primer storage

Primer Storage In Ammo Can, Dry Air, Silica Gel Packs | The High Road

I was basically told "puttem on the shelf and don't worry bout it."

I just put them on the shelf complete in their original factory packaging. they are indoors and temperature stable. Never a worry for me.

I keep unopened bricks in a 30 cal ammo box, the opened bricks are kept in a 50 cal ammo box. When I run low on primers, I go to the 30 cal box and remove a brick of whatever it is that I need.

I have prolly 12-15 unopened bricks and prolly that many packs in the other box.

Lucky for me to have stocked up when I did.

Good Luck
Dan

flatsticks said:

Obviously I will not store them on the same shelf as the powers .

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Why is that "obviously"? I store primers with their particular powders - i.e., pistol primers with pistol powders, rifle primers with rifle powders, and shotgun primers with shotgun powders. While the 209s are easy enough to tell apart, small rifle/pistol and large rifle/pistil are not. You don't want to mix them up by mistake. They aren't going to spontaneously combust in a normal environment.

GoldieMI said:

I just put them on the shelf complete in their original factory packaging. they are indoors and temperature stable. Never a worry for me.

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I do the same. Mine are sitting on a shelf in a humidity controlled gun room.

Primers stored in .30 ammo can. hdbiker

Primers, Properties, Handling & Storage for Handloading from our friends at SAAMI covers quite a bit. There are also about 1/2 dozen threads on the subject here on The High Road a forum search should get you plenty more information regarding storage of primers and powder. One main concern with primer storage is:

If primers are loose or in bulk, having contact one with another, one primer exploding can, and usually will, cause a violent, sympathetic explosion of all primers so situated. In other words, one primer exploding for any reason under these circumstances will normally cause all of the primers to explode in one violent blast.

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There is also the thought that primers stored in bulk in for example a metal ammunition can amount to a large hand grenade.

Personally I store mine in an old filing cabinet. It is metal so yes, I am breaking a rule of safe storage but until I relocate them they are where they are. On the bright side I just gave away 5 Lbs of black powder.

Ron

As RCModel would have reminded us... "Don't store your primers in a glass jar!"

flatsticks said:

....Even though I have to find some stuff to get started handloading want to figure out how I will store the primers.....

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Do you have any primers?

Find space on a shelf that's not too high and stable enough that it won't tip over. Leave them in the original boxes. As long as they stay undisturbed all will be good. Controled climate would be a bonus.

30 cal plastic ammo cans, mainly just to segregate. Climate controlled room.

If the primers get hot enough to pop, you have bigger problems... Been there done that with 15k+ primers and 40lbs of powder (and 70 gal of diesel, 30 of unleaded, oxy & acetylene tanks, and everything else in a 50x70 shop).

Best is to keep them dry and cool. That's all they require. Mine are on the shelf above my powders, in a cabinet, in a climate controlled room with my safes and ammo. That room just so happens to be concrete on all six sides, 8" thick with a heavy steel door.

George P said:

Why is that "obviously"? I store primers with their particular powders - i.e., pistol primers with pistol powders, rifle primers with rifle powders, and shotgun primers with shotgun powders. While the 209s are easy enough to tell apart, small rifle/pistol and large rifle/pistil are not. You don't want to mix them up by mistake. They aren't going to spontaneously combust in a normal environment.

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Storing the igniter with the accelerant is a no no...

Guess that depends on how you store them. In MY reloading room powder is in plastic jugs and primers in their original containers. One bench is for shotgun, the other for metallic Some powder can be used for both but I choose not to just as some primers can be accidentally used for both and I choose not to

dcloco said:

Storing the igniter with the accelerant is a no no...

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EOD 101

If one had many many empty cases and many many primers would priming the cases be the better and safer way to store them?

Safest is to leave them in their plastic boxes where are separated from each other until you're ready to load?

CQB45ACP said:

If one had many many empty cases and many many primers would priming the cases be the better and safer way to store them?

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Not really. I have primed cases and not gotten to loading them for several months and it really makes no difference. Primers are not really all that dangerous as long as a few basic rules are followed. The odds of likely having a primer or primers go off are likely greater during the priming process than while in storage. Just store them in their factory packaging and things will be fine. Federal primers are pretty cool as they use a really large packing scheme compared to others. Anyway I see no real merit to priming cases long before you plan to load them merely to give the primers a place to be.

Ron

Divergent here.

APS is my favorite way to prime since my RCBS Pro 2000 showed up at my doorstep in January 2009. Since then I've enjoyed the APS hand primer and Bench primer too. Now that I have a Pro Chucker 7, I still prefer APS strips over the Pro Chucker tubes.....so when using the newer press I prefer to use the bench primer.

What I like about APS is the readiness. With tubes it's not advisable to keep lots of tubes loaded up, as most consider stacked primers in tubes for long term storage hazardous.

The strips can be stored ready to feed safely long term:




You can buy APS strips filled with primers from CCI, or load any brand with a Strip Loader as I'm doing in the video below:



The bench primer is pictured below: (strips can be chained together to keep them feeding, 25 at a time.


I even make my own 1000 primer boxes similar to CCI's boxes to store primers of other brands in strips long term:



When you do make your own strips (RCBS sells just strips or you reuse the ones from CCI.) You have to stick em to backing. Those come with the new strips RCBS sells, or if reusing strips, I just buy one page removable labels from the Office Supply and cut them to fit.

An individual primer still stored in its original packaging doesn’t know if it’s one of one or one of one million. If properly stored the number doesn’t matter.