Primer storage - Long term

[mjes92]

I'm considering hording primers long term.

I have heard the standard recommendations. Store in cool dry location.

Has anyone thought of vaccum sealing. I use mine religiously for wild game storage. Not the same application but I think it would make a good moisture barrier.

Any thoughts?

[drail]

I still have cases of primers I bought in 1990. Stored in a dry location at room temp. They still fire 100% for me. Unless they get wet or contaminated with oil they will last forever. I wouldn't bother sealing them in vac bags.

[gwhunran]

Same as Drail said. I've still got em from the 90s and they work fine. It makes me want to cry to see them $15 dollar prices on them. I don't think I'll ever see that again

[RonR6]

I also have primers from the early 90's . They still work just fine.

[j357]

Welcome aboard to the fun times of reloading. You and at least nine other people have thought about hoarding primers over the long term this week.

Please think about why you would want to and how many rounds you could possibly load in your life. Store them as you would a book of matches you planned on using in the event of SHTF. Just remember it is a big pain to legally ship them, so you cannot reasonably think you will corner the market. They are only worth something to someone other than you who wants or needs to put them into use in over the next 3 months.

Vacuum seal them if you wish, they may last longer that way.

[NWPilgrim]

If you just concerned with atmosphere conditions then just storing them in their boxes in a cabinet or drawer will keep them fine fir decades. I still occasionally use some from a box of 2,000 milsurp large rifle primers from the 1950s.

If you are concerned with high humidity, storm or flood damage then something like vacuum sealing may be good. From what I have read you do not want to store them in a heavy sealed metal container such as an ammo box as it could become a bomb in a fire. Lightweight wood or plastic will protect from water but breakdown in a fire to prevent pressure build up.

[Magnum Wheel Man]

1st off, I date mine, 2nd I try to use old to new ( I had some I used up from my FIL, that were from the 60's & all went bang )

I store mine on a shelf in the basement of an air conditioned ( & heated ) home, & never had issues...

BTW... just a note for the "horders" even though my old primers all went bang, I just read an aritical from an old Handloaders magazine, where they tested for extreme velocity spreads from 3 groups of primers, fresh, 10 years old, & 20 years old... the extreme spreads were noticably worse as the primers got older...

[eldermike]

I started to see missfires this last weekend from my oldest small rifle primers. I had 2 out of 50 that did not fire. I dry fired on them until they were fully concave.

About 5 years ago I started dating primers and powder with a sharpie when I buy them, but these did not have dates. Could have been late 80's early 90's.

I store primers in a tub with a lid at room temp and the reason these were so old is not using first in first out principles...I will start that now.

Note: The 100 yard groups I shot with those other 48 that did go bang were as good as ever.

[dickttx]

Seems contrary to what we are hearing now, but a couple of years ago when I got back into reloading it was pretty hard to find primers locally, and they were $5 C, $50 K, etc. At a gun show I bought 5K of CCI LPP for $100 and the carton was dated 2-2-94. About to use the last of them now and I have never had a bad one. I bought them based on the fact that I had been using a few I had left over from about 1970 and never had any problem with those either.
I think the seller thought he was making out like a bandit!! I also bought 200 pieces of new (old stock) Starline 357 Mag brass for $20 from the same guy.

[reynolds357]

Ammo Cans. I know!!!!! Its Dangerous. I dont care.

[RonR6]

I shot up some .243's this weekend with 25 year old primers , just over .500" at 100 yds. I need to horde some small rifle primers.

[chiefr]

Several years ago I was given some old WW convex type large pistol primers. They must have been 50 years or more old. I test fired some in an empty cases and they all went bang. Later, I used the remainder with 44spl reloads; All fired and grouped no different than new primers.

Unless primers are being used, I always store mine in a cool dark area with bags of dessicant.

[wncchester]

I don't yet know how long primers live, the oldest I've ever used were some 60year old surplus WWII small pistol and they worked fine. And they had never been vacuum packed. ??

[zplinker]

This could be an interesting experiment. I have primers from the late 40's, early 50's, convex shaped, in wooden trays, etc. Never gave much thought to testing them, but now I will have to. (Unless someone knows of 'primer collectors', who would want the boxes untouched...) Now that's dreaming.

Some of these are Alcan, others early CCI, labeled Cascade, some W-W, and maybe some early Remington. Stuff that came from the collection of a long departed gunsmith and reloader. I haven't looked through that stuff for over 25 years myself. Looks like its time, because 'we gotta know!'

[BigD_in_FL]

Another ammo can user to keep them dry and cool

[Sport45]

From what I have read you do not want to store them in a heavy sealed metal container such as an ammo box as it could become a bomb in a fire.

Primers are explosive no matter what they are stored in.