Longevity of Holy Black

[Angel_Eyes]

Ok pards, time to exercise the brain cells.

Not withstanding the safety aspect, does anyone know how long a B/P percussion pistol can remain loaded and capped and still be able to be fired, without deterioration of the powder or damage to the cylinder.
Whats the longest you have heard of or experienced?

I have heard various tales of old cartridges being viable for decades, does that include B/P loads? Or just that smokyless stuff?

Regards, UKshooter

[Mad Dog Jack]

I had a friend back in the 80s that had some turn of the century 45 BP rounds that took apart a couple and tried shooting a bunch. I think 2 out of 15 or so went off. No way of knowing how that batch had been stored. I tried some 1920s smokeless 45 LC around the same time,all six went off.
I would think a percussion gun would really depend on where/how it was stored. If I remember my reading correctly, Wild Bill Hickock discharged and reloaded his 51 Navy daily to avoid problems.
MDJ

[litl rooster]

  I had 2 I loaded didn't shoot stuck them in the safe, when I got home.  8 or 9 months later I stuck a nipple pick in each, capped them and all fired with out a hitch.


BTW the crisco over the load lube was still in place

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

There have been numerous incidents related of Civil War pistols found in attics that were still loaded. With fresh caps put on them, the powder fired. Happens in the antique gun world all the time.

As long as it is stored in a dry place, Black Powder will last just about forever.

[Rusty Spurless]

I grew up in the hills of PA. One day on one of my treks through the mountains I found a burned out cabin. Only thing still standing was the stone chimney.

I rummaged through the debris & found a 36-40cal caplock rifle badly scorched & barrel slightly warped. It became my new toy gun.

One day I was banging it around & some BP fell out of the barrel. I started tapping the barrel on the ground & a nice little pile formed. Being a typical boy I took a match to it. I nursed my scorched thumb for several days...

I dont think the holy black ever goes bad!

[Adirondack Jack]

My personal experience is A LONG TIME.

I took some .450 Adams rounds apart, which we could tell from the case design were loaded not later than 1877.  The primers were long dead and had "bloomed" with corrosion, fusing to the cases, but the powder and bullets were reloaded into new brass with new primers and worked perfectly.

A few years ago I bought an Allen Patent pepperbox, made in the 1850s, and long ago relegated to wall hanger status, the hammer and nipples purposely broken to make it unusable (who knows when, but maybe 100 years?).  I found that it was loaded.  I pulled the balls and found the chambers that had a decent patched seal, despite the absense of caps and broken off nipples had compacted powder that once picked out, burned readily.

Since we're all using "new" primers today, a chemistry fixed with the non-corrosive recipe of the 1950s, and since these have shown almost ZERO deterioration if well stored over the last 50+ years, I'd hazard to guess the common BP loads we make today will be viable well into the 22nd century if kept from dampness that would eventually eat up the brass.  Some day folks will find this stuff in our attics or other dry storage places and it'll work just fine.

[River City John]

"Ancient Fort Macon on the North Carolina coast was occupied by U.S. troops in World War II, for the first time since it's capture from Confederates in 1862. Fireplaces provided the only heat, and some unsuspecting soldiers rolled cannon balls into position as andirons, mistaking them for solid iron shot. The powder-filled balls exploded, killing two men and injuring others. A syndicated newspaper cartoon headlined the tragedy:
CONFEDERATE SHELL KILLS TWO YANKEE SOLDIERS 80 YEARS AFTER IT WAS FIRED"

from The Civil War - Strange & Fascinating Facts by Burke Davis

[Wills Point Pete]

 Back in the early 1960s we found some ammo that belonged to a rancher that died in the 1880s. Some of it did not go off due to primers that didn't pop. If the primers went, the ammo fired, just fine. This was dry west Texas. BP lasts virtually forever as long as it doen't get wet.

[swordboy]

what about BP that got wet then dryed out

[Frenchie]

BP that's been wet and then dried will work, as I understand it, but I've never tried it myself.

[Deadeye Don]

So I guess smokeless would last as long or longer than black powder??

[Deadguy]

As far far as smokeless longevity is concerned, I have some 8mm Mauser ammo that was made in the early 1930's that still shoots just fine.

[Cuts Crooked]

So I guess smokeless would last as long or longer than black powder??

Uh, that will be forever an unknown factor. smokeless hasn't existed as long as Black so there is no way to find out.

[Wills Point Pete]

 Cuts, it's easy to check out how long smokeless will last. First live to 900 years old...

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Cuts, it's easy to check out how long smokeless will last. First live to 900 years old...

[litl rooster]

smokeless is just a fad, it will soon pass

[Lucky Irish Tom]

At 900 years the Holy Black would still be older than the smokyless fad powder so the controversy would still exist.  As the one true powder the Holy Black shall outsurvive all of the wanna be contenders! 

[Paladin UK]

Like the LIT said...........

At 900 years the Holy Black would still be older than the smokyless fad powder so the controversy would still exist.  As the one true powder the Holy Black shall outsurvive all of the wanna be contenders! 

Paladin (What only uses the true powder!) UK

[Delmonico]

Well I ain't a real chemist and I ain't stayed at a Holiday Inn in years, but Nitro Powders got the name because Nitric Acid ins used to convert cellulose to Nitro-Cellulose, hench another common name for the powders that do smoke some but less.  Also Sufuric Acid is used to remove the water formed in the chemical reaction.  Some Nitro powders are double base because they use Nitro-Glycerine in them also, yep glycerine is converted with Nitric Acid and Sulferic is once again used to remove the water formed.

Note, the key here is acid, if it is not neturalized in the process the powder deteriorates after a while.  Black is a mechanical mixture that involves no acids to make.

I have seen deteriorated Nitro Powders.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Yep