Shelf life of primers?

[Dave R]

We've had some threads about the shelf life of powders--but what about primers?

My buddy's widow moved, cleaned out his shooting room and found a couple cases of primers I use.

The few individual boxes were marked 79 cents, and were from Walgreens (!). CCI primers in old packaging--trays that hold the primers "sideways" in rows, rather than individual primers stored in pockets. That's the only way I have of dating them.

I have already loaded some up in plinking ammo, but have not shot any yet.

Any concerns?

[Smokey Joe]

Dave--best answer is a slow, careful, "Well, it depends..."

Do you know that the primers were not stored in a damp environment; were not exposed to excessive heat for a long time? I assme that there is no obvious corrosion on the primers, that they are shiny and new-looking, or you wouldn't even have asked.

If that is the case, then they're probably as good as the day CCI made them, but if you don't know/can't determine, they may have deteriorated. But modern stuff is really quite stable, all things considered.

I guess if they were mine I would NOT load such primers for dangerous game hunting, or any other application where my/others' life might be on the line. For practice shooting or plinking, I'd load with impunity. After a couple hundred rounds of plinking, with 100% primer performance, I'd load them for non-dangerous game hunting and for all other applications, with complete confidence.

Anything less than 100% performance on the couple hundred test rounds, and the rest of the batch would be relegated to strictly plinking ammo loading.

But I'm a conservative old ****.

If the primers are corroded in the original packaging, or if you just don't want to trust them after testing, then you should destroy them. The only way I've found for this is to wear hearing/eye protection, and heavy gloves, and put each one on an anvil--outdoors, primers contain lead--and hit it with a hammer. Noisy but effective. Other methods I've read of are less satisfactory.

[Mal H]

Personally, I wouldn't use the primers in ammo, but I would keep them as a curiosity. I'll add another ! to your "Walgreens (!)". I would never have guessed that Walgreens ever sold reloading supplies. May have been from a general merchandise type of store with a Walgreens franchise.

Since you've used a few for plinking ammo, I wouldn't hesitate to fire them. The worst case is you'll get a squibb load. That is, the primer barely ignites some of the powder in which case you'll have to remove a lodged bullet. That's not a major disaster; you can remove it with a hardwood dowel and a rubber/plastic hammer.

As Smokey Joe said, I wouldn't use them for any purpose other than practice or plinking. But, like I said before, I wouldn't use them at all.

[sundog]

Not all that unusual about Walgreens. I have several sets of RCBS dies with the Skaggs stickers still on them. A grocery store?!! Yep! Use to buy reloading components in TG&Y, too, including powder and primers. I've still got a bunch of those old CCI primers in SP Mag that are working just fine. They may be 30 years old. sundog

[Edward429451]

My buddy's granpa died 3o yrs ago and they recently cleaned out his room bequeathing his reloading stuff to me. Lots of primers & powder among the tooling. I loaded some CCI's which were packaged just as you say and took them to the range to see. I had one misfire in almost 100 rounds. Even a 2nd tap wouldn't get it to go. Too much for me to call them good but still impressive.

In another loading (with fresh primers) I tried some 30 yr old 2400 powder which looked & smelled good, without a trace of the red dust in it. That powder worked as good as the new stuff.

Have fun.

Oh yeah, my other buddy has got a Ruger Bearcat (original) with the Walgreens pricetag on the box...$39.95!!

[Dave R]

Thanks for the replies. In answer to some of the questions...

The primers have been stored indoors--so 'probably' no temperature extremes.

The primers look pristine. The boxes were still sealed.

I loaded some up, but haven't been able to shoot them yet. Yeah, these will be plinking rounds--not for hunting. I'm a cheap guy, but not so cheap that I wouldn't buy new primers for hunting/defense.

[Black_Snowman]

I got some "NOS" primers from a local store to help them clear out old stock that was in the "sideways" style packaging from days of old. Using them in my practice ammo. No failures, squibs, slow ignition or any other detectible issues so far. But mine were marked at full retail for the time. $1.15.

[SmokinTom]

I`ve used primers that sat in the garage for 20 years that worked fine. It`s a given.

[maxwayne]

I hunt pheasants in Winner, SD and the local gunshop is the Rexall drug store. I always take first timers in to see the pills and ammo stacked side by side. Also shotguns and rifles along the walls by the water bottles and acne medicine. I wouldn't be afraid of those primers.

[Nnobby45]

Acquired a .30-.30 lever in a trade and fired some 170gr ammo with no problems. The ammo was purchased in 1962! Pretty good testimony to the longevity of both primers and powder. Don't recommend a hot garage for storing powder or primers.

[Poygan]

I bought some Winchester small rifle primers in the 1970s that were packaged in wooden trays. I still have some of them and have never had a misfire! I'd probably use them up but they may be of interest to collectors.

[JNewell]

I have been using some CCI primers from the mid/late 80s that are in packaging like you described -- have never had a problem yet. I'd use 'em.

[Smokey Joe]

Prob. there IS a primer collector out there; heaven knows collectors collect everything else under the sun. If so, old primers in original pkging, with the pkging looking in prime condition, would probably be worth more than new primers. The original box, esp. in xlnt condition, really excites collectors.

It's almost as if they were really collecting packaging material, rather than what they purport to collect.

Hadn't thought of this before, but you might try marketing them as collectible on e-bay or some such "an-teeky" outlet. Might fetch enough to replace the old primers w/yr. choice of brand new ones.

Then the question of just how far to trust the old ones becomes moot.