic wars, 1800-1814. The black powder in these shells was quite often as good as the day the stuff was poured into the shells!