OLD pyrodex rs can still full!

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exMember

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My brother in laws ex father in law died a couple years ago and the family was selling off all his firearm related stuff. He had an assortment of powder and I got a new plastic style bottle of RS which was great, but the top it off, one of the OLD style paper/tin can bottles of unopened RS! I popped the seal and there was zero clumping and it had its normal fresh smell. I want to compare it to a new bottle i got last week and see how bad the stuff is, if it is!
 
LOL john, thats a good thing!

I don't see why opening the can will ruin it. It was made OUTSIDE of a can in the first place.
 
I have had poor luck with my limited attempts with Pyrodex. Poor ignition and poor shelf life. I would sell that bottle rather than use it .. but that's just me. Real black powder is so much more reliable.
 
okay now that I got some time, I plan on testing accuracy, as well as velocity over the Chrony in the next couple days. Busy day tomorrow, but I got all my stuff ready for the fun! The old stuff sure looks a lot better to the eye, Its not dry and crumbly looking. I'll take side by side pics of the powder as well.
 
I know this thread is old but I had a can of pyrodex rs for 15 years and hunted with it every year, I don't think it lost anything at all but it stayed in my gun closet with the top screwed on tight, now that American pioneer stuff was a different story, it did lose punch from one year to the next under the same conditions. I would trust the rs stored correctly over the other powders out there.
 
Old Thread: I know several serious shooters that check things that most guys never think of. Moisture in powder and primers are a real issue. Both of these gentlemen and several of their competition shooting friends use the large (2 foot by 2 foot) cigar display decanters like seen at the turn of the century in smoke shops. They have installed a measuring meter for moisture on the outside of the boxes for their storage of powder. One friend found a smaller box and uses it for his percussion caps. They know what's going on with the conditions all the time. I asked "how much did that cost", not as expensive as you would think; couple hundred for the antique cigar box in good condition with original tin liner and a hundred for the gauge, sending unit and wiring. If this really concerns you here what the pros do.
 
It's easier to shoot more and use up powder before it gets old.

The test I saw on Pyrodex was he opened a fresh bottle of Pyro and shot and chrono'd it. Then a year later did the same with the same bottle. It lost enough fps to matter.

Some guys think just because the powder fires off, it's ok.
 
My experience has been that humidity is a major factor to consider when it comes to storing anything related to firearms and re-loading.  Although I've controlled humidity issues in my house, I still have inexpensive battery-operated humidity devices scattered about to monitor changes.
 
Marty said:
My experience has been that humidity is a major factor to consider when it comes to storing anything related to firearms and re-loading. .....
 
With employment with the telephone company we used Desiccant in bags, boxes and loose. So moisture was never a problem around my place. Available from most of the sporting good stores. Most supplies are sold in containers with a view window, when "blue" turns "pink" put the container in the oven on high for an hour, now its restored and shows "blue" again. May have to do this several times a year depending on the moisture in your area.
________________________________________________​
Desi Pak® clay desiccant bags contain a highly activated, chemically inert and non-corrosive desiccant which absorbs moisture vapor through the capillary action of adsorbent particles without changing the physical shape of the particles or the bag
 
Meanwhile, in the Sub-Tropics of Florida... 

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:D :D :D
 
After reading this I'm wondering about several cans of RS that have been open for several years. Do I dump it or shoot it, probably get rid of it to be safe?
 
shoot it over a chronograph if you have it. If its accurate, use it!
 
patocazador said:
I have had poor luck with my limited attempts with Pyrodex. Poor ignition and poor shelf life. I would sell that bottle rather than use it .. but that's just me. Real black powder is so much more reliable.
Pyro-poof is good!

For starting a camp fire.

Just my opinionated opinion.

"Click, fizzle."
 
Its actually an extremely good and accurate powder. The downside is that you sometimes get a hang fire. That's more of a nipple issue however.
 
FrontierGander said:
Its actually an extremely good and accurate powder. The downside is that you sometimes get a hang fire. That's more of a nipple issue however.

Same results Jon. :Red tup:
 

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