My family and I moved last year, and my new reloading shop is now in a garage (used to be the basement in my old house). I've been slowly organizing it, and did some more of that today.
Well, I found two hogdon 1lbs with rust all over their caps, and rust flaked all around them (see picture). Only 2. Other cans a foot or two away showed no rust.
I was a bit alarmed and couldn't figure out why this happened. So, I took every jug of powder out of cabinet and started cleaning up the rust flakes. One of the hogdon 1lbers was wet on its side and had water underneath it. Ok.... That's concerning, where did the water come from. Looked high and low, didn't see any leaks or condensation built up inside the cabinet. Kept removing powder. A small 1lber of Accurate 2495 was next.
The 2495 cannister was wet to the touch and water was seeping out of its lid. I opened the lid, and the seal was dry rotted and flaked into a dozen pieces with a single touch. The smell was aweful, my nose burned. I had to cough. I'll also note I've never shot this powder. I was given some canisters of powder from a friend, and from my dad in the last year. I don't remember who gave me this one, but I know I didn't buy it as I've never bought an Accurate powder before.
So, my working theory is this cannister of powder was obviously compromised and was stored in a pretty wet place. As the weather turned dryer the last few month the moisture in this cannister seeped out and affected the two 1lbers right next to it.
I checked every other cannister of powder and they all seem fine. Seals look good, smells fine. I opened the hogdon 1lbers with the rusty lids and both seals look good and tight with no compromise. Would you all still shoot these 2?
The accurate 2495 is going in the garden tomorrow. First time in 15 years of reloading I've ever had anything like this happen.
Well, I found two hogdon 1lbs with rust all over their caps, and rust flaked all around them (see picture). Only 2. Other cans a foot or two away showed no rust.
I was a bit alarmed and couldn't figure out why this happened. So, I took every jug of powder out of cabinet and started cleaning up the rust flakes. One of the hogdon 1lbers was wet on its side and had water underneath it. Ok.... That's concerning, where did the water come from. Looked high and low, didn't see any leaks or condensation built up inside the cabinet. Kept removing powder. A small 1lber of Accurate 2495 was next.
The 2495 cannister was wet to the touch and water was seeping out of its lid. I opened the lid, and the seal was dry rotted and flaked into a dozen pieces with a single touch. The smell was aweful, my nose burned. I had to cough. I'll also note I've never shot this powder. I was given some canisters of powder from a friend, and from my dad in the last year. I don't remember who gave me this one, but I know I didn't buy it as I've never bought an Accurate powder before.
So, my working theory is this cannister of powder was obviously compromised and was stored in a pretty wet place. As the weather turned dryer the last few month the moisture in this cannister seeped out and affected the two 1lbers right next to it.
I checked every other cannister of powder and they all seem fine. Seals look good, smells fine. I opened the hogdon 1lbers with the rusty lids and both seals look good and tight with no compromise. Would you all still shoot these 2?
The accurate 2495 is going in the garden tomorrow. First time in 15 years of reloading I've ever had anything like this happen.
