What powder do I have?

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tbradford13

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My grandfather passed away several years ago and my grandmother recently gave me a box with all of his reloading supplies that she found while cleaning the attic. The box contained the following: Chilled lead shot, 12ga wads, 20ga wads, .410 wads, 30-06 brass, 44mag brass, and a LARGE glass jar full of an unlabeled powder that I suspect he bought in the late 70s or 80s. Being the sentimental and resourceful guy I am, I would feel bad if I had to throw away the powder, as it hasn't gone bad and there is a lot of it. I've been scouring the internet trying to figure out what powder I have using the national center for forensic science (http://www.ilrc.ucf.edu/powders/sample_detail.php?). Based on the other items in the box, I would guess that it is a shotgun powder, but the brass has me wondering if it could be for rifle or pistol reloading. I was going to take a picture of my powder and upload it, but it appears that someone else online was in my exact situation with the exact same powder. In other words, my powder looks exactly like the second picture at the following link in that it is a metallic gray, perfectly circular flake powder, with a hole in the center: http://10mm-firearms.com/reloading/story-of-unknown-powder-testing/ .

S5TK8bwyEo9d719lMEPyPh702KzmVQwXCt5KVrlIO6eBHvgBQOoPEnUTaSNqVnjv03EskONe6gcn8xG7wfXA11Ra_X_LON13.png

If there are any experienced reloaders out there who might have a guess, I would be grateful. As a practicing reloader myself, I assure you that I don’t intend to go loading it without knowing what it is and blow myself up. I’d just like to know what I have and how to go about safely testing it. Any help is appreciated!
 
I kind of expected these types of responses. I realize no one is going to recommend anything that may cause harm to someone. Believe me, I'm a cautious guy myself. I'll probably end of throwing it out anyway. Really, I was just curious what my grandpa was using and if I could get any use out of it other than for tripwire perimeter poppers ;). Every prepper bone in my body tells me not to waste it. I guess I could always take a sample of it to the next gun show so the guy at the reloading booth can give me his 2 cents on what it might be, even if it winds up getting tossed.
 
Not really.
I can find nothing to say nitrocellulose + nitroglycerin is degradable by soil microbes to soluble nitrates the plants can use. I sprinkled some powder in a flower pot with no effect.
The powder has stabilizers added to keep it from breaking down quickly. Once they are depleted the powder will decompose.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you're looking at it), this powder has been "pre-treated" by storage in an attic for years or decades, a proven process for breaking down diphenylamine stabilizers.
 
I kind of expected these types of responses. I realize no one is going to recommend anything that may cause harm to someone. Believe me, I'm a cautious guy myself. I'll probably end of throwing it out anyway. Really, I was just curious what my grandpa was using and if I could get any use out of it other than for tripwire perimeter poppers ;). Every prepper bone in my body tells me not to waste it. I guess I could always take a sample of it to the next gun show so the guy at the reloading booth can give me his 2 cents on what it might be, even if it winds up getting tossed.
I am not experienced enough to know that powder but i am familiar with the type. Yeah sure make some poppers out of it, whatever but dont hold it in your hand. Another consideration is the possibility the produced ammunition may find its way into someones firearm who would never take the risk you may be willing to take. All that said i know people load 50+ year old powder and it works but typically its something they've bought, stored accordingly and are familiar with.if you do identify the powder modern loading guides may not cover it.
 
The powder has stabilizers added to keep it from breaking down quickly. Once they are depleted the powder will decompose..

But not into fertilizer. We've seen Slamfire's rotten powder pictures with red nitrogen dioxide fumes and corroded cans and cartridges. Not going to do the zinnias any good.
 
You have already received all the (good) advice you need to make the right decision as to what to do with the powder in question. But what you actually asked is: 'what powder might this actually be?). From its appearance and the visible presence of several green flakes, it is most likely Green Dot; a shotgun powder which is also useful for some pistol loads. Do not take that as gospel - merely a best guess. There is no good way to test it with any real assurance of safety. Do what you think best.

PRD1 - mhb - MIke
 
a LARGE glass jar full of an unlabeled powder
Be safe! As many others already posted, when in doubt, use it as fertilizer. I would not use any powder I found in an unlabeled glass jar!

Being the ... resourceful guy I am, I would feel bad if I had to throw away the powder, as it hasn't gone bad and there is a lot of it.
I repeat, DO NOT use any powder you are not sure of as to what it is (Not in factory sealed container as someone could have put powder in different/wrong label container - Things happen in life and people do strange and crazy things - Just ask my wife :D), how old it is, how it was stored, etc. as you have NO IDEA how stable the powder is and how it is going to perform when ignited.

Here's a good reading on Hodgdon's warning about powder storage and powder stability - https://www.hodgdonreloading.com/reloading-education/safety/gunpowder-stability

Just treat it like your grandmother gave you a bag of fertilizer. ;)

But what you actually asked is: 'what powder might this actually be?). From its appearance and the visible presence of several green flakes, it is most likely Green Dot
What I gather from looking at the OP's picture (BTW, which is borrowed from another forum) is different shade of grey which could be lighting or different amount of solvent in the granules possibly indicating varying degrees of chemical decomposition. The green tint you see may be contamination. We just don't know.

And on top of not knowing what powder OP has (which we don't even have a picture of), we also don't know how old the powder is, how long it has been stored and under what conditions, especially temperature and exposure to sunlight, which directly affect chemical breakdown of powder to make it unstable.

BTW, here's a close up comparison picture of Green Dot showing really "green" flakes - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...s-and-discussions.778197/page-7#post-10094185

index.php
 
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I see no green markers in the picture of powder that is not actually the powder we need to see. The one green looking kernel is cromatic dispersion of the light.

Green dot powder flakes do not have holes.

That is not green dot. (See LiveLife's example.)

Flake powder is most likley a pistol or shotgun powder. Meaning very fast. Even faster now, with its stabilizers depleted. Which they are, even if they are not off gassing nitric acid, yet.

Even non wasteful humans are not foolish.
Burn it. But not in a firearm.

A huge portion of preparedness is not taking risks that have very little value. Sentimentality is useless for survival.
Eye sight, and the ability to manipulate your physical world with fingers, is essential.

Everything else in your box of history sounds usable.
Cut your loss and carry on...
 
Well, whatever it is, it's not rifle powder. I definitely wouldn't try that with the 30-06. Perforated flake powder...should burn quite fast. You could try the loads from the 10mm board, but for safety's sake, id not recommended it. Fast powder can spike pressure extremely high with small changes in volume. As in...I can pack enough Titegroup in a 45acp round to get the velocity up to 850-875fps...but I'm way over max at that point.
 
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An experienced reloader could make use of it, but is it worth the effort and risk? I agree, likely to be a shotgun powder, and likely to be pretty fast, maybe real fast. Heat in an attic is bad for powder, it's unknown, shotgun powder recipes need to be followed closely, and although it could probably be salvaged for a light pistol load, the safest thing to do is scrap it.
 
Many many years ago you could buy propellant by the paper sack out of a keg at the local hardware store here. You could also buy dynamite there as well. I learned how to work up a load with a unknown type and a range rod to pound out the squibs. Now there are canister types and manuals that make safe ammo. These days I would just throw it on the lawn.
 
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