These are some powders that I had had for a bit. I found a sticker on one that says September of 92. These were some that my father had bought and given to me along with all the other reloading stuff. I was cleaning out and found them again. Since I have had them, they have been in the same cabinet as my other powder. 4 have never been opened. The rest have about half in them. They are not clumped, seem fine to look at. What the thoughts on using them.

powder lasts a really long time. i would use it. no different than shooting old ammo.

Just send the IMR south to me and I’ll check it

Might hang on to the cans once they're empty.

Mike

I'm no expert so I'm just saying that I am still loading and killing, sometimes missing, with powder that I inherited when my brother passed away in 1983. I've noticed no difference from new powder. Someday I'm going to compare old to new through a chronograph. I do keep my powders in a somewhat heat and humidity controlled environment.

As stated above it lasts a long time.

My only concern is how those cans look, I have powder from the 60's and 70's and the cans are rust free and look pretty much like new. Makes me wonder how it was stored.

Unless they were stored in a humid area , you can use them as is, if they were stored in a humid area I would load a couple and see how they shoot before committing the rest of the materials to loads.

If it doesn't smell acidic it's still good, if it does dump it in your garden.

Load one of each, if it works it's good to go.

This. Take a sniff and if it smells real funky, it's bad. Most likely it's fine though.

x3

The rule i have always heard is you can use your dads powder but npt your grandpas

x4

I would only add, pour a little bit out and if any of it's brown or rust colored toss it.

All that IMR powder is junk - don't shoot it!!
PM me for my contact info and I will personally destroy it for you...

I have no idea on how there were stored before I got them. I opened a can and smelled it. I can’t tell is smells any different that some fresh that I have. I will work up a few loads with it and see how it works out.

Just smell it. Bad powder smells bad.

Those ball powders are before my time. One is 540?

Looks like they have all been exposed to some humidity, to cause the external rust to the containers. Just being stored in an outbuilding or damp basement would cause the same external rust. I'd not be afraid to load them if they were mine and showed no sign of internal rust in the cans. I'd be tickled pink to have those two cans of 748 on the right. The 4895 and the PB are no longer made, but have plenty of guys still loading what they have and looking for more.

double-based powders have 3% nitro which can degrade over time and with the right conditions conditions reread guthooked and rallys posts

I don't know about PB but IMR4895 is still listed on IMRs website so it appears it is still made.

I have read that powder formulations have changed over time and that old reloading manual load data should not be used with new powder, and old powder should not be used with new data. If you have a load that was developed with old powder and the old powder is still good, there should be no problem, or if you develop a load using old powder and an old manual you should be good. Personally, if I was going to spend the time developing a load I would use new powder and a new manual.