Do Primers Deteriorate ?

[Monashee]

Going through a relatives reloading supplies found over a 1k of CIL No.1 primers for .25 cal to .38 special . It says 1954 on the label



Just wondering if anyone has used this brand of this vintage , I suspect they were actually bought in the later 1950's , always stored inside a dry house .

 

[legi0n]

there's only one way to find out: try them

when I had a bad batch of CCI primers, Federal said they wouldn't know if they were stored properly since manufacturing so they won't do anything about it. AKA they may go bad.

 

[Ruger007]

I have recently shot some CCI SPP that my dad bought in 1973. Probably not stored in the best conditions over the years. But never wet. All went bang.

 

[I Dont Care About You]

As long as they were stored in cool / dry place they should be OK. Explosives etc really don't like heat.

 

[Arctic]

I've been shooting lots of older primers, some go back to the 70's, with no problems. If they've been kept cool and dry, should be no problem. Hell, lots are still shooting way older stuff.

 

[Snider shooter]

I had close to 2000 of the same primers and everyone worked. Test them. Prime a case or two and fire them in your gun. As long as they where stored properly they are good.

 

[yomomma]

I have shot WWII ammo, which of course includes the primer, no issue

 

[cooey43]

I have shot .303 British Military shells as old as 1941. I do not know their storage history
but these did have several "Hang Fires" but all did fire. I would try a few primmers only in an MT case
& go from there.

 

[BattleRife]

When you see a date written after a business name like that, it is the date of incorporation, it has nothing to do with the manufacture date of the product.

From Wikipedia:

Re-organization
In 1954 C-I-L was divided into two separate companies in accordance with the ruling of a U.S. court which had ordered E. I. du Pont de Nemours (today's DuPont) to end its joint interests with Imperial Chemical Industries Limited (ICI).

So you know the primers were made no earlier than 1954, but they could have been made significantly later.

Anyway, in my opinion ammo can keep reliably for 50 years, but I have had enough hang fires with surplus ammo that I figure it really starts to show some age somewhere in the 50-100 years range. The easiest way to know for sure is to shoot them.

 

[B]

Chlorate based primers seem to be much less resilient than Lead Styphnate. I have seen enough to be quite impressed with modern commercial primers. Despite that, absolutely everything deteriorates. Proper storage will help extend the life.

 

[Eagleye]

I still have and use some C.I.L. Primers that are in red/Green boxes [Made later that the OP's]
They are LR - 8½ and 8½M. I use them with confidence, since they have continued to work
perfectly. Dave.

 

[BattleRife]

Chlorate based primers seem to be much less resilient than Lead Styphnate.

That's interesting. Usually we see the superior storage life of chlorate primers cited as the reason the eastern bloc stayed with them well after the west converted to non-corrosive styphnate compounds.

 

[B]

That's interesting. Usually we see the superior storage life of chlorate primers cited as the reason the eastern bloc stayed with them well after the west converted to non-corrosive styphnate compounds.

I am basing it solely on the fact every hangfire and the vast majority of duds I have had was with that type of primer. No doubt storage was likely a major factor but I have used without issues LS based primers that have been through a light strike then salvaged and reused, some that have been wet for weeks, some stored in an unheated lean-to for 3+years and on and on. They go bang almost without fail, it's hard not to be a bit impressed.