Thread: Old powder wrecked reloading gear.

About 3yrs ago I packed all my reloading stuff into a plastic bin with 6 clips that seal the lid as I was done reloading for the foreseeable future.
Care was taken that everything was wrapped/packed in old towels and it was a sunny day. No moisture etc.
I then placed it on top of my gun safe in our lined basement.
I got the gear down for the first time since to reference my reloading book and discovered anything steel was rusty and alloy had gone verdigris, but the odd thing was it was rusty etc from the top down as if done by a fog. My 3 sets of dies were also rusty inside the plastic boxes.
There was an odd chemical smell when I opened the bin and on opening a 1/2 container of Vhitavuori N160 it was obvious this did not smell right. It appears that there was a chemical smell/fog that somehow climbed out of the sealed powder container and reacted with all metals in bin.
The items in photo are as they laid in the bin so note how rust etc is from top down.
Sometimes it pays not to pack stuff away neat and tidy.