Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Hodgdon H4831 - How old is too old?

I have some H4831 that is about 20 years old. It is in a cylindrical cardboard container with steel ends, and a plastic cap in the middle of the top. Should it still be good, or is it time to have a bonfire?

I notice that it is made in Scotland, and is an almost black color. The current H4831 is from Australia and is almost silver in color.

Since I'm Scottish too, I'm afraid I may be struck down by a Scottish god for wasting it. Got it in a close out sale!

I've got part of a can of that style. I have had it for longer than that. (It has been in a good environment.) I have used a little bit every now and then to compare it to loads with newer 4831.

Age by itself won't hurt the powder.

If the place you bought it from was climate controlled it should be good to go.

You noted the black color, but not any rust color on the kernels. That's good.

Does it have an acrid smell? I don't mean the solvent smell of new powder, but a sharp smell? If not, that's good too.

Is the cardboard package in good condition? If so, that's good.

I used a lot of that powder loading 270 rounds for my father.

I've basically kept it in our house, so normal heat and humidity. I would expect the store had it in a similar environment. The container is in good condition, but I suspect the cardboard walls must breath some. Interestingly it has no smell that I can detect. My recollection is that it did have a smell when new. On the other hand the new powder has a very strong smell -- yes I guess a solvent smell.

Shoot, I'm still using some old H-4831 that my dad and I bought back in the late 60's. It is undoubtedly the original WWII surplus stuff Bruce Hodgdon got his start with. We bought a 25 lb. keg for, as I recall, around $25. Still have a couple of pounds in airtight metal canisters. Having been stored in good climate conditions , it exhibits no signs of deterioration. Now and then I load a couple of '06's with it just for old time's sake.

By the way, the loading technique we used back then was to dip a primed case in the keg, strike the excess powder level with the case mouth and then crunch a 150 grain bullet into it. Worked like a charm. Very accurate in every '06 we used it in. You couldn't get enough of that old surplus 4831 in an '06 case to worry about excess pressure, or so we were told. I certainly don't do that now, nor do I know how the modern 4831 compares to that old stuff as far as burning rates go.

I've got some that probably originally came in brown bags. It was stored in quart mason jars so long ago that the handwritten labels had dried up and fallen off. It shoots like a champ in the 30-06 and is about perfect in the 243 with 100 grain bullets.

Only thing I found that rivaled it for 100 grain .243 was MRP.

i used some surplus WW 2 era 4895 that was made from 1936 to 1942...reference for that is the data stamp on the military ammo I pulled it from....

loaded it up current 4895 data, in a 22.250..

and then loaded up current 4895 with the same load and shot it in the same rifle...

the surplus WW2 powder, was more accurate... and chronographed the same...

draw your own conclusions... but I was happy with the results..

I am still using H4831 powder that was made in the 1940's that I bought surplus for $1.50 a pound in 1969. I bought 4 gallons of it and still have a gallon and a half left (or about 10 bucks worth). It has been stored in tightly sealed metal ink cans in an unheated garage...25 below in the winter and over 100 in the summer. It still smells sweet and shoots great in my .270 Win and .340 Wby.

I've been shooting some ww2 4831 that i aquired 30 years ago. Just bought some more. I shoot it in a 22-250,243,257,270.270wsm and a 7mm mag. I load it behind 60 grainers in the 22-250 and about any bullet in the other calibers.
Fred

It looks like my H4831 is just a spring chicken compared to some of the stuff you guys have...

Has anyone compared velocities from old powder to new, or old primers to new? ES and Standard Deviation?