Storing/leaving primed brass

Onagoth

Onagoth

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What do you guys think of priming brass in advance of a loading session, but leaving it for a few days or so?

Is it a huge risk or is it dangerous?

Further to a post by Blacksmithden, I was thinking about priming my brass any given evening while watching TV, and just loading it later when I need the ammo.
 
the only real danger, if you can call it that , is that somehow a sharp object with enough force comes into contact with the primer- ie think in terms of a firing pin - and at best/worst, all you get is a loud/very loud pop-
 
t-star said:
the only real danger, if you can call it that , is that somehow a sharp object with enough force comes into contact with the primer- ie think in terms of a firing pin - and at best/worst, all you get is a loud/very loud pop-
Click to expand...

I really don't see any danger, and I can't see one going off setting off all the rest either.

I guess a concern is the relative humidity of my basement. Any moisture would have easier access to the primer chemicals than when they are sealed in boxes in my components container.
 
There's no more danger having a box of primed brass sitting on a shelf than having a box of primers sitting on that same shelf. Absolutely none.

As far as primers getting old, damp from humidity, etc. Don't worry about it. About a year ago, I bought a few boxes of misc. reloading stuff from a guys widow. The stuff had been in their unheated garage, out in the open, untouched for the four years since the old boy passed, and judging by the condition of things, I'd say they were there a hell of a lot longer than that. In that stuff, I found a few single 100 packs of CCI primers.

The plastic packaging trays just had slots, no individual pockets. The price tags said $1.10 each. How long has it been since primers were $1.10 / 100 ??? The price sticker also had the name of a gunsmith shop on them. Can't remember what it was though. Anyway, I said to hell with it and loaded them up. I fired 60 rounds just last night from that batch of primers and got 100% ignition. That was in my 300 win mag. I'd like to blame the primers for my somewhat crappy groups, but the reality is, I was pretty much exhausted, had a bit of a headache and had WAAAAAAAY too much coffee yesterday.

If you're planning on priming some cases and leaving them for a decade or two, three, or 4, well, you might get a few misfires. Even if you left them for a few years, you won't have any problems.

I need someone that's been reloading longer than I have.

Hey Bruce. I'm curious...how long since 100 packs of CCI primers came in a slotted tray and were $1.10/hundred from a gunsmith's shop ???

Here's a pic. There's some old CIL stuff in there too, but I haven't tried the primers yet. The bullets are .308 180grs and have nylon/plastic tips.

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Here's a few cans of powder as well. I tried to get the price tags in. The 4831 was $19.99 at the W.W. ARCADE. The 4895 was $6.56 from CO-OP and the H870 was $3.15 hand written tag. The can of Bruce's namesake, H4831, has 5.49 written on it and Dec/74 written on the other side.

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Don't worry about primers that are a few years old :D
 
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I have been doing the same thing for years. Leave it for a few days and cover it . Then reload when I am not so busy. If there are youngsters around make sure it is locked up.

Straight Shooting

Budweiser2
 
They sometimes sell primed(new) cases, they may sit around for ages and get shipped, no danger, never any problems. I have and still use some CIL 8 1/2 primers from way back, they came in an all cardboard ctr.
 
Come on Son, give me some oldies to look at!
I used those CIL primers and the bullets in the early mid-sixties. Still have some of the bullets in their boxes. As I remember the primer boxes were like yours.
I still have CCI primers in that type of box, and I thought they were not all that old.
I also have a few hundred RWS primers from the mid /60s.
In all my loading, I don't ever remember a failed primer. I would imagine these old primers will still be good, for anybody that wants to try them, in another fifty years.
The 1962/63 issue of Ellwood Epps catalogue shows all their duPont powder at $4.25 a one pound can. The Hodgdon's 4895, and some others, is 3.25 a can, while the H4831, which would be the war surplus variety, but in one pound cans, is 2.50.
In the Epps catalogue the primers are $11.00 a thousand.

Edited to correct a date.
 
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So, the ones I have are $1.10/100 or $11.00/1000. That would put them in the early 60's so around 45 years old......and not a single misfire in the 50 I loaded, and I've got 50 more primed cases I'll be firing once I get some cast bullets loaded up. So there you go kids. Anybody who's worried about their primers getting old and not working can forget it. Thanks for the input Bruce.
 
not too long ago, i came across some primed cases that i primed 20+ years ago. they were in my damp basement. all of them went off without a problem. i usually prime a couple hundred cases at a time, and store them in coffee cans. i have never had one primer fail.
 
M I S T A K E. Me bad. Wrong finger.

In above I said I had used those primers in the mid 50s. It should have been the mid 1960s!!

Sorry.
 
I don't like to prime brass I'm not going to load right away. There's a risk, albeit small, of contamination of the primer. To go to all the fuss of carefully crafting ammo only to have a batch or primers contaminated by the G96 you spray on a rag to clean a rifle makes no sense to me. Until I'm ready to load the primers stay in their box.
 
I just primed 1316 cases the other night. I figure I'm not going to have prime another pistol case this year. I just keep them in ziploc bags, even that is more for organization than anything else. My wife complains enough about the mess in the basement without having to hear about that, too.
 
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