Powder Storage Question?

[MGySgt]

How do you store your excess powder?

Most of us have an abundance of different powders, 1 lb cans to 8 lb kegs, and anywhere in between.

I have recently downsized my house and my reloading room is now multifunctional. IE I don't have that much storage space. I buy 2400 and 3031 in 8 lb kegs and transfer it to an old 1 lb canister (of the same type of course). I use to store the 8 lb kegs in my powder cabinet. I guess I might be getting a little concerned about having a lot of powder in the house, but what I was thinking, buy an old refrig and keep in in one of my sheds with a temp setting about 40 deg. or should it be kept about 65 degs.

Thoughts?

Wrong storage solution?

Drew

[JDL]

MGySgt,
It should be perfectly fine @ 65 degrees, for a long time. My only thought is about condensation, should you take it out of the refrigeator on a hot, humid day.-JDL

[Junior1942]

I lost maybe 15 lbs of powder and 5,000 primers by storing them in my dad's old un-air conditioned, un-heated house for about 10 years here in high humidity Louisiana. The powder smelled like urine. The primers developed vertigris. About 99% of the primers would still fire but all gave large ES and bad groups. Many of them burned through not in the center where the firing pin hit but in the primer edge at the junction of primer and primer pocket.

I now store primers and powder in a deep freeze and in the freezer of an old refrigerator. Both are frost-free which means they suck the moisture out of the air inside themselves. I store 1 lb powder containers, bricks of primers, and boxes of loaded ammo inside Zip bags.

I put the container inside the Zip bag and open both container and bag. That allows the freezer to suck the moisture out of both. The next day, I close the container and the Zip bag, trapping the low-humidity air inside.

If a week or so later I want to use a lb of powder, for example, I take the UN-OPENED Zip bag containing the powder out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Then I take it out, and, Zip bag STILL un-opened, put it on the kitchen counter and let it come to room temperature. Moisture from the high-humidity kitchen air will form on the outside of the Zip bag, but the low-humidity air inside the can and bag means they stay dry inside.

After about an hour, I open the Zip bag and open the perfectly preserved and dry powder or primers or loaded ammo. The key is NOT opening the Zip bag until it is room temperature.

For 8 lb jugs of powder, I take off the lid and stick jug and lid in the freezer. The next day, I install the lid. A few days or months later if I need some of that powder, I take the jug out of the freezer and the lid STILL TIGHT I place it in the refrigerator for an hour. Then I place it on the counter for an hour or so. Then I wipe the water off the outside of the jug and fill a 1 lb container with dry powder from the 8 lb jug. It works.

IMPORTANT: (1) Leave the OPEN bag and OPEN powder in the freezer for at least a day to give the frost-free freezer time to remove the moisture they contain. (2) Remove the CLOSED bag and CLOSED container and KEEP THEM CLOSED until they return to room temperature.

[JohnH]

How do you store your excess powder?
Drew

Excess powder????? Whats that????? Be careful throwing words like that around, SWMBO might take you seriously

[beagle]

Your idea is right on the refrigerator.

Pick up an old one along the street that someone has discarded, gut the compressor and motor and add a hasp lock to keep any kids out and use it in the outside storage area. Caulk any areas where the lines run through it they aren't already caulked.

Keeping it inside a building will lower the temp at least 15 degrees and the refrigerator's insulation will further lower the temperature on the stored contents. The insulation acts as kind of a capacitor to slow down any drastic changes in temp. My house is well insulated. I notice at least an 8 hour lag in temperatures inside the house as opposed to outside temps due to the insulation.

Add some dessicant if you're in a really humid area and recycle it in your oven occasionally.

Powder can be stored at warn temps and can pretty well handle seasonal changes as long as they're fairly gradual and the climate is dry.

One of these days, I'll build an outside powder magaine out of cinder blocks with a wooden blow off roof and really stock up on powder. Right now, outside constraints keep me from doing this but that's my hope./beagle

[imashooter2]

Large quantities of powder in a sealed metal box... isn't there a term for that?

Try this:

http://alliantpowder.com/safety/storage.php

[beagle]

The construction of the refrigerator would allow it to blow out pretty easily./beagle

Large quantities of powder in a sealed metal box... isn't there a term for that?

Try this:

http://alliantpowder.com/safety/storage.php

[StarMetal]

I believe that frost free is where the sides of the box (inside walls) are heated to keep them frost free and on some of the ones I've seen with this feature there is a switch to turn this system off/on as a money savings for electricity. I don't think refrigerators have dehumidifiers build into them unless this is a recent feature that just come out. So in that respect I think a dessicant should be used as beagle mentioned.

Joe

[MGySgt]

Large quantities of powder in a sealed metal box... isn't there a term for that?

Try this:

http://alliantpowder.com/safety/storage.php

All refrig's I have seen in the last 20 years or so have had magnetic latches and I believe that if there was an event - the door would just fly open long before any real serious presure built up. Of course my 10X12 shed might suffer more damage and presure then the frig would!

Drew

[imashooter2]

Do what you want, but those are some big assumptions on the refrigerator door opening to vent pressure.

[Junior1942]

I believe that frost free is where the sides of the box (inside walls) are heated to keep them frost free and on some of the ones I've seen with this feature there is a switch to turn this system off/on as a money savings for electricity.

That's a de-frost system. In a frost free system the inside air blows over a cooling coil upon which moisture collects in the form of frost. When the cooling cycles off, the frost melts and drains through a tube to a pan in the bottom of the refrigerator.