How Do You Store Primed Brass?

Blue68f100 said:

I store them with powder and bullet setting on top, ready to fire.

I only prime brass when I'm ready to load.

Click to expand...

This is what i try to do, once in a while they will sit in a reloading tray with no powder or bullet for a day or so but that's it

I keep everything but 357 and 44 mags primed, in labeled plastic bags and boxed. Keeps insects from finding their way in.

357 and 44 mags, I may load either of them with a powder that may or may not need a magnum primer, so they stay unprimed.

Ditto the large pretzel/ nut/ M&M plastic containers with dissicant pack on the shelf, I have different containers for each step, labeled, deprimed, cleaned, sized and primed. My wife, dog and myself enjoy the peanut butter pretzels from Sams and those empty containers are tall and square for easy storage.

Hi ..
I keep primed brass in plastic bins with locking lids. Transfer them to loading blocks prior to charging with powder and then seat and crimp bullets.

My wife, dog and myself enjoy the peanut butter pretzels from Sams

Click to expand...

and they call it a Dogs life. (my dogs seem to live pretty good)
The chocolate carmels from Sams are great, lots of plastic jars they came in to store brass.....

Blue68f100 said:

I only prime brass when I'm ready to load.

Click to expand...

Right.

Generally, most of reloading batches are relatively small, 200-400 cartridges are so.

But, even when I plan to do a mega reloading session, a couple thousand rounds or so, I still prime the cases shortly before reloading. I may spend an evening or so priming cases and then begin reloading the next evening. Depending upon the size of the reloading session that I'm planning, it may take a couple evenings to load up all the cartridges that I plan to reload. I then do not load that cartridge for a long while.

45 ACP and 9x19 tend to be the cartridges that I load large reloading sessions and I load enough to last many months to near a year before I need to have another reloading session.

With the mega loading sessions out of the way, I can concentrate on working on smaller batches of ammunition.

While one could prime cases long ahead of reloading, is there really a benefit?

I'd say it depends on your reloading plan.

I store it like this:


300 .45 ACP fit in these, about 200 .223, others (.30-30 for my son, .38 Spl.) I rarely do them in batches larger than 100, so I usually put 100 per box. I have cardboard dividers made up for the .45 ACP brass.

9mmepiphany said:

One benefit that I've found is that it saves storage room. The pistol cases I load most often are 9mm and .38Spl. 5k Federal SPP take up quite a bit of room...I can store 60k CCI primers in the same space...I only have room for about 20k (240k CCI) in my loading area. However, if I prime the cases and store the them in a plastic locking bin (which I'd have the cleaned cases in anyway), I can easily free up room for another 5k primers

Click to expand...

I think you have a point, especially about the federal primers whose boxes i have only recently been able to buy and use for the first time. Don't take me wrong, at this point in time i'm using whatever primers and whatever brand i think will work safely. I just never knew how good i had it with cci only, $4 a hundred in a tray, flip tray onto Lyman hand loader tray and I've loaded 100 primers right side up just that fast. The good old days, I've become my dad if not my grandfather. Somebody push the buzzer for the nurse , it's med time. Try righting some of the primers that are wrong side up to right side up with arthritis., without launching some into space never to be seen again. The wifes sweeper will find them if you don't. It's now an argument to store primers in the shells, back on topic

I like zip lock bags. But I do mark what they are in each bag. One suggestion; I keep my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a separate room.

My primed brass is in a plastic bag with desiccant....I attempt to get as much sir as possible out..then put the bag in a coffee can.

I'm using zippered freezer bags currently. I've purchased primed brass as pull-downs from American Reloading on occasion.

Dudedog said:

I have some nice plastic candy jars that are about quart sized.
Good candy so I have about 30 of them......

Click to expand...

I have developed a fine collection of large-screwtop clear transparent plastic containers for use in my hobby (affliction), to the point where storing the un-deployed units is becoming an issue. I do have a very large basement, though.

If I maintained a large & varied supply of primed brass, I think that they would be an excellent storage solution.

The heavier-grade jugs (like Costco Cashews jugs) are perfect for housing my bulk-purchase component bullets. I currently have ~20 of those on the lower shelf of my reloading bench (along with the 50 USGI ammo cans housing loaded ammo). The big-ass (technical term) "Cheese Puff"-type jugs are handy for storing chargers/stripper-clips, enblocs, disintegrating links, bandoleers, etc.

dcarr said:

... once in a while they will sit in a reloading tray with no powder or bullet for a day or so but that's it ...

Click to expand...

<chuckle> While cleaning/re-orging my primary bench recently, I found 2 loading blocks full of primed 5.56 brass and 1/ea of primed .44spl and .300BLK. All victims of Load-Development-Interruptus ...

The .44s & 5.56s have been there for over a year.

GBExpat said:

I have developed a fine collection of large-screwtop clear transparent plastic containers for use in my hobby (affliction), to the point where storing the un-deployed units is becoming an issue. I do have a very large basement, though.

If I maintained a large & varied supply of primed brass, I think that they would be an excellent storage solution.

The heavier-grade jugs (like Costco Cashews jugs) are perfect for housing my bulk-purchase component bullets. I currently have ~20 of those on the lower shelf of my reloading bench (along with the 50 USGI ammo cans housing loaded ammo). The big-ass (technical term) "Cheese Puff"-type jugs are handy for storing chargers/stripper-clips, enblocs, disintegrating links, bandoleers, etc.

Click to expand...

I use various plastic jars for storing to-be tumbled brass for calibers I don't load. (Range pickups) After tumbling, I store them in Acme bullet wooden boxes. I occasionally bring those to gun shows, or gift them to friends who shoot those calibers. I have saved about 2k of 9mm for myself, just in case I stumble into a 9mm I might want. There are a few, like a Commander in 9mm, maybe a G19 or such.

I usually store the brass straight from the range in a plastic shoe box that sits near the tumbler, as a reminder to do them once in a while.

I store the tumbled brass I plan to use in a bunch of bulk candy boxes from work. They were free, handy sized and solidly built with flip-up covers.

GBExpat said:

<chuckle> While cleaning/re-orging my primary bench recently, I found 2 loading blocks full of primed 5.56 brass and 1/ea of primed .44spl and .300BLK. All victims of Load-Development-Interruptus ...

The .44s & 5.56s have been there for over a year.

Click to expand...

I don't recall where i heard this " you might be a redneck if you mow the front lawn and find a car"

.....I typically store the them with powder and bullets seated on top-

......sorry I couldn't resist.

Weflyfast said:

.....I typically store the them with powder and bullets seated on top-

......sorry I couldn't resist.

Click to expand...

.......which just means you're either retired and can spend every day reloading, or you don't load much in volume.

.......sorry, I couldn't resist.

The only brass I keep primed is .38 Special, and I keep it in a metal coffee can with lid. I started doing that years ago when the majority of what I shot was .38 Special. Old habits die hard I guess.

I don't generally store primed brass. I store prepped brass in plastic containers and only prime when I am ready to load them.

I store it in MTM boxes. Makes it easy to count my brass and when loaded it just goes back in the box.

it is not hard. about 15 years ago a primed 1k 5.56 brass and dropped them in a zip locked bag and placed in a cardboard box. took them out last month and loaded them up. the ones i have shot have gone bang.

Zip lock is as good as anything.

I prefer to keep primers in their original packaging, very difficult to not know what they are in their original packaging.

Like several other posters, I store primed brass in the large candy containers (M&M's in my case) by caliber. Since I use a single stage press I have to stage my reloads in order to be reasonably efficient. I can fit about 1200 primed 380's in a container. Almost a 1000 9mm in a container. About 600 or so 40 s&w and a little less than 500 45's in the containers.

Staging makes all the difference in the world for my reloading. Takes up space though. I hear that from the wife consistently if not constantly.