Vihtavouri Powder From 1945

Started by gitano, August 03, 2018, 07:39:33 AM

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gitano

Vihtavouri recently posted the following on social media:

QuoteStill burning strong!
Recently we received a bottle of very old Vihtavuori shot shell powder from a customer. This powder was manufactured back in 1945. Running chemical tests in our lab and checking the stability of the powder showed that it's still fully functional, even after more than 70 years! It goes to show what Vihtavuori quality is all about – consistency, clean burning and long shelf life!

We value our long heritage and history, but those alone don’t make great powder – the accumulated excellence and smooth process growing from our long experience do.

Consider the above (TESTED, PROVEN, EVIDENCE), in the context of the idiots at
Remington that wrote the following. (From a post I made in 2005 http://www.thehunterslife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2790)

First my e-mail to Remington:

Gentlemen,

While at the range on April 16, 2005 I experienced a mis-fire with one of your cartridges. A single repeated attempt to fire the cartridge produced the same results. The cartridge is .30-06; the packaging says:

"High Velocity"
"20 Centerfire Cartridges"
"Remington"
As well as the warning message in the upper
right.

The outside of the end-flaps have the following printing:
"Remington"
"30-06 Springfield"
"165 GRAIN CORE LOKT POINTED SOFT PT.   R3006B"

On the inside of the left flap are the following letters and numbers:
"1-B"
"C438U"

On the inside of the right flap are the following numbers and letters;

" K 26c B7725"

The date stamp indicates that these cartridges were manufactured in June of 1988.

While these cartridges appear to be 15 years old, I don't recall any "shelf-life" warnings for Remington ammo. I just thought you might want to know. If you'd like to see a picture of the cartridge with the twice-indented primer, I'll be happy to provide that digital image.

Paul Skvorc

Now their response.

Question Reference #050421-000027
---------------------------------------------------------------
  Product Level 1: Ammunition
  Product Level 2: Centerfire
     Date Created: 04/21/2005 01:49 PM
     Last Updated: 04/22/2005 11:17 AM
           Status: Waiting


Response (Dell) - 04/22/2005 11:17 AM
Dear Paul,

Thank you for taking the time to write into us.  The shelf life of properly stored ammunition is approximately 10 years.

If ammunition is exposed to fire or if ammunition is older than shelf life, it should be taken to a law enforcement agency for proper disposal.

Customer (Paul ******) - 04/21/2005 01:49 PM

Question Reference #050421-000027
---------------------------------------------------------------
  Product Level 1: Ammunition
  Product Level 2: Centerfire
     Date Created: 04/21/2005 01:49 PM
     Last Updated: 04/22/2005 11:17 AM
           Status: Waiting


Isn't that interesting. I wonder how Remington would feel if the "general public" realized that they manufacture their ammo with an expected shelf-life of 10 years? After which, the purchaser should be sure to take all their ammo to the local law enforcement agency for "proper" disposal.

Yeah, I'll be doing that right away.

I have milsurp ammo that's over 60 years old with which I have yet to experience a mis-fire. Of course it's nazi ammo, and we can only expect their war-production ammo to be better than today's modern manufacturing.

This is a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool, weasle response. Actually quite disappointing from a firm with the reputation Remington has. I'm gonna hafta start reading Hunterbug's Remington-bashing with a less jaundiced eye. ;)

Paul

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Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

recoil junky

:MOGRIN: That's funny. Trying to make stuff up as they go . .. . .

I had the '06 AI out the other day and fired a couple 180 grain Remington Corelokts that Dad reloaded with REAL DuPont IMR4350 AT LEAST 40 years ago. They went BANG just like the ones I loaded with H4350 ten years ago.

Sadly my can of DuPont Improved Military Rifle Powder 4759 has deteriorated and is no longer usable, but the can still cool.

RJ
When you go afield, take the kids and please......................................wear your seatbelts.
Northwest Colorado.............Where the wapiti roam and deer and antelope run amuck. :undecided:  
Proud father of a soldier medic in The 82nd Airborne 325th AIR White Falcons :army:

gitano

Some powders deteriorate, but it's been my experience that it is easy to detect bad powder. Remington is just full of it.

Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

Paul Hoskins

It's not unusual to find a dud in a box of any ammo of any brand. I found a round of 22 rimfire Winchester that took the rim off it was so hot. Spewed hot powder gas in my face. Shot the rest of the box with no problems. Stuff happens on occasion even from the best. I still have a can of HI-VEL #2 powder that my  grandfather & I used to load 30/40 Krag ammo with back in the 1940's. I still use it on occasion using reduced IMR 3031 data to start working up a load. I can't tell any difference in it now from the results back in the 1940's. .......Paul H

gitano

I have had MANY mis-fires/duds in .22 rimfire ammo. Too many to count. And... I have picked up .22 RF ammo at the range that had a firing pin dent in them and tried to fire them myself. The vast majority have not shot in my rifle either. I have to say though that I never had a center-fire cartridge "dud" until a few years back when I was shooting my newly acquired/built .50 ALaskan in the dead of winter. It 'sorta' fired, but not really. I am convinced it was the combination of being very cold, powder with a 'slow' burning rate, and a large capacity case.

I've never experienced a misfire/dud with 'factory' CF ammo. That's probably more a function of the fact that of all the rifle ammo I have fired in my life, probably only 1 in a 100 rounds weren't handloaded. I started handloading for my .270 Win when I was 16, and never looked back. Any time I have shot factory ammo was because I needed to buy a box to get cases so I could load my own. Come to think of it, I seriously doubt that I have shot 300 rounds of factory CF rifle ammo in my life. Whether I have shot 30,000 rounds of CF rifle ammo (100 * 300) is tough to tell. Probably not. So "1 in a 100" might be a stretch, but I'm quite certain 1 in 50 isn't.

As I mentioned in the original thread about the Remington response, my "issue" wasn't with the 'dud', it was with the @#$%^&* answer Remington gave.

Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

Hunterbug

I have Nazi marked ammo for my 8X56R from 1938 that goes bang every time I pull the trigger.
Ask not what your government can do for you. Ask how your government can go away and get out of your life.
 
 
The unarmed man is is not only defenseless, he is also contemptible.
Niccolo Machiavelli

Bill Thibeault

I had a misfire (no powder in the case) on one military surplus ball 7.62X51mm (.308 Win) cartridge many years ago.  The primer fired, and the bullet lodged in the very start of the rifling in the barrel.  It was pretty easy to knock it out with a cleaning rod inserted into the muzzle.  That was the only dud in a bag pf about 50 rounds.  By the way, it was de-linked machine gun ammo a friend had "liberated" from the USCG.  The one-in-five tracers were cool to shoot!
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."(George Orwell)

gitano

They let the Coasties have machine guns?!?!?! ;)

Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

sakorick

Quote from: gitano;151455They let the Coasties have machine guns?!?!?! ;)

Paul

Somehow that seems very dangerous!
Talk to yourself. There are times you need expert advice.

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