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Re: Question on Gunpowder Stability



Every once in a while it's a nice thing to have a match shooter who is also a materials scientist in the house.  I forwarded your query to my wife and she replied, in part:

"Actually, there are two time-sensitive components to worry about, the powder and the primers.  While I routinely shoot material from the 1950s in Colorado, be forewarned, water permeates shotgun shells faster than standard, crimped, military shells so I'd expect the burn characteristics to change much sooner in the shotgun shells.

"The archivist here needs to decide why he's keeping these shells.  If they're for a cold case, then keep them as is - there's a lot of forensics work that can be done now with matching gunshot residue from victims to cartridges found at the suspect's house.

"If he's keeping the shells to shoot later on because they're a unique load, then it would be better to pull them apart, weight the components, and hire someone to tell him what type of powder is in it and have them make him up a new batch of shells with the same recipe.  If he just wants something to display to the public, then they're perfectly safe - they won't cook off in the middle of the night due to an age-related effect.

"However, if they are to be displayed/kept anywhere near a shotgun (even one of a different caliber) then get rid of them mmediately - guns and ammo DO NOT belong together EVER except when you intend to shoot something."

My own point of view augments hers.  Not everything needs to be saved.  I would ask why the shells are necessary for the collection.  If they must be kept, I would determine if the load was significant (if it is a commercial load and a commercial shell, then it is probably not your responsibility to maintain these  [in archival terms, it is the responsibility of the office of origination, i.e., the ammunition manufacturer]).

Just as importantly, there is no guarantee that some fanatic state legislature won't decide you are an armory some time in the future, and you probably don't want the legal hassles that would encur.  Moreover, there are safety issues.  Unless you can absolutely guarantee that some yokel won't get the shells to play cowboy (200 years from now..) you are exposing your institution to unacceptible liability risks.

John Howard Fowler

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