Kynoch Tropical cans?

[ChooChoo404]

Is there a way to age a can lacking paper labelling or stampings showing year of production?

How old would an intact can have to be before you became reluctant to use those cartridges?

 

[Sika98k]

If you are unsure of the ammunition I wouldn’t use it hunting something that could mess up your day if things went sideways.
Use it for practice possibly.

 

[deewayne2003]

Don’t quote me on it but I believe those tropical tins were manufactured as late as 1950; late being a relative term as I wouldn’t shoot ammo that is at least 75 years old.

Another consideration is that if they were loaded with cordite, if they were the cordite could have degraded over time.

Might be worth more as a sealed tin to collectors.

Just out of curiosity- what caliber is it?

 

[Huvius]

Most of the tins have individual boxes inside that will have a lot/date code on them.

 

[skydiver386]

From my training in explosives and propellants, the primers are likely the first thing to go bad. No matter what type of propellants were used, the storage temperature is the deciding factor in how much the powder or cordite has degraded.

If it's been stored in a dry place at 50f, it may be perfectly good for well over 50 years, but if it's been stored in an attic with daytime highs in the summer of 140f, less than 10 years and it becomes unsafe. Degraded propellants usually act like a squib load.

 

[grand veneur]

If the ammunition is not in its original box, the year of production cannot be determined. Kynoch discontinued production of cordite-loaded cartridges in the early 1970s. Generally, the age of ammunition plays in theory no role in its usability if it was stored under good conditions, but in practice no one knows how well or poorly the best stored ammunition will age, especially that loaded with cordite. The primers are often the first to fail and cordite develops into an explosive when it decomposes. If the storage is unknown, the ammunition should not be used.

I got a lot of ammunition from the 1950s and 1960s with an old double rifle. I dismantled all cartridges that were not in their original box. I saw that more than a third of the primers no longer fired and that the cordite in almost all cartridges no longer had its original appearance. By destroying a considerable amount of cordite on a military site, I was also able to assess the explosive power of this old cordite. I looked inside some of the cartridges in the boxes in very good shape and, due to their good condition, fired two old cartridges loaded with cordite and also two reloaded cartridges with new primers, new bullets by using a cordite load in very good condition. I will not share any technical instructions for the last. As an African big and dangerous game hunter, you have to smell cordite early in the morning at least once in your life. It went without problems, was accurate in a double rifle regulated for, but I will not repeat the experiment.

 

[ChooChoo404]

The cal is .470.

As tempting as it is to get some .470 at $10 a pop, sounds like I’m taking too big a risk at least cash risk.

I wanted it for practice not hunting.

 

[ChooChoo404]

Thanks for all the good info!

 

[cajunchefray]

If the ammunition is not in its original box, the year of production cannot be determined. Kynoch discontinued production of cordite-loaded cartridges in the early 1970s. Generally, the age of ammunition plays in theory no role in its usability if it was stored under good conditions, but in practice no one knows how well or poorly the best stored ammunition will age, especially that loaded with cordite. The primers are often the first to fail and cordite develops into an explosive when it decomposes. If the storage is unknown, the ammunition should not be used.

I got a lot of ammunition from the 1950s and 1960s with an old double rifle. I dismantled all cartridges that were not in their original box. I saw that more than a third of the primers no longer fired and that the cordite in almost all cartridges no longer had its original appearance. By destroying a considerable amount of cordite on a military site, I was also able to assess the explosive power of this old cordite. I looked inside some of the cartridges in the boxes in very good shape and, due to their good condition, fired two old cartridges loaded with cordite and also two reloaded cartridges with new primers, new bullets by using a cordite load in very good condition. I will not share any technical instructions for the last. As an African big and dangerous game hunter, you have to smell cordite early in the morning at least once in your life. It went without problems, was accurate in a double rifle regulated for, but I will not repeat the experiment.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with old cordite ammunition.
As I have never enjoyed the experience of smelling cordite in the morning in the African bushveld, what does it smell like?
I know black powder has its own smell.
IMR 3031 smells of ammonia to me.
Alliant 2400 has its own “fireworks “ smell.
Just really curious.

 

[grand veneur]

The smell after shooting did not surprise me. It smells mostly like our NC powder, but since the nitroglycerin content is high, it would perhaps more comparable to double base powder. I could not detect the acetone smell that some people have described, but perhaps this refers to the smell of unburned cordite, where acetone was used for gelation. Cordite feels a bit moist when it is in good condition.

I think the romantic side of the cordite smell early in the morning comes from the transition era black powder to nitrocellulose powder, where the people after a shot smelled something more pleasant than rotten eggs after a black powder shot.