Western Powders (vendors of Accurate, Norma, and Ramshot powders), publishes a Blog that covers all aspects of hand-loading and rifle maintenance. Recently the Western Powders Blog published a Q & A series entitled Dear Labby: Questions for our Ballistics Lab. Here are some excerpts that pertain to powder storage and shelf life. Worried that your powder may be too old? Western’s experts explain how to check your propellants for warning signs.

Proper Powder Storage

Q: I live in southern Arizona where it is very hot. I am told powders will become unstable if stored in an area not air-conditioned. My wife says no powder or primers in the house. Can powder be stored in a refrigerator? What about using a fireproof safe? I would appreciate your ideas. — M.C.

Lab Answer: SAAMI guidelines are pretty clear on issues of storage. They recommend storing smokeless powder in containers that will not allow pressure to build if the powder is ignited — ruling out gun safes and refrigerators.

CLICK HERE to Read SAAMI Guidelines for Powder Storage (PDF)

In their original containers smokeless powder’s lifespan is quite long, even in your hot, arid climate, typically longer than the average handloader would need to store them. Stored safely in a garage or outbuilding, your powder should last years. If you see the powder developing a reddish tint, or giving off a foul odor, it is time to discard it.

Clumps in Powder Container

Q: I ordered some of your Accurate 1680 powder back about in December. I just now opened it … and it is full of clumps. My knowledge tells me that means moisture. Am I wrong? I just now broke the seal and it has been stored in a ammo can with desiccant packs around it and a dehumidifier running 14-16 hours a day. I can’t imagine this being my fault, if this does indicate moisture. I don’t know if the pink part on the label is suppose to be red or not, but it is definitely pink, so if it was red I am wondering if I was shipped an old container? I hope that this isn’t bad and I am stuck with it…

Lab Answer: All powder contains a certain amount of moisture. When the powder is stored or during shipping, it can go through temperature cycles. During the cycling, the moisture can be pulled to the surface and cause clumping. Clumping can also be caused by static electricity if too dry or the powder has limited graphite content. You can break up the clumps before metering and they shouldn’t be a problem. This will not affect the powder performance, so your product is fine. Accurate 1680 labels are designed in Pink. As a side note, specification for testing powder is at 70° F and 60% humidity.

Shelf Life and Packaging Dates

Q: Does powder ever get to old to use and what identifying marks does your company put on the canister for when it is made, You have helped me out a while ago when I asked about keeping my cowboy shooting under 950 fps and it works great less stress on the hand and the recoil is very minimum. — R.B.

Lab Answer: On one pound bottles, the number is on the corner in a silver box. If the powder was poured today, it would read 012815 followed by a lot number. The whole number would look something like 012815749. Eight pound bottles have a sticker on the bottom with an obvious date code. The lot number appears above the date.

Powder can have a very long shelf life. You need to watch for changes in smell and color. A reddish tinge, almost like rust on the powder, is a bad sign, as is a foul odor, not to be confused with a normal chemical smell. Either of these signs indicate it is time to dispose of your powder by means other than shooting.

How to Decipher Sierra Bullets Barcodes
The Lot Number (indicated in green below) identifies a specific batch of bullets. The lot number remains the same for bullets made at the same time from the same material.

The Packaging Code (indicated in blue below) is an internal number representing the number assigned to the persons who inspected and packed the box of bullets.

The Serial Number (indicated in yellow below) is a computer generated number sequentially added to each box of bullets made.

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We hope that, in 2015, you’ll enjoy your precision rifles, spending “quality time” at the range with good friends. We upgraded our site this year, acquiring new high-speed dedicated servers. We hope you’ll continue to enjoy our feature articles, our Daily Bulletin, our match reports, and our Free Forum Classifieds. The formula seems to be working — our audience is bigger than ever and it just keeps growing, with over 150,000+ unique users visiting the site every week.

Forum Membership Grows 13% in 2014
Our Shooters’ Forum grew significantly in 2014. Membership grew by 13% as ranks swelled to over 26,500 members! More people are successfully buying and selling in our FREE Forum Classifieds section than ever before. Remember, user donations help make our Free Classifieds possible.

Daily Bulletin Is a Big Hit
The AccurateShooter Daily Bulletin has become a “must read” for anyone interested in serious rifle accuracy. In the Bulletin you’ll find money-saving sale notices, timely match reports, and a host of reloading and accurizing tips. The Bulletin has become THE source for exclusive “scoops” on new products and new shooting technologies. Eric Stecker of Berger Bullets says: “You guys have become the ‘USA Today’ of the precision shooting market.” 365 days a year we offer a unique combination of shooting tips, gear reviews, industry news, and highlighted bargains and special sales.

We need your support. For over 10 years the site has relied largely on volunteer efforts by dedicated shooters. But as the site grows, serving a larger audience, we need the assistance of professional gunsmiths, writers, and video editors. Those guys don’t work for glory alone.

Consider this — what do you pay for a movie ticket these days? Probably $8.50 or more for 90 minutes of escapism. For a buck a month ($12 a year) you can help this site provide a YEAR’s worth of info, tests, and shooting news that you won’t find anywhere else.

In the past quarter about 120 site users have donated. We thank all those who have generously contributed. But that still leaves tens of thousands of users who access the site regularly without contributing. In fact, though our readership grew significantly in 2014, we received $3000.00 less in donations than during 2013.

Here’s our proposal. First, if you have used our FREE Classifieds to successfully sell your rifles or shooting gear, consider sending in a dollar or two from your sale proceeds. Second, for those who use the site regularly, consider donating One Dollar a Month. That’s less than the price of a cup of coffee.

How to Contribute Making a donation to the site is simple and easy. Just click on the orange “Donate” button at right. If you have a credit card, you don’t need a Paypal account to contribute. Any sum is welcome — donations need not be large.

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If you like stay up with the latest gun rights news, or just peruse a variety of gun-related content sites, Alltop.com can help you source interesting articles quickly and efficiently.

Suggestions Wanted by Sinclair Int’l:

As most of you have noticed, [Sinclair has] brought out some interesting items in our recent Sinclair Summer Catalog. Introducing new products generally causes a lot of questions, and we really do enjoy answering them for you. One of our upcoming articles will be about the new Stainless Steel Tumbling Media. We will explain how to best use the new tumbling media, and will include pictures to help show you how to work with it.

I want to know what other new products you would like us to showcase in future Reloading Press articles. We do enjoy hearing from all of you, and this is your chance to let us know what articles you would like to see from our Sinclair Reloading Tech Staff. We look forward to hearing from you! — Bob Blaine

CLICK HERE to Leave Reply on Sinclair Reloading Press Website

The DAY 1 edition features the annual round-up of new firearms, while the DAY 2 edition highlights new-for-2012 optics. On Pages 20-23 of the Day 3 edition, you’ll find an interesting article by John Snow on a 6mm Creedmoor wildcat (6.5 Creedmoor necked down — see below). The final Day 4 edition includes a guide to .375-Caliber big game cartridges, along with coverage of the latest Air Gun technologies.

The 2012 SHOT Show Dailies are available online at Shotbusiness.com and the SHOT Show Blog, or just click the links below. You can read the Digital Editions online, or download PDF versions to your computer. NOTE: The PDFs are very large files, slow to download.

Day 1 Digital Edition | PDF	Day 2 Digital Edition | PDF
Day 3 Digital Edition | PDF	Day 4 Digital Edition | PDF

If you want to go back to a particular day, week, or month, you can click on the calendar to select a date, or use the pull-down menu to select a past month — such as August 2009. If you are looking for a story about a recurring event or important match that happens at the same time each year, try the date search tools. This is also a great way to revisit our popular “April Fools” Editions.

How to Search by Topic or Keyword
The fastest and easiest method to find older posts is simply to search by keyword, or click one of the topic headings. If you want to see a video, for example, just click on “Videos”. If you’re looking for all stories about scopes, click “Optics”. To find a particular item, such as the story on Barnard actions, just type “Barnard” in the search field and click “Search”. Our search works very fast! Try it, you’ll like it.

If you read the Daily Bulletin regularly, please change your bookmarks. To get all the latest Daily Bulletin stories, images, and videos, please link to:

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com

If you are planning to attend the 2010 SHOT Show, note that this year, SHOT Show will be held in the Sands Expo Center, located next to the Venetian Casino Resort in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. Discounted lodging at a variety of nearby hotels and casinos is available through the SHOT Show Travel Desk.