Where do you store your powder?

[Ames]

Yep. Most, not all, of my powder is in 1lb plastic cans next to my slippers. I figure if it goes off, it goes FOOOOOF. Not boom.
I can sleep next to Foooof.

 

[BigSkyRambler]

Old wooden shed next to my burn barrel along with my gas and paint.

 

[ord sgt]

You now have bombs in your workshop.

If I gotta go, might as well go big.

 

[csaduck]

Still not in a steel ammo can demonstrated.

 

[csaduck]

I don't think that's how ammo goes off.......in a fire, without the compression of the barrel and bolt, self-contained cartridges will "pop" splitting open the case and not having any meaningful velocity.

I could test this but with ammo prices so high right now, I'm just not going to do that.

Oops! Replied before seeing the excellent video above. Looks like it's been very well covered already.

*I had this same discussion with a firefighter that I met while staying in a Vermont motel. He shook his head a few times then (to his credit) admitted his station chief had told him wrong!

The video is good but didn't show what would happen if the ammo was inside a steel ammo can.

 

[csaduck]

This Firefighter says the steel ammo can explode in house fires. (read the whole article)
https://krcrtv.com/weather/wildfire...ition-reacts-when-a-fire-burns-through-a-home

 

[flntlokr]

I keep a ready supply (1 or 2 opened cans) in my gun safe in the house. The rest in a Magazine out in my back yard, away from the house and hidden from prying eyes. A friend had his house burn down with his supply of about 20 lb. of powder IN METAL CANS inside. The place literally burned to the ground, but only 3 of the cans burst. Some of the others had the paint burned off more than half way down, but the powder was ok. Plastic cans; all would have been gone, and possibly a big enough explosion to have been noticed. I always transfer to metal cans now.

 

[rp77469]

Yes, heat won't cause it to cook off, only a spark. For that reason do not store it with primers or caps.

I did some digging on the web and found a 2019 dated MSDS from Goex that listed the autoignition temperature as 392-867F (200-464C). Presumably the wide range in temperature is due to the varying composition listed in the MSDS. It listed the auto explosive temperature as 5 seconds at 801F. Details are here: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-05/documents/9530608.pdf

 

[eggwelder]

In hollow iron balls by the fireplace.....

 

[SOLANCO]

My home was built in the early '50s. The builder included a fall out shelter. You open a door in the basement and go down 6 steps that lead out under the lawn. Poured concrete floor and ceiling with an I beam support. Block walls.
I am new to muzzle loading. Keeping a can each (plastic) of 2F and 4F. My plan is a small steel tool box holding the original plastic bottles. Store it at the far end of the fallout shelter. Will also keep the brass powder flask in there. We do have a dehumidifier in there.
Any comments or suggestions?
PS: The hardware store where I bought the powder keeps it in a small, half buried brick out building.

 

[Griz44Mag]

My home was built in the early '50s. The builder included a fall out shelter. You open a door in the basement and go down 6 steps that lead out under the lawn. Poured concrete floor and ceiling with an I beam support. Block walls.
I am new to muzzle loading. Keeping a can each (plastic) of 2F and 4F. My plan is a small steel tool box holding the original plastic bottles. Store it at the far end of the fallout shelter. Will also keep the brass powder flask in there. We do have a dehumidifier in there.
Any comments or suggestions?
PS: The hardware store where I bought the powder keeps it in a small, half buried brick out building.

If that's your plan, should be no issue as long as the steel box will vent. Just to think about about it though, the steel box transmits heat very quickly from outside to inside. A wood box will insulate the contents and possibly prevent ignition in case of a fire in the room. There will never be a fire starting inside the box, but the potential of a fire starting outside the box would have a higher likelihood of occuring.
Me - I do not fear my powder, I keep it in a wood box in my gun room. In more than 50 years of doing so, there has never been an issue.

 

[Tumbledown]

My home was built in the early '50s. The builder included a fall out shelter. You open a door in the basement and go down 6 steps that lead out under the lawn. Poured concrete floor and ceiling with an I beam support. Block walls.
I am new to muzzle loading. Keeping a can each (plastic) of 2F and 4F. My plan is a small steel tool box holding the original plastic bottles. Store it at the far end of the fallout shelter. Will also keep the brass powder flask in there. We do have a dehumidifier in there.
Any comments or suggestions?
PS: The hardware store where I bought the powder keeps it in a small, half buried brick out building.

Use a wood box made out of 1" boards. Naturally insulating, and won't become a bomb in a fire.

 

[Bob McBride]

BP functions as an explosive when under pressure, as when fired from a barrel with a load on top or in a locked ammo can. Without the load it’s a nifty Roman Candle, and without the locked metal box, in a house fire, it has the accelerant properties of a gallon of motor oil. 5-10 lbs in a locked metal box will blow one of your walls out riddling the rest of the house in shrapnel.... More or less.

 

[SOLANCO]

Thank you guys. The tool box will now sit empty beside the plastic powder bottles. Ready for when I need to lug them up out of the fall out shelter. Not much of anything flammable down there and no source of ignition. But I like to develop a GOOD habit now and again.

 

[Daryl Crawford]

Looking for a bit of guidance here. I have a large shed/small barn 30 yds from the house. There is no heat in the building. It is cold in the winter and can get pretty warm in the summer.
Can I wrap plastic goex 1lb containers in a plastic bag, place it in a wooden box and then store in the barn? I am unsure if the temp variation would be an issue.

 

[Zonie]

Black powder is very stable so being stored in a hot shed shouldn't cause a problem. I do recall reading that temperatures over around 165°F can have a minor effect on it but for the most part, it will do no harm.
Even humidity doesn't have much of an effect on it and if it is still in a sealed container, humidity can't get to it.

Storing it in a wooden box is a good idea if for no other reason than keeping it out of sight so kids won't be tempted to play with it.

 

[Flinty Scot]

I'm intrigued by reading of the system used by Lewis & Clark: Lead ccontainers with enough powder to fire the bullet which could be cast from the container. I don't recall mention of a wooden keg, for storage once the lead was breached, but, unless each powder container was doled out to powder horns as it was opened, that woyld be the most logical immediate access storage. Does anyone know more details?

From all this, it seems a wooden cask might be the ideal bulk storage; spark free, moisture proof, & heat resistant. Of course it could make a bomb, but no more than ammo cans or a safe. Since the heads are the weakest link, I'd expect them to blow out most easily.

That happened to some friends who left an "empty" whiskey barrel out in the sun, before dropping a lit sulfur strip in the bung hole to sanitize it. Instant cannon from alcohol fumes; blow one head across the lawn, stretched the bands, & let the stave splay.

(Just playing with ideas. It's been a slow day.)

 

[leadhoarder]

I store my BP in a wooden cabinet. I store the nitrocellulose imposter stuff either a like cabinet or in brass vessels with a tight fitting lead lid.

 

[dave951]

I keep all my powder in handy open top barrels right next to the woodstove so it stays dry.

 

[TomV]

I keep all my powder in handy open top barrels right next to the woodstove so it stays dry.

Clever thinking