Primer storage

[geeollie]

I had a 100 pack of small pistol primers that were 7-8 years old. They were left sitting on my bench which is in our basement. This is a modern poured concrete basement that is heated and cooled but still a little more humid than the main house.
They all worked!!

Now back into reloading I bought a a few bricks and began wondering about "Best Practices" for storing primers. I've read a few older threads and still wondering..

Would a sealed 5 gallon bucket with silica gel to absorb moisture be OK for long term primer storage? Overkill? Make them too dry???? What about small packs of silica gel inside partially used 1 pound bottles of powder that are opened several times and then sealed for a few months?

 

[AJ]

Mine set on a shelf in a controlled environment (as long as the power is on.).

 

[diyj98]

For years my father left primers in an unheated/uncooled storage building. The temperature ranged from the upper 90's to well below freezing. Although I'm sure not ideal storage, I don't remember a primer ever not going bang in all the years he did it.

I keep mine inside the house in an unused bedroom.

 

[22hipower]

I’ve got primers that are so old they have 79 cent price tags on them. Some ammo I loaded in the 1970s. No special storage provisions. I’ve never had a primer fail.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

 

[minconrevo]

Safe bet is to store primers inside original packaging, in a temperature controlled room. Best to be on a shelf near floor level, as that part of a room stays cooler. Do NOT confine primers in a metal box and certainly do not store inside a gun safe. Make sure the "roof" above the shelf is strong enough to protect primers from falling objects.

 

[geeollie]

Thank you for the great replies.

Isn't wonderful to see a post with 4 replies a row that did not spark an argument. I appreciate it.

 

[Roofuss]

Store all my primers on a shelf above my reloading bench in my shop { third bay of my 3 car garage }, and have done so for years, never had any issues.

 

[rosewood]

I store mine indoors in climate controlled room. I keep them in a MTM ammo box that is plastic with gasket seal and toss in a few desicant packs for funsies. Never any issues. May be over kill, but I have no worries. Plastic container keeps out moisture, but isn't a pressure vessel either.

ACR5-72 - Ammo Crate Utility Box - 20 boxes of 12 gauge

This is the ones I have. I think I purchased at Academy, don't see them listed there now though.

Rosewood

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

For loose 100's and Bricks of 1000, I use a 50 cal ammo can. For cases of 5000, I can get 3 cases in a 20mm ammo can intact. For Shotgun 209's and Federal, I stack the 1000 bricks in the 20mm ammo cans. If you put them in dry, they'll stay dry forever (well maybe not "Forever" but well past the lifetime of my grandkids!).

Ivan

I have a few thousand pre-WW1 Berdan primers in six sizes from RWS,(packed in cardboard trays) all still good. Knock Berdan primers come in sealed cans of 250 from before 1962, they don't even tarnish in 60 years! I have CCI #11 Percussion caps in tins of 100 from the 1980's that look new also.

ITB

 

[dave1918a2]

Mine have sat on shelves in My basement for decades without any deterioration.

 

[desi2358]

I have most of mine stored in an old wooden ammo crate that once held surplus 7.62X54R.......... As a former dealer I have a bunch of left over crates and use them to store all kinds of stuff. The primer crate sits on a shelf in my basement workshop which is heated in the winter and reasonably cool in the summer. Also keep some open 100 packs in a small box next ot my bench for easy access.

I've never had any problems with my primers and have been storing them this way for 30 years. I have also bought odd lots of older primers with unknown storage history and have been using those as well. Primers seem pretty durable.

 

[bedwards]

I've been reloading for roughly 50 years. I have kept them anywhere from a garage to a storage building, to a basement, now in an unheated shop. As long as they are kept dry, I don't see a problem. I wouldn't keep them in an attic or where they can get wet.

 

[H Richard]

I have some primers that have sat on the shelf or over 20 years and no problem. My basement that is heated and cooled.

 

[STORMINORMAN]

Room temp in plastic containers s/b good for decades.

Cheers!

P.S. I try to use them up ASAP, FIFO-sryle when practicable.

 

[jjrr]

With silica gel you have no idea what the humidity is in the container and unless you routinely regenerate or dry the silica gel it’s not ideal. I keep my primers on an open shelf in an unheated basement room with a dehumidifier and have never had a problem. With the dehumidifier running I know within a few percentage points what the rh is in the room and in cool weather it rarely runs.

 

[TheTinMan]

I had some .45-70 hand loads that were close to 15 years old. They’d spent 2 years in a wet basement - wet enough to flood 3-4” once. About half of them failed to fire and I thought it was bad primers. I pulled the bullets and discovered that the powder was discolored and smelled “off”. I never heard any “bang” when I tried to shoot these cartridges so maybe powder and primers were affected.

I have some 20+ year old primers that have just been stored in a heated room’s closet. Those .45-70s were the only time I had a problem.

 

[geeollie]

I figured many of you had real life experience so that is why I asked here.
Once again I am appreciative of you all (ya'll for the Texas folk) sharing.

Have a Merry Christmas. May the Christ of Christmas bring you peace.

 

[AJ]

With silica gel you have no idea what the humidity is in the container and unless you routinely regenerate or dry the silica gel it’s not ideal. I keep my primers on an open shelf in an unheated basement room with a dehumidifier and have never had a problem. With the dehumidifier running I know within a few percentage points what the rh is in the room and in cool weather it rarely runs.

the silica gel that you all are discussing we called desiccant in the military. We used it in gunsights and other applications that needed to be kept dry internally. There was always a viewing port so we could see the color of the desiccant. When it changed color we removed it and replaced it with new. if we had it. If we did not then the desiccent could be dried in an oven. IIRC it was baked about 200 degrees until the desiccent changed back to its original color.

 

[Skeet 028]

Got primers here that are pretty old and just kept at room temp etc for many years. The discolored Western primers were in an open roofed shed...got wet...dry etc etc. 1950s...kept dry and relative humidity for the last well 45-50 years.. The other pack in there are mil surp WWII...The western box is the last of a 1000 and all have gone bang like normal. The milsurp I have not used but a friend I gave some to has used them and still had 500 loaded 30-06 with them. All have gone bang...40s 50s 60s 70s. I have older FA primers from 1900 era that are still good... Another thing I was made aware of most ball and some flake powders cane be dried if wet...and later used.. . Stick IMR powders not. I once got over 20 pounds of new powders that a lady had filled the plastic containers with water...she thought they were explosives. An acquittance who worked for Dupont told me to dry the ball and flake and they would be ok to use...He was right

 

[Skeet 028]

Another anecdote...We pumped the water out of a goose hunting pit...a sometimes thing we had to do. there was a box of hunting loads on the bench. Box disintegrated when I tried to pick it up. It was under at least 2 feet of water for months. Took 'em with me cut one open when I got home all dry inside...the steel shot wasn't rusted either. Winchester steel 4's....took 'em to another place I hunted and we used then to shoot crippled birds...we all(mostly) used hevishot or Bismuth..every one of those shells went bang. I did scrub the steel bases on the shells with steel wool.****sted a bit. Some of the newer shells are amazing these days