Keep your powder dry?

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cdoc42

New member
I happened to get a bag of 5-gram desiccant packets and I decided to put one in each container of my fully prepared empty cases (just awaiting primer, powder, and bullet) for the sole reason that the shine might not diminish over the next several months until I load them up. So far it seems that my expectation has not been disappointed, but, of course, the truth may be tarnished by desire and not fact.

Then I got the idea that it might be beneficial to put one of those little packets into each container of powder. After all, moisture is a devil to powder, is it not?

Has anyone thought of this and tried it?
 
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Shadow9mm

New member
Not a great idea. It will wind up pulling water out of the powder, the powder will weigh less. Meaning you will wind up actually putting in more propellant by volume for the same weight of powder. More powder=more pressure. Normal indoor house humidity is just fine.

I store my powder in these MTM ammo crates. They will fit about 12 lb of the hodgdon size 1lb cannisters. They are soft and flexible enough you dont have to worry about pressure building and making a bomb. But seal well enough to dampen and fluctuations in humidityto help keep things stable.

MTM ACR8-72 Ammo Crate Utility Box | Ammo, Survival or Hunting Gear Storage | O-Ring Seal for Water Resistant Dry Storage | Double Padlock tapped for Security | Carries 85lbs of Gear | Dark Earth https://a.co/d/dLzXxM8
 
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Shane Tuttle

Staff
Yes, I thought about doing it. No, I wouldn't recommend it. Just use the original container, keep the lid closed tight, and store in a cool, dry place if possible.
 
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Nick_C_S

New member
Well there it is ^ Shane Tuttle completed this thread. :p

Lid on tight. The usual three: Cool, dark, dry. Nothing more is going to extend propellant's life.

On a side note: Adding a dessicant to your brass cases won't keep them from tarnishing over time. Been there, done that. I had access to a virtually unlimited supply of dessicant packs and took full advantage of it by adding many to each of my brass containers (folgers coffee cans), and it did no good. Short of putting them in a nitrogen atmosphere somehow, I think they're going to tarnish.
 
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Unclenick

Staff
It's worse than just losing water weight. That's usually no more than a couple of percent difference at most. Norma's 2013 hardcover manual shows that without water present, burn rates increase and that highly dedicated powders can burn ten or twelve percent faster than stock stored at 80% RH does. Norma ships powder from having been stored in about 50*60% RH, IIRC, and Hodgdon told me they use about 70%. But don't take that as gospel because it's a very old memory and should be cross-checked to see what is current.

The other thing to watch out for is that loaded cartridges are not 100% water vapor-proof. As a result, if you store handloads in a desiccated container over about a year, the powder inside loses water to that desiccant, and the ammo shoots warmer.

The bottom line is that the "dry" in a "cool, dry location" shouldn't be too dry. About 60% RH may be a fairly nominal storage condition.
 
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