Powder left in a hopper

[OUshooter]

Man tough call. But personally I'd put it in the front flower bed and be done with it.

Considering where we live and the weather we have had I'd bet dollars to donuts it's fine, but it really doesn't make sense to worry about it.

If nothing else drill a hole in the side of a coffee can, run some of your cannon fuse to it, dump it in, light the fuse, and stand back.

 

[Shadowrider]

Man tough call. But personally I'd put it in the front flower bed and be done with it.

Considering where we live and the weather we have had I'd bet dollars to donuts it's fine, but it really doesn't make sense to worry about it.

If nothing else drill a hole in the side of a coffee can, run some of your cannon fuse to it, dump it in, light the fuse, and stand back.

It will only fizzle and smoke. Whatever you do don't try this with black powder! It's quite hazardous to nearby windows. Don't ask me how I know.

 

[Grant]

I don't ever empty my hopper on my Lee Pro 1000 because it is too much of a hassle and this is in my shop with obviously no a/c. Never had any problems.

However on my stand alon powder throw I dump it out when I'm done loading for the day.

 

[Nraman]

Powder tends to be very stable and lasts a long time. I left powder in the hopper for long periods and never had any problems. Worst case scenario, in humid weather the burning speed is reduced if it absorbs a lot of moisture, or increased a little in very dry weather due to moisture loss. Use it for mild practice loads.

 

[KurtM]

Ninefan, someone has tried this...Alliant powder. I took a tour of their plant ( it used to be Dupont and before that I'm not sure) and one of the things they showed us was a batch of the ORIGINAL, made in 1902 Unique powder. It is stored UNDERWATER. They say when ever they need to test a new lot that the comosition is changed on against the old they just get some out, dry it in a vacume kiln to the propper moisture content and test away.

There was an artice about Unique or bullseye, I forget which, that was left in the hopper under flourecent lights that had gone bad, and it was recomended to not leve these powders in the hopper if you had flourecent lights in the area. It degraded something in the powder and it gave consistent squib loads, but that was YEARS ago.....70's???

 

[Woodcutter]

Three months in the hopper over winter is not going to hurt anything. Use it up.