Black powder cartridges

[rugerrog]

Hi guys quick question to the gallery, the storage of complete black powder shotgun cartridges,do they have to be kept in a wooden box like the loose powder ? this came up as a question I was asked and to be honest I’m not sure my "feeling" is no but then 100 shells holds a good bit of powder albeit in separate holders, contain that in a small metal ammo box and it could get lively just for the record mine are in a plastic pelly case with a padlock on, in a wooden cupboard

[enfield2band]

No they don't have to be kept in a box like loose powder. They will not explode en-mass as a cartridge.

The keeping of bulk gunpowder powder in a box with separate compartments was introduced by the HSE.

The objective, originally, was not for security, it was in the case of a fire to give you time to vacate the premises before the fire got to the powder and caused it to explode. Which is why you are not allowed to store it above an exit or under the stairs.

Once the fire reaches one cannister of blackpowder it will explode and demolish the rest of the box and the compartments and the contents of the box will explode almost simultaneously.

[tacfoley]

The keeping of bulk gunpowder powder in a box with separate compartments was introduced by the HSE.

Yup, based on the almost daily occurrence of stored black powder spontaneously exploding and demolishing whole estates-worth of domestic accommodations.

Hardly day went by without seeing weeping wimmin and wailing chillers sitting at the roadside, white tracks of tears running through their soot-covered faces as they watched the remains of their homes, reduced to steaming rubble, as the local fire fighters hosed it all down...

'Yus,' said Chief fire Officer Gus 'Melon' Colly, this is the fifth spontaneous explosion we've dealt with today, it's a real mercle that nobody was hurt...oh, excuse me, there's another one just gone off over the other side of town...catch you later, OK?..'

Now, of course, that we are all being good boys and girls and storing our BP in handy one pound bomb-sized containers, we are all totally safe.

[keith66]

Many years ago i was given a pound of very old Curtis & harvey gunpowder, it was in a very rusty tin that was leaking so i decanted the powder into the only thing at hand at that moment in time an empty large dog food tin.
I placed it in a cubby hole at the back of the workshop. Then i forgot about it.
About three years later i was cutting some heavy angle iron for a towbar, I started cutting with the 9" grinder & as the jet of sparks leapt forth i remember thinking that maybe i was forgetting something but couldnt quite remember.
About half a second later i was violently reminded as it went off with a mighty yellow flash & prodigous concussion.
I was about 6 feet away & it blew off most of my hair, moustache & sideburns, I sustained superficial flash burns. Fortunately my goggles did their job & i looked like Al jolson for some time!
At the time i didnt see the stack of angle iron that was leaning in the corner come sailing past me to land 70 feet away. There was a lot of smoke but strangely i did not hear the explosion though a friend who was in a neighbouring workshop said it was very loud.
Today i can laugh about it but in reality i was bloody lucky to get away with it. Today i am a bit paranoid about the storage of the black stuff or anything else inflammable for that matter & this is a good thing!

[enfield2band]

Many years ago i was given a pound of very old Curtis & harvey gunpowder, it was in a very rusty tin that was leaking so i decanted the powder into the only thing at hand at that moment in time an empty large dog food tin.
I placed it in a cubby hole at the back of the workshop. Then i forgot about it.
About three years later i was cutting some heavy angle iron for a towbar, I started cutting with the 9" grinder & as the jet of sparks leapt forth i remember thinking that maybe i was forgetting something but couldnt quite remember.
About half a second later i was violently reminded as it went off with a mighty yellow flash & prodigous concussion.
I was about 6 feet away & it blew off most of my hair, moustache & sideburns, I sustained superficial flash burns. Fortunately my goggles did their job & i looked like Al jolson for some time!
At the time i didnt see the stack of angle iron that was leaning in the corner come sailing past me to land 70 feet away. There was a lot of smoke but strangely i did not hear the explosion though a friend who was in a neighbouring workshop said it was very loud.
Today i can laugh about it but in reality i was bloody lucky to get away with it. Today i am a bit paranoid about the storage of the black stuff or anything else inflammable for that matter & this is a good thing!

Bloody hell mate You were very lucky not to have been seriously hurt.

If you had left it in the rusty Curtis & Harvey tin the same thing could have happened due to it oxidising with the rust.
That is why powder flasks are copper or horn. The storage box cannot have steel screws showing. If steel screws are used they have to be coated to prevent rust.

I'm sure you know that though.

[enfield2band]

Yup, based on the almost daily occurrence of stored black powder spontaneously exploding and demolishing whole estates-worth of domestic accommodations.

Hardly day went by without seeing weeping wimmin and wailing chillers sitting at the roadside, white tracks of tears running through their soot-covered faces as they watched the remains of their homes, reduced to steaming rubble, as the local fire fighters hosed it all down...

'Yus,' said Chief fire Officer Gus 'Melon' Colly, this is the fifth spontaneous explosion we've dealt with today, it's a real mercle that nobody was hurt...oh, excuse me, there's another one just gone off over the other side of town...catch you later, OK?..'

Now, of course, that we are all being good boys and girls and storing our BP in handy one pound bomb-sized containers, we are all totally safe.

That reminded me of a story I heard at the gun club.
Apparently one of the members, before the days of storage boxes, used to keep his gunpowder in a cupboard above the cooker to keep it dry.
When his FEO turned up at renewal time she asked where he kept his gunpowder. When he showed her where it was she nearly had a baby!

[DesG]

Hey don't knock these regulations. I make and sell bp storage boxes to pay for my shooting. When they insist on all shooter's powder having to be kept in STCs (special to type containers) I will become a millionaire overnight. (probably)

[rugerrog]

Cheers guys thats cleared that one up

[loiner1965]

good question though.....i only make martini henry / snider cartridges up the night before etc

[Peter Dunkley]

Just bear in mind that black powder is hygroscopic ,so made up cartridges are to be kept as dry as possible.
My son bought 100 Eley black powder cartridges from Just Cartridges and not one of them would fire.
Turns out that the PLASTIC cartridges had been stored in the damp and perhaps for a very long time. they looked great but on taking one to pieces we found that the damp powder had actually corroded the primers.
They were replaced of course. They did not want the damp ones back so I had the job of taking them all to pieces and drying out the powder.
This of course started me reloading black powder. Mine are kept very dry.