Powder and Primer Storage

[JM Browning]

I have been booted from my room in the house,wife thing live in Houston tx and 110 during one or 2 days a summer has happened. One should not put cigars in the fridge it dries them out. If I put powder and or primers in fridge would that be detramental Compressor or non compressor? If so I can get a wine cooler that I can adjust the temp up to 60.Wood box with desacants? Thoughts

 

[rabid wombat]

JM,

I live in the greater Houston area, also. I have a large closet between the house and garage. It is not air conditioned, but it is cooler than the garage, but warmer than the house. I run a dehumidifier in it, and there does not seem to be any problems. I try to do all my chores in it during the 14 pleasant days a year I have bought a wheeled, portable AC, but I have not tried it yet. In short, if it is human tolerable, you should be fine.

Best

 

[Jesse Heywood]

Have you considered window a/c for your doghouse? It will keep the humidity down and make for better sleeping.

 

[Slamfire]

The worst enemy of gunpowder is heat. The lifetime of gunpowder is reduced exponentially with increases in temperature. This chart came from a UN manual on ammunition inspection. Section 7.3 is well worth reading. As you can see in the chart, a propellant with a 40 year shelf life, which is what your typical IMR powder is expected to have, with continued storage at 158 F the lifetime drops to 2.5 years and should be disposed because it is at risk of auto combusting.

Surveillance and in-service proof - the United Nations

http://www.un.org/disarmament/convar...Proof(V.1).pdf





Exposure to water is bad, even though water is a polar covalent molecule, it acts ionic. All ionic compounds break gunpowder down faster. I think that may be a reason why gunpowder now comes in plastic cans, the tin cans released rust into the powder and that accelerated powder breakdown. Water is in air, so it is best to keep gunpowder cans sealed.

Anyway, try to keep it cool and dry the best you can.

 

[spitballer]

Some years ago I hit on the idea of putting all my powder and primers in a 5 gallon bucket with a can of damp-rid. Works like a charm! Stays a remarkably consistent 43% humidity year round. Don't even have to snap the lid!

 

[Gravedigger56]

My reloading room is in my basement. It is dry but I still don't take any chances simply because it is a basement and we know what can happen. I have a wooden wall cabinet where I store my ammo. I make sure the lids are tightly closed and seals in place, then I place them in gallon ziplock bags with a container of desiccant in each bag. I have a larger container of rechargeable desiccant inside the cabinet as well. If the basement ever was to flood, I feel my powder would still be good and dry.

 

[cfullgraf]

When I lived in South Carolina, my reloading room was in a bonus room over the garage that was heated and cooled. I only ran the HVAC unit, when I was using the room.

I stored my powder and primers in the house in a portion of a cabinet that was in a climate controlled area.

At the time, I only had a few pounds of powder and a thousand or so primers on hand at any one time.