Powder Storage

[njsportsman]

I have researched this issue and found some ways of trying to keep powder and primers dry but, I have a specific way I want to try. I have a small wine cooler would that be safe? I have to dig it out but I believe it has stripping type of seal no magnets but, of coarse i would look at all of that. I reload in my garage and it's humid as can be and ice cold in the winter. I don't plan living where I am at much longer so, actual work to the garage and a better door I do not want to do. The next guy can worry about insulating the garage if he feels so inclined. Thanks

[Ricekila]

My powder & caps - will be stored in a fat-50 with a coffee filter zipped tied with silicone cat litter inside --

[njsportsman]

What a fat-50?

[turtlehead]

A 50 cal ammo can.

[turtlehead]

I live in Phoenix so I don't know what humidity is. But can you keep those supplies inside the house?

[njsportsman]

Thanks, turtlehead but, I thought someone told me that you had to be careful with those cans because of the vacuum seal.

[DukeConnor]

A ammo can full of powder and primers is a bomb.

http://www.tannersbrass.com/smokeless-powder.aspx

[njsportsman]

Originally Posted by DukeConnor

A ammo can full of powder and primers is a bomb.

That's what i thought. Thanks for the info I will read.

[turtlehead]

I wasn't suggesting the cans but just answering what a "fat 50" was.

[FITASC]

I live in hot and humid climate and while I reload in the garage, my powder and primers are kept indoors until needed.

[Sevens]

If you want to do your handloading in a garage where humidity and moisture is high, latch on to the idea that a Rubbermaid tub is a fine idea to keep cans of powder in -- and left in the air conditioned house. One cardinal safety rule of handloading is -ONE- powder can at the bench in any session, which helps to prevent ANY mix-up at any point, which can be catastrophic.

Storing your powders in a humid, lousy environment is not only a poor idea for the stability of the powders, it gains almost nothing for the process.

[Stats Shooter]

I obviously live in Mississippi. Higher humidity than anywhere else in the US. Plus heat in the summer, and below freezing temps in the winter occasionally.....and did I mention wet?

Powder and primers in my state must be kept in a climate controlled environment. So I keep mine inside the house, in my storm shelter room which has come concrete floors, walls, and ceilings and a steel door.

[g.willikers]

We also live with heat and humidity and plenty of both.
Powder stays in the garage and primers (and bullets) are in the house because that's where the reloading bench is.
Never had any problem.
Just keeping the lids tight on the powder cans seems to be all that's needed to protect the powders from the humidity in the garage.

[RC20]

As noted, keeping primers in a closed space creates a bomb.

Keep your powder with as little free air space as possible.

In humid places I could go so far as to collect 1 lbs containers and fill those vs an increasingly empty 8lb.

Keeping the lid on at all times and having as little as needed on the bench would help.

I believe wood boxes are the recommended storage for powder as it will vent and not burst.

Lastly there are absorbed descant pads that can be bought and they change color as they are used up.

I would keep them out of contact with the powder itself.

We don't have those problems so I count my fortune. .

[308Loader]

Here in Minnesota we get hot humid summers and cold dry winters. My reloading bench is in my basement witch can get very humid in the spring and summer. I keep all my powder cans and primer boxes in 1 gal ziplocks with all the air pushed out. Then I store that in plastic ammo cans that have a rubber gasket in the lid. Not sure this is the "right way" but so far I've never had any issues. Primers in one ammo box and powder in others. I label the ammo cans with what is in them so I can grab and go. I feel in a fire condition that the plastic box would melt away and let the gasses escape without creating too much containment (woosh, not BOOM!). This might not work if your planning to burry your stash in the back yard for extended periods of time while you wait for a doomsday scenario to play out. If that is the case, you probably already have a bunker with similar humidity to my basement.

[Metal god]

I keep my primers that are not at the bench in "plastic" ammo cans . No bomb there because they'll expand and release any pressure building up . Powder is stored in either original canisters on a shelf or in wooden file cabinet . Everything in in the house or in the basement . I'm in southern CA close to the ocean so unless it's raining humidity is not an issue . Heat is never really an issue either . As for cold , what's cold , if it gets below 70* here I'm cold

[supercub99]

Powder is kept in plastic, formerly cardboard and before that, tin cans. The later was more of a bomb than what we have today but I would not be worried about keeping it in the temperature controlled environment of a house. Powder in a plastic can will not blow up, you must contain it in a pressurized environment like a cannon barrel, cartridge case etc to allow it to reach the explosive point. There are rules and tests for powder containers. Airlines allow powder(not black powder, different animal) and loaded ammo in cargo as long as they are in their ORIGINAL packaging and limited in quantities.
Primers are little open tins of powder, again, you would have to contain them in something very hard and tight to get them to blow and even then.......

Take a trip to any gun store, Cabela's, Bass Pro or Sportsman's warehouse....where do they keep their powder, ammo and primers?....simply on the shelf. As long as it's not contained you are fine.

Good read and recommendations from the horses mouth...http://www.alliantpowder.com/getting..._handling.aspx

[disseminator]

Powder is kept in a wood cabinet as prescribed by national fire code.

They are in the original container and I do have a desiccant in there with them though the cabinet is open in the back so....

That is why I have a nice dehumidifier in my basement loading room. 40-45% humidity year round.

Primers are in the factory packaging on the shelf above my bench in the free air.

[Ricekila]

If I change the metal fat 50 to a Harbor Freight plastic ammo can ?

For many years my tin powder cans were kept in my gun cabinet in the back bottom corner --- & I'm still here ?

[ShootistPRS]

The storage magazine is supposed to be made of wood with a nominal thickness of 1" to act as a flame barrier. I made mine from 3/4" plywood covered on the outside with 5/16" concrete board and on the inside with 1/2" drywall. The top is made the same way and slips over the box. That is to release pressure. I had a fireman inspect it and he rated it 2-1/2 times the fire resistance necessary and that the top was perfect for a pressure release. I store my primers in a similar but smaller box of the same construction.

I made these "magazines" after finding out that my homeowners insurance could refuse to pay if stored powder might have contributed to the fire and wasn't in an approved magazine. So I just covered my interests by making a couple of boxs.

[FITASC]

If I change the metal fat 50 to a Harbor Freight plastic ammo can ?

Works for ammo and primers as it would melt in a fire so no bomb threat.

[ShootistPRS]

There is no explosion threat but there is also no fire resistance either. That is why the fire code recommends a 1" wood box.

[Ricekila]

Its just amazes me -- how far I got being this stoopid - LOL

[RC20]

Well think of it like the space shuttle. The Foam hit was unlikely to damage, but when it did, the shuttle took out a crew.

There is a term for that. In my world I call it snap acting. The first shuttle investigation called it "Normalizing Deviation".

Another term is low probability, severe consequnces.

[RC20]

I will note that primers are a bit different.

Stored in their containers they are safe.

However, if you put them in bulk in any container, if one goes it begins a chain reaction of one setting off more, and those more setting off incrementally more, you do get an explosion.

If primers are loose or in bulk, having contact one
with another, one primer exploding can, and usually will,
cause a violent, sympathetic explosion of all primers so
situated. In other words, one primer exploding for any reason
under these circumstances will normally cause all of
the primers to explode in one violent blast.
So don't take them out of the factory boxes.