Vihtavuori powder, 10 year shelf life??

[DW357]

I use a lot of VV powder in 9mm and was surprised to see on their website that the shelf life is at least 10 years.

Storage of smokeless powders | How to store gunpowder | Reloading safety | Reload your own ammunition | Gun powder - Vihtavuori

Storage of smokeless powders for shooters who reload their own ammunition. Read here how to store your gunpowders safely.

www.vihtavuori.com

The estimated shelf-life of Vihtavuori gun powders is a minimum of 10 years, if stored and sealed in its original containers at a temperature of circa 20°C/ 68°F and a relative humidity of 55-65 %.

Hopefully that's an extremely conservative estimate on shelf life otherwise I might be losing powder in 4-5 years....

This was an interesting thread on VV N150 going bad. Had some nasty fumes coming from the jug.

Vihtavuori N150 gone bad

www.m14forum.com

Not something I'm going to lose sleep over but I guess it's something I'll have to keep an eye on.

 

[Mountain]

I don't recall seeing those graphics on a jug of V V. I'd guess it's significantly older than 10 years. Also who knows if exposed to humidity and/or heat. I bet that's just super fine dust, not fumes.

 

[EddieZoom]

My 25 year old jug of Win231 scoffs at the VV warning label....slacker.

 

[mac1911]

I wish I could remember where I read it, could have been American Rifleman, Reloader , one of those pamphlet "reloading" manuals any how

Hercules/Alliant Powder was testing red dot that was a lot from way back IIRC mid 1930s, year after year they loaded up some test loads. Some where in the 80s they gave up and said "it will last along time if kept cool and dry"
The oldest powder I have and still used is some Herco from the 80s . I have one sealed cardboard tube left.

 

[EddieCoyle]

I wish I could remember where I read it, could have been American Rifleman, Reloader , one of those pamphlet "reloading" manuals any how

Hercules/Alliant Powder was testing red dot that was a lot from way back IIRC mid 1930s, year after year they loaded up some test loads. Some where in the 80s they gave up and said "it will last along time if kept cool and dry"
The oldest powder I have and still used is some Herco from the 80s . I have one sealed cardboard tube left.

I think it was a Hercules ad from the 80's where they bragged about testing 80 year old powder (Bullseye?) and it still being within 10% of what they were making at the time. The sample they tested was stored in distilled water in a vacuum, so unless you store your powder that way, your results may vary.

I shared a plane ride once with a chemist from St Marks (powder company). According to him single base powder has a shelf life of 40 years, double base about half that long. Degradation is accellerated by exposure to higher temps.

I often see accounts of people shooting WWII surplus ammo. I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. I shot some 1944 surplus 30-06 a few years back and got hang fires (brief ones - <1 second) on about 1/3 of them. I got through two Garand clips and threw the rest of the ammo away.

 

[daekken]

Andrew, if you need to dump some Vihta, I'll nominate myself for the--admittedly unpleasant--task of taking it off your hands, loading it, and shooting it.

 

[DW357]

I shared a plane ride once with a chemist from St Marks (powder company). According to him single base powder has a shelf life of 40 years, double base about half that long. Degradation is accellerated by exposure to higher temps.

Very cool. Well Vihtavouri N320 is a single base powder so that’s good to know it will last longer.

 

[meh]

Interesting that they supply a LOWER humidity figure of 55%, which is a rather high humidity for an air-conditioned environment. I've been storing mine in a couple of these with silica gel cannisters to keep the humidity inside down.



Is this a language thing, or are they implying that low humidity will reduce shelf life?

 

[mac1911]

I think it was a Hercules ad from the 80's where they bragged about testing 80 year old powder (Bullseye?) and it still being within 10% of what they were making at the time. The sample they tested was stored in distilled water in a vacuum, so unless you store your powder that way, your results may vary.

I shared a plane ride once with a chemist from St Marks (powder company). According to him single base powder has a shelf life of 40 years, double base about half that long. Degradation is accellerated by exposure to higher temps.

I often see accounts of people shooting WWII surplus ammo. I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. I shot some 1944 surplus 30-06 a few years back and got hang fires (brief ones - <1 second) on about 1/3 of them. I got through two Garand clips and threw the rest of the ammo away.

Nice ,
I have shot some old ass ammo
1919 45 acp surplus being the oldest
And M2 ball from 50s-80s all went bang
Now surplus foreign ammo
8mm Mauser always a problem , hang fires , duds, split cases
7.62x54r, 25 some old 9mm all where enough of problems to stop me from buying more. I would but it if cheap enough for the bullets. Those days are long gone.

for what ever reason im still thinking it was red dot they where testing , maybe it was just the photo but they showed a 15lb carboard container and for what ever reason I seem to think/remember rhey say the container was stored in a small magazine ( powder storage room/building)
Under stable conditions
Anyway I have powder thats 15 plus years old and so far it all goes bang.
I have herco I used for trap thats even older and a sealed tin left to use up at some point.

 

[Broc]

Interesting that they supply a LOWER humidity figure of 55%, which is a rather high humidity for an air-conditioned environment. I've been storing mine in a couple of these with silica gel cannisters to keep the humidity inside down.

View attachment 509142

Is this a language thing, or are they implying that low humidity will reduce shelf life?

I dont see why low humidity would be bad.

My guess is they took an average and used that.

 

[TZCHRIS]

Have you are anyone used:

VIHTAVUORI N140 RIFLE POWDER​

I just found some here in AZ, looks like it may be good for .223, just wondering if anyone used it and likes it? At this point I will most likely buy it just because its in stock....

Thanks, Chris

 

[Noreaster]

Have you are anyone used:

VIHTAVUORI N140 RIFLE POWDER​

I just found some here in AZ, looks like it may be good for .223, just wondering if anyone used it and likes it? At this point I will most likely buy it just because its in stock....

Thanks, Chris

I use that in my 223 high power match loads.
RWS brass (from blackhills match ammo)
BR4 primers
24.1gr N140
77gr SMK
Works fantastic at 100yards.
Was predictable at 200 and 300 yards. However my shooting was questionable so not sure if it maintained its groupings.

I had tested a few tenths +- 24.1 and it was the sweet spot. Well there was something in the low 23s that grouped nicely, but didnt lock back the bolt on an empty mag.
Sierra likes that 24.1 n140 as well