Bucephalus
Active Member
- Aug 27, 2008
- 529
What is the best, safe and environmentally friendly way to dispose of old smokeless powder? Thank you for your time and consideration.
Smokeless Powder Disposal
- Thread starter Bucephalus
- Start date
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august1410
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Half-cocked
Senior Meatbag
- Mar 14, 2006
- 23,937
Spread it lightly over your lawn, and water it in. Then, watch your lawn turn lush and green.
Seriously.
Seriously.
Mike OTDP
Ultimate Member
- Feb 12, 2008
- 3,324
+1. Gunpowder is good fertilizer.
Half-cocked
Senior Meatbag
- Mar 14, 2006
- 23,937
fertilizer.. hmm.. learn something new!!
I like your idea better though, especially with July 4th coming up.
yup.. and dont just make a trail to the bottle either...
buzzzyy
Big Member
It's mostly Potassium nitrate, which is a fertilizer.
I would burn it tho
I would burn it tho
Half-cocked
Senior Meatbag
- Mar 14, 2006
- 23,937
Black powder is 75% KNO3, 15% sulfur, and 10% charcoal, and the KNO3 (Potassium nitrate) is basically fertilizer; smokeless powder, though, is mostly nitrocellulose, which is still also basically fertilizer. Different compounds - but good for growing plants with, either way.
boule
Ultimate Member
Black powder gives of a more interesting whooooosh when lit and the potassium concentration is a little bit high for most plants. Works in small amounts for tomatos and peppers but not a really great fertilizer.
Conclusion: light the BP
Nitrocellulose and other comparable powders consist of organic nitrogen compounds - great for growing plants and they break down slowly. If you have smokeless powder that you desperately need to get rid of, it is a fine fertilizer for most flowers.
Conclusion: my banana plant got a real growth spurt after disposing of some powder from a few misfired rounds.
Conclusion: light the BP
Nitrocellulose and other comparable powders consist of organic nitrogen compounds - great for growing plants and they break down slowly. If you have smokeless powder that you desperately need to get rid of, it is a fine fertilizer for most flowers.
Conclusion: my banana plant got a real growth spurt after disposing of some powder from a few misfired rounds.
BeltBuckle
Ultimate Member
best way is to package it in brass, seal it with lead, and then ignite it in an appropriately engineered pressure vessel...
Half-cocked
Senior Meatbag
- Mar 14, 2006
- 23,937
....just out of curiosity, are you sure that the powder is definitely bad? I have shot 70 year of ammo that functioned flawlessly. Unless the powder was subjected to extreme heat, or enough moisture to make it clump, it's probably good to go. Someone here might take it off your hands, if you have no need for it personally.
buzzzyy
Big Member
gotcha thanks haven't had to make it yet
haven't had to make it yetReally not good to load questionable powder. On the brighter side the 4th is this weekend.
Just make sure that no one who smokes is around that day you put the powder down.
"JIM, DON'T drop your butt on the lawn!!!" WHOOSH!!!
Seriously, the military has guidelines on how to dispose of all types or ordinance. The one manual I got many years back basically told you how to safely burn things.
The only time I have ever dumped any powder was when I was a moron and accidentally mixed a bit of Bullseye with Unique when I wasn't thinking and started to empty my powder measure back into the cansister and I chose the wrong canister. While I probably could have continued to use it, I felt that discretion was the better part of valor, I spread it on my lawn and watered it in. It does work good as a fertilizer.
Regarding the shelf life of smokeless powder, it probably depends on the powder, but here's a quote regarding Alliant's Unique that I just read:
102 years old (actually, 111 years old at this point) and still firing correctly? Seems pretty long-lasting to me.
Unless it's showing obvious signs of not being good anymore I'd continue to use it.
Regarding the shelf life of smokeless powder, it probably depends on the powder, but here's a quote regarding Alliant's Unique that I just read:
102 years old (actually, 111 years old at this point) and still firing correctly? Seems pretty long-lasting to me.
Unless it's showing obvious signs of not being good anymore I'd continue to use it.
boule
Ultimate Member
Powder does not definately need to be bad to be disposed of. If you have misfires from surplus ammo, you do not know what kind of powder they have used in it and have no load data for it - so it is definately for the dump. Same for some of the stuff you find at gun shows - ever seen a can of powder that has layers of different shape and color and is being sold as milsurp?
Basically anything mixed, unknown or with a weird smell or texture is better disposed of than fired! Same counts for once-wet charges etc.
True - we don't currently know what the OP meant when he said "old smokeless powder" and I wouldn't use anything I wasn't certain of (meaning mixed, or unknown) either. That was why I dumped about 2/3 of pound of Unique (mixed with a bit of Bullseye) on my front lawn. But, if he's got powder that is 10 or more years old, but has been stored properly and he knows what it is, I'd have no qualms about using it.
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