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What does degraded powder smell like?

BlckhrnBlckhrn Member Posts: 5,136
edited June 2006 in Ask the Experts
I opened a cheap can of LC .308 and smelled something like vinegar. Could this ammo be degraded?

I'm also told that degraded ammo won't fire, can it become more volatile?

Comments

  • perry shooterperry shooter Member Posts: 17,390
    edited November -1
    Hello normally powder will smell like rubbing alchohol and bad powder will smell sour. HOWEVER if it is in loaded ammo you can't smell the powder that is in the loaded ammo.
  • v35v35 Member Posts: 12,710 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Have someone else smell it.
    It should smell like a solvent, not sour.
  • HighballHighball Member Posts: 15,755
    edited November -1
    Look at the powder...you are looking for reddish 'dust'...open a can of fresh powder and take a deep whiff..intoxicating, isn't it ? Note the ambiance..the deep, rich smell of lovely fresh coating chemicals.
    Now go back to the suspect can and take another smell. Compare....

    Powder CAN self-immolate as it degrades..catch fire. Best to throw it out if there is ANY doubt in your mind....Spread it out on the lawn...it makes fine fertilizer.
  • bobskibobski Member Posts: 17,868 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    put some in a flash pan and see if it burns evenly. if it breaks up, putz and sputterz, its bad.
    Retired Naval Aviation
    Former Member U.S. Navy Shooting Team
    Former NSSA All American
    Navy Distinguished Pistol Shot
    MO, CT, VA.
  • RustyNailRustyNail Member Posts: 803 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I like Highball's idea. Compare it to fresh[:D]
  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Blckhrn, powder which has degraded does - to me - smell a bit like vinegar, or acetic acid if you will. Storage conditions make a world of difference in the shelf life of ammo and the elements which make it go "pop." Now, I've never actually tried smelling it, but as a cartridge collector, I've had untold thousands of old rounds pass through my hands over the past thirty-five years, a percentage of which have had embrittled brass, oozing green pus and the like. I'd never really considered this before, but in some instances, these had been stored in ammo cans for a good long while and there was a noticeable odor . . . likely fairly strong as my nose is immune to most anything. If you *are* tempted to shoot them, I would recommend you break some down with an inertia hammer and scrutinize the powder, the base of the bullet & the interior of the case. Usually when this goes bad in loaded ammo, it corrodes the brass - but that may also be a product of a corrosive primer degrading and not terribly helpful in your situation, as I cannot recall seeing this happen with post WW2 manufacture. Guess I would have to say that any evidence of degradation would definitively rule out using these rounds, but the absence of such symptoms would not definitively warranty them.
  • AmmoRatAmmoRat Member Posts: 64 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Ammunition stored in sealed (air-tight) containers such as the metal ammo cans or the tin cans always have a smell when opening them after they have been stored for some time. Although I would not say it smells like vinegar but it does have a unique smell to it. I work and deal with ammunition every day.it's my job. Even ammunition received directly from the manufacture in sealed air tight container will have a very noticeable odor when first opened.

    Now take warning that if this is tracer ammo that this odor is hydrogen gas. The military directs us that if we encounter a bulged ammo can contain tracer rounds we are not authorized to open it but to contact EOD. This is a warning out of my military technical data for small arms ammunition:

    Inspections have revealed that under certain conditions,
    hydrogen gas may be generated within small arms
    tracer cartridges as a result of chemical reaction between
    tracer composition and residual moisture in propellant. Pressure
    resulting from continued formation of hydrogen gas
    within a sealed container will cause a noticeable bulge in
    container; a bulged container containing tracer ammunition
    can be hazardous.
  • abcguns2abcguns2 Member Posts: 2,320 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Well , if your not really sure , throw it out , its not worth the risk ...we burned all our powder when we quit reloading ...
    Thanks !!!
    d.a.stearns
    Gunsmith / LEO
    Niota , Tn
  • MIKE WISKEYMIKE WISKEY Member, Moderator Posts: 9,961 ******
    edited November -1
    the solvent used to mgf. smokless powder is either (same as car starting fluid), if this is the smell you have thats good, if it smells like vinegar out it goes.
  • HappyNanoqHappyNanoq Member Posts: 12,023
    edited November -1
    When in doubt - don't use.

    (stick a fuse in it, coat it in several coats of fiberglass. - ignite, ... RUNRUNRUNRUNRUN - or as mentioned, just spread it on the ground as fertilizer or use half a spoonful for each of the plants in your house.)

    I prefer to burn or use as firestarter.


    Degraded powder will fire - but will probably not make a completely even burn.
    Shooting hole in hole groups is most certainly out of the question.
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