Sealing primers, do I need to?

[FunYet]

I notice a few catalogs sell primmer sealer (which looks suspiciously like clear nail polish). Anyone use this stuff. Is it necessary? I'm beginning to accumulate a lot of reloads and want to make sure they're good as time goes by. What's the shelf life of reloaded/handloaded ammo?


Thanks

 

[forquidder]

shelf life

As long as you keep your ammo in relatively dry storage you should be fine without the sealer and your ammo should last decades. (hopefully you'll be shooting it up before then ) Ammo loaded for military applications uses the sealer for the unpredictable conditions found in the field. Water actually has a hard time getting into a unsealed cartridge enough to keep it from going off. I've seen live unsealed cartridges left out in the rain and snow throughout the winter that fired when they were found in the spring after snowmelt. Light penetrating oil is actually better at getting in and making the contents inert.

 

[Sharps Shooter]

Yeah, I seal them for my hunting rifles. I suspect it's not really necessary seeing as how I reloaded ammo for a long time before I read about it in some gun rag and have never had a misfire. Until I read your post though, I didn't know they make commercial "primer sealer." I use nail polish.

 

[mete]

Unless you're in very harsh climate it's not necessary.In normal storage it won't extend the life. For most protection just put the box of ammo in a zip-lock bag. Or an ammo can that has a gasket or something like a Pelican box.

 

[BluesBear]

Sealing the primer doesn't accomplish a thing unless you also seal the case mouth.

Unless you expect them to be submerged underwater, not sealing them probably won't make any difference. I've been shooting a lot of 20+ year old reloads lately. All have performed flawlessly.

 

[donkee]

I dropped a round in my pocket after leaving the range (7.62x38R Nagant). Left it in my pocket and ran it through the washing machine. Next time out, it shot with the rest of them........

 

[fecmech]

I had a period of about 20 years where I did little shooting. I had a few boxes of .357 reloads in my basement over that period and they all shot fine. I guess if I was a Navy Seal I might think about ammo having primer sealer.

 

[bogie]

It only works if you use the ultra high tactical sealing compound. That goes on to permeate the entire round, giving it superballistic powers. The stuff is highly classified, and is only available to contractors who produce tactical ammunition for our tactical Navy Seels.

Otherwise, I don't think you need to worry about it.

 

[Sunray]

"...if I was a Navy Seal I might think about ammo having primer sealer..." If you were a SEAL, your ammo would come with sealed(snicker) primers.
"...The stuff is highly classified..." Highly classified nail polish. Ok, it's a lacquer, but so is nail polish. 'Tactical' nail polish, of course.
Say, there could be money in that. Special non-reflective black, green and camouflage.
FunYet, all foolishness aside, you don't need to seal your primers. Like forquidder says, store your ammo in a cool dry place and it'll be fine.