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Old Powders


Miseryguts

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Hi, an old friend recently moved house and found a box of powders, probably from the 60's or possibly the 70's which he no longer has a certificate for, so gave them to me.

If any one has any details on these powders, I would be grateful for any info.

The two black powders have been opened, as has the tub of Unique, but the Nobel powder is still sealed.

I imagine that the Unique is the original before Alliant took them over, but I seem to remember that the original was not as powerful as the present day stuff?

Next question - are these powders still useable or should I just bury them?

Pics attached

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Not worth the effort or risk.  I would spread them over your plants and lawn as fertiliser.   Also, black powder is an explosive and should be stored accordingly  -  you require an Explosives License to possess so unless you do, get rid by soaking in water.

The branded containers maybe interesting to a collector?

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Nitrocellulose and Nitroglycerin are basically unstable nitrate ester explosives which are made into safe propellants by the use of additives. Over many years they will degrade by generating nitric acid, which in turn further degrades the propellant, a process called ‘thermal decomposition’. This is accelerated by temperature cycling and other environmental exposure. Eventually the reaction can run away, causing fires and explosions. Every year, various arms dumps around the world explode because people failed to pay attention to the basics of explosives storage and surveillance. The critical additive is a stabiliser, which soaks up and neutralises the nitric acid. However, after long enough, it will eventually get used up, at which point the propellant starts to gas and become dangerous.

For the home reloader, powders stored under normal household temperatures and humidity would take many decades to become unsafe, but it will happen eventually. Best not to take any chances and dispose of them safely.

On the other hand, black powder remains useable for a long time, as long as it’s kept dry. I believe that TS6 was an American brand made by Curtis and Harvey. As mentioned above, don’t ever be tempted to dispose of black powder by burning, unless it has been thoroughly wetted first.

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Thanks, That confirms what I thought, I do have an explosives licence, and do store and use Blackpowder and Black powder substitutes in various weapons, but as they are so old and not having any data, I shall not bother with the BP. On the smokeless powders, I seem to remember that the time to self conflagration under normal conditions was something like 1000+ years, falling to 8 hours at high temperature (200 deg F sticks in my mind?) - so its off to dig a hole we go!!

M searching for his spade in sunny Monmouthshire

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It’s a complicated bit of chemistry, but it’s more like decades under normal storage. The good news is that performance drops off before propellant become dangerous. This is the reason why velocity drops off and ES increases in surplus ammunition and the number of ‘click-bangs’ also increases. The ammunition is still safe at this stage, but it’s a sure sign that it needs to be disposed of.

Personally I would sprinkle it over your roses or cabbages, rather than burying it in bulk.

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