Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles .Older Powder.... to use or not?

I would double check with your friend to make sure that no well meaning relative transferred powder into another can, dump it into a pan to check uniformity, and to compare it with what you would expect to find.

If it looks like a pure uncontaminated bunch of what it says it is, I would start with some loads in a small case, assuming that it is a faster powder than I think it is. Watch your cases, and using a chronograph would help.

Last year I finished off a can of IMR 3031 that was dated 1967, when I bought it. It did great. I've only had one can go bad, AL-8. I opened it and it was so acrid my nose twisted to get away. I'd bought it in a rod and gun club in Germany and legally imported it when I returned to the states. I was miffed because after the hassles of bringing it back it was bad. I brought several pounds of powders with me as well as some ammo. I doubt that the batfe woud be so 'easy' these days on re-importation.

Just a quick update:

I reloaded about 150 rounds of .45 with one of the containers of unique and it shot fine. Being my first try at reloading, I was cautious and loaded them light, and had no failures to fire or failure to function in my Taurus 1911. My brother did have a few stove pipes and a few times the slide would not lock open on the last round. He just put a new spring kit in his 1911, and I think that was his issue.

This weekend, I'm going to bump it up a bit and see what happens. We're just shooting steel, so my goal is to find a decent medium of function with a lighter recoil. This will also keep powder consumption down, because powder is amazingly scarce around these parts.

Last night I loaded some of the IMR 4350, that I received, for my .270 with Barnes 130 gr. TSX. I did 4 different loads and hope to get out this weekend, to see what works best in my Ruger Hawkeye.

And by the way,

Thanks for everyone's input on this, I appreciate you guys taking the time to respond.

Bob

When in doubt,throw it out.

I've zero interest in Turd Polishing,especially with powders...............