Old primers?

[brianwyo]

I am moving into a new home. I have been boxing up stuff in the garage and found about 1500 primers that I lost 15 or 20 years ago. The garage is NOT heated. Temps from -10 to 95 degrees for a long time. Humidity in Wyoming is low. Pistol primers I am ok if their is a misfire. But anything I hunt with needs to be 100% reliable. What do you guys think? Brian

 

[Oldtrader3]

I have never had primers fail that were stored in the house for long periods of time. You might want to load a few of these primers into loads and see if they will fire and if they are accurate. If you have had them for 15 years, you probably did not pay much for them anyway. The decision is yours as to whether you want to test them for use.

 

[Elkman]

I have had some stored under better condition that work fine. I would load up 10 or 20 and give them a try. You can't really loose anything except a little time.

 

[Rem Jim]

I BET they will be fine as long as they never got damp - cold -hot all OK! Its dampness that kills the powder ! RJ

 

[PJGunner]

I was doing some serious clean up in my reloading shed and found a plstic storage box full of primed .357 Mag. brass, mouths belled just waitig to be powdered and bulleted. First thing that came to mid was ,"where in the hell did these come from?" Then it hit me. This was brass I bought way back in the early 1980's that I never got around to casting bullets for so they sat buried under a bunch pf stuff until I dug them out from all that studd. :shock: I figure they were out in that shed with freezing temps and scorching heat, especially the heat of southern Arizonaa's summers. WOW, 1,00 rounds of primed brass. Would they go bang? I put 6 into my revolver and triggered off 6 fast ones and every one fired. Guess I'll just have to sit down and cast the bullets so I can finish up that job. Guess I have my work cut out for me.
Paul B.

 

[DrMike]

Moisture is the primary concern in storage of primers. Oldtrader3's and Elkman's suggestion to load a few for testing has a lot of merit. You have little to lose.

 

[spires5d]

Well about a year ago I had some CCI primers that I have had for about 10-12 years along with 40 7mmMauser shells that I had loaded up and they all went "Bang". These were all kept in my house in the closet. Go ahead and load up 10-20 of them and see if they will fire.You won't loose much if they don't fire. I feel like they will work for you and the accuracy should be fair. Have a good day.





7mm's Forever and a 30 cal. will "Slam Dunk Um"

 

[Rem Jim]

Moisture is the primary concern in storage of primers. Oldtrader3's and Elkman's suggestion to load a few for testing has a lot of merit. You have little to lose.

I have primers that are plus 35 years old i have shot off in loads now and they function properly - i bought them in the 70 's at WHITE ELEPHANT in Spokane Wash ! I also have bullets - i paid $2.59 for 22 cal Horn 53 gr HP then ! I bought 1000's of each - i gained 5 cent on the dollar then ! Unreal now compared to then -Hey ! :shock: :lol: RJ