storing powder/primers/ammo

[deadear dan]

Just was reading the back of a pound of Bullseye - "store in a cool dry place." Well mine has been in a rather hot garage for a couple of years. Same with some ammo and primers. Any issues? Thanks.

 

[Titegroups]

Ive stored mine in an unairconditioned metal building for years in FL, sure it get 100+ most summer days as the sun heats it. It is dehumidified and stays around 45%. No issues.

 

[kennyb]

mine stays in a non climate controlled garage....no issues whatsoever...just keep it in original packaging and lids on snug

 

[alwslate]

For climate controlled storage I keep most of my powder, primers and
ammo in closets inside my house.

 

[armylifer]

I have recently loaded some large rifle primers that are about 27 or more years old. I loaded those in 100 30-06 rounds. I experienced two mis-fires in that 100 rounds. I also noticed another anomoly; that is I experienced an approximate 1/2 or less second delay in firing after the firing pin struck the primer. I could actually hear the firing pin strike the primer and a short time later the round would fire.

These primers were stored in my garage for over 25 years and never touched for all that time. I attrubite the hang fires and the failure to fires to humidity and tempature extremes. The garage would sometime get over 100 degrees as a high in the summer and as low as -5 degrees in the winter. I know this had to play hell with the primers and it almost certainly affected the performance.

 

[moxie]

Humidity is the enemy. If you must store in a hot place, make sure the components are sealed or protected in such a way that moisture can't get in.

 

[chief38]

Heat & moisture are the enemy of loading components. I would seriously look to find a better place to store your supplies! When using them, I would start with MINIMUM loadings and work up from there just to make sure your powder has not been compromised.

 

[SMSgt]

Here:

http://www.saami.org/specifications...wnload/saami_item_202-sporting_ammunition.pdf

http://www.saami.org/specifications.../download/SAAMI_ITEM_200-Smokeless_Powder.pdf

 

[tlay]

If you have another area consider it. Also use a dehumidifier. You can buy ammo. cans and put the primers in them. Keep the powder in the original containers. Some people need to be aware of their fire codes in their areas. There are some restrictions on the amount of powder you can store without having it in a fireproof container, just ask your nearest fire department. Your insurance might also have some concerns.
When I was on our dept. we liked to know where people stored there flammables and ammo.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I use military ammo cans to store primers and loaded ammo without any problems. I have a few thousand primers that are 30+ years old and were in the barn for 27 straight years and all have fired without any degrading in performance. All powder is left in original containers, the only problem were with older "cardboard" containers during a barn roof leak all metal and plastic contained powder survived fine. The 20 mm ammo cans hold a lot of primers or powder but as a precaution I never store both in same can. Hand loaded ammo is put in 50 Cal. and 30 Cal. ammo cans, but as I get older I find a 50 Cal ammo can of any pistol cartridge to be more than I want to pull off a shelf or from under a reloading bench. So I limit 50 Cal cans to 2/3 full or 10-50 round boxes(which is about all they will hold anyway). As to fire safety: leave firearms unloaded- in a fire they will cook-off; ammo in cans may or may not cook off, but in the family's bad experience (my F-I-l=L lost a wife, 4 pets, 1 car, the house, and all the gun related items in a house fire) Less than 1/4 ammo in a 20 mm can cooked off, most smaller cans suffered less or no damage (1 can of 45 acp was covered in burning gas when the car gas tank split open and could not be pried open). In all that, no ammo explosion caused a single projectile to exit an ammo can! The 15 lb keg of bullseye was a 30-35 foot tall road flare and the 35,000 Alcan primers all went off like popcorn. The volunteer firefighters heard the popping and thought the ammo would get them, but that proved false. SAMMI want large quantities of powder in wooden lockers far apart. My friend with 100's of pounds of powder have military grade ammo bunkers on his farms (yes plural on both) and has had no problems with storage or theft. Ivan

 

[rburg]

but as I get older I find a 50 Cal ammo can of any pistol cartridge to be more than I want to pull off a shelf or from under a reloading bench.

So admit it, you're just getting lazy in your old age!

I've adopted a new storage plan, partially biased toward my own lazy habits. I stack the ammo cans along a wall, and never more than 6 high. Its as much as I want to lift, and I want a clear shot at it. Then I clearly label my cans. I hate opening can after can trying to find what I'm looking for. OK, it works for me.

My primers are all in a plastic tub. One of the kind the big box stores sell. I can see through them. Its why I rejected the opaque red ones. And they stack. No, I don't really have that many primers. One is full of knives and another leather. At a glace I can tell what's in them. Over time I've discovered the most used ammo cans seem to float to the top of the stack. I've also discovered that a stack only 2 or 3 high are convenient places to put the ones I don't want as I'm working my way to the one I'm seeking.

Ammo isn't cheap, and decent storage isn't, either. Raw bullets are way to heavy for this kind of thing. I use an old library card catalog. Its got long skinny drawers that hold bullets in boxes. Not too many, and its designed to be pulled out of the cabinet.

I'm awaiting the new robots that will do all this lifting for me. I've discovered that sons and grandsons are never around when needed.

 

[rwsmith]

If it looks and smells.....

If it looks and smells the same way it did when new it's ok.
If it has a rusty red cast or smells acrid it needs to go into the garden.

 

[stev32k]

I keep powder and primers in the house, but I keep primed brass and loaded ammo in steel ammo cans in the very hot and humid garage. I've started placing silica gel desiccant like this:Amazon.com : Fairly Odd Treasures Desiccant Silica Gel (4-Pack), 40gm : Hunting Cleaning And Maintenance Products : Sports & Outdoors@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51aOksYCOOL.@@AMEPARAM@@51aOksYCOOL in the ammo cans and it seems to work because I have to recharge the desiccant about every two weeks.

 

[MichiganScott]

I keep powder and primers on the shelf in my reloading room. It heats up to the 90's in the summer with 80% humidity. Some of the components are 30+ years old and still work fine.

 

[mikld]

Nearly every kind of powder (face, butt, baby, etc.) says "store in a cool dry place". If you want to store your powder in sealed containers (ammo boxes) with desiccants you can. If you want to keep your primers in hermetically sealed containers, you can. But for 30 years of reloading I have kept powder in it's original container with the caps snug (except when I buy 8 lb. jugs) and stacked in a cabinet, and a plastic tub before I had a cabinet. I keep my primers in the original containers and in bricks in plastic shoe boxes (not sealed). I presently live in super rainy Oregon (not humid, wet!) and previously in S. CA near the beach. In 30 years of this type of storage, I have had no powder go "bad" nor any primers fail to fire. In my early reloading years I kept everything in a milk crate; 1 lb. of Bullseye and 'cause I was broke most of the time , 100 CCI small pistol primers at a time in the same crate with my Lee Loader and misc. tools...

 

[Aticus]

To me it's amusing that the manufacturer will put storage instructions on their packaging and people will ignore it and tell everyone that it's ok. Excessive temperatures will have an effect on powder and primers you may not notice it but it's there none the less. I have seen pressure signs from perfectly safe load after sitting in the sun on a 95 degree day for only 2 hours. Yes that's extreme, perhaps, but it was there. It's not difficult to find a "cool dry place" to store ammo and loading components so why not?

I knew a fire fighter years ago who recommended the best place to store powder was an old refrigerator. His thought was he had been able to get a cool drink of milk from a refrigerator that had been involved in a bad kitchen fire. Just a thought.

 

[POPPER]

I have a couple of those small refrigerators One for powder storage and the other for primers and ammo in my basement where I reload. The one with the primers has an ample supply of dissident bags in it to control any moisture issues. This has worked for me for several years.