10 year old Unique - still good?

[Fanner50]

I have an opened mostly full can of ten year old Unique that has been stored in a central heat and air conditioned home. Should I use it or toss it? Taking the advice of others in the Revolver Forum I want to use Unique in my .45 Bisley New Vaquero and I came across this plastic can of Unique that I have used in the past for what, I'm not sure of. So, use it or toss it. Thanks guys.

 

[rkrcpa]

I would have no qualms about ten year old powder in that circumstance.

 

[mikld]

Choot it! I bought 3 lbs. of Unique in about '96 and am about half way through the last pound. Still working quite well...

 

[Clovishound]

Word on the street is that Alliant has a 100+ year old sample of the first run of Unique that they periodically take some out, dry and test it. Still good after all these years. Hey, you can sing that to a Paul Simon song.

I haven't seen anything official on that, but have heard it from some knowledgeable people.

 

[gtxmonte]

Realistically, gunpowder has no shelf life. If it smells like it should, it's fine. I have loaded rounds with 50 year old powder that was in my dads stuff.

 

[Cholo]

That's new as far as I'm concerned. I have powder over 35 years old I'd use in a heartbeat.

 

[Fanner50]

Thank You everyone for your answers. I will be using the powder. One less thing to buy lol. I didn't know just how long powder was good for. Great information. Thanks!!

 

[bayou5252]

I've got some powders nearly 40 years old. Can't tell the difference between those and brand new stock...

 

[wwb]

I've got some powders nearly 40 years old. Can't tell the difference between those and brand new stock...

Oh, yeah? Just take a look at the price tag on the jug!!!! Betcha you can tell the difference now. :wink:

I'm almost out of an old 8 lb jug of Longshot.... still has the price on it - $89. Longshot, by the way, is a great powder for intermediate .357 and .44 loads.

 

[bayou5252]

^^^^You're right about the prices, Hunter!

 

[gtxmonte]

I've got some powders nearly 40 years old. Can't tell the difference between those and brand new stock...

Oh, yeah? Just take a look at the price tag on the jug!!!! Betcha you can tell the difference now. :wink:

I'm almost out of an old 8 lb jug of Longshot.... still has the price on it - $89. Longshot, by the way, is a great powder for intermediate .357 and .44 loads.

With this being mentioned, I decided to look through my powder cans and see what I had with the lowest price marked. Have a can of H380(that I still use from) that has a $5.95 price marked. Found some others in the $6 and $7 range as well.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Word on the street is that Alliant has a 100+ year old sample of the first run of Unique that they periodically take some out, dry and test it. Still good after all these years. Hey, you can sing that to a Paul Simon song.

I haven't seen anything official on that, but have heard it from some knowledgeable people.

Hi,

Hercules used to have a picture of that powder covered by water in its glass container in their loading guides. If memory serves, Alliant kept the picture for a short while, too. Somewhere I think I may still have a copy of it, but it would take forever to dig that deep. A fellow over at the S&W Forum references it, though his link to the original article doesn't work for me. His quote:

"Unique was first manufactured in about 1898 and was one of the first powders Du Pont turned over to Hercules. A jar of Unique powder sits on the shelf at the Alliant Powder plant in Radford, Virginia. The powder in the jar was made in 1899 and still performs to original specifications. 'Unique is the oldest and most versatile powder on the market,' Quesenberry says."

http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/99292-shelf-life-unique-powder.html

As for age, I have about 3 lbs left out of a 15 lb keg of Unique I got long ago. I don't know the exact year, but judging by the size of the keg (they dropped the largest size to 12 lbs in the early '80s, then to 8 lbs sometime later), and the price of $62.50, I'm gonna guess mid to late-70s, so it's 40 years old or more. Performs like new. I finished its companion 15 lb keg of Green Dot just a couple of years ago--it still worked, too, though not quite as consistently as the Unique.

Rick C

 

[pruger45]

I just finished a 31 year old can of Unique! As long as it has been stored properly I would use it!

 

[Get Wood]

I Have Some Cans From The 60's $1.25@lb.

 

[Dan in MI]

10 years old? HA!!!!

I'm still using stuff I bought in the 80's and just picked up some stuff from the 60's (I'm guessing ) that I plan to use. These "new" powders are in little square cans and have a retail price of $2.95/lb on them.

 

[Clovishound]

That $3 a pound powder was probably sold when gas was .35 a gallon and minimum wage was under $2 an hour.

I remember buying my first gun. A Marlin Glenfield model 60 with a scope. $22 from the local J.M. Fields store. I believe .22s were .50 a box of 50. Of course, I was bringing home about $35 a week from my job. I was working part time, but still about 30 hours a week or so.

Yeah, I'm old.

 

[AJGUNNER]

If they look anything like these you should NOT use it. I will send you my address so you can send it to me for disposal. :lol:

One of these has a $2.79 price tag on it. Some of you might have noticed that these are only 13 ounce cans, so not really a per pound price. A tip I was given was to check for a zip code in the address. It seems that zip codes went into affect in 1963. I think 1 of these has a zip code and the others don't. So far I have not had a problem with any of it going bang. The only one that is still full and sealed is the 2400.

 

[protoolman]

I shot some handloaded nosler ballistic tips a few years ago with some 4831 powder that was given to me 20 years ago by an old friend. The powder was WWII surplus and was in a coffee can as the shooting club ordered it in by rail in I think 100 lb lots. The members would divide it up in coffee cans. The powder chonographed close to modern 4831 and I shot my deer with it a few years back. I also have unique and herco in 30 to 40 year old containers that seems to be good.

 

[RSIno1]

Should be fine. If it has a bunch of whiteish flakes and/or smells acrid rather than solvent like it's only good for fetilizer.