Wet delivery box - powder and primers

Just let them dry out and they'll be good to shoot.

Primer cake is coated with a sealant that is very hard to dissolve. People have posted duding data, where they dropped oil and other solvents on primers and it took a long time for the liquid to dud the primer.

From what I have read, primer cake is made with water. The mixture is hard to ignite when wet, but once it dries, the stuff is very dangerous. Even if water got past the sealant, just letting the stuff dry will fix things.

If you need them right away, throw them in a Ziploc bag with a dessicant for 24 hours. The whole sleeve, not individual primers.

Even rice will work.

taliv said:

i'd probably also take it up with the delivery people and invoke their insurance for replacement, just to fix the primer packaging

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I think the insurance liability would be upon the sender. Sometimes at the POS, you are asked if you want the contents insured and you pay extra. In many cases, the seller(if a reputable retailer) will replace damaged goods in good faith and you would not have to go thru their insurance. The delivery people just deliver and in most cases do everything they can to make sure the package is safe. But if all doors are locked and the porch is not covered(even if it is, in torrential rains things get wet), and you are not home, what other options do they have, other than making another trip, that in most cases, is unnecessary.


I would contact the seller first. Then do as they tell you.

No ovens, please.
Inadvertently did that with one piece of just washed brass among hundreds.
It still had a live primer.
Very impressive.

what other options do they have, other than making another trip, that in most cases, is unnecessary.

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The USPS usually puts boxes in plastic bags when it's raining. UPS does as well. The last package delivered to me by Fed Ex was left unprotected on my wet welcome mat. The bottom got wet, but only the outside box.

So, yes, they have a simple solution. There is no excuse for a package to get wet unless there is a surprise thunder storm. The sender likely is the one to go after Fed Ex.

GJSchulze said:

The USPS usually puts boxes in plastic bags when it's raining. UPS does as well. The last package delivered to me by Fed Ex was left unprotected on my wet welcome mat. The bottom got wet, but only the outside box.

So, yes, they have a simple solution. There is no excuse for a package to get wet unless there is a surprise thunder storm. The sender likely is the one to go after Fed Ex.

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I get an average of one to two package deliveries a week, from a variety of delivery folks. I have yet to have one placed in a plastic bag. But then, I leave my side garage door open when I expect a delivery and have a covered porch. Most all delivery services, including the Post Office give notice to when the delivery is going to happen. If you are not going to be home and you know it's going to be raining cats and dogs, you generally have the option to change the delivery date or place. Many times if it's raining I find the package not only under the roof, but under the rubber mat on my porch......and yes the sender is the one who will probably have to go after the carrier, thus my suggestion to contact them first.

Little Secreat

If you buy the insurance from the seller it matters not.

THEY are responsible for delivering the package to you in good order..NOT You.

I never buy the insurance...for anything I order.

If it comes broken or damaged, the seller makes it right or I do a credit card chargeback...and I ALWAYS WIN

AND they have to make arrangements for return.

I never lift a finger on returns except to put the package on the front porch, they have to make arranges to pack and ship.

-Nhilar

Regardless of how the vendor packaged the order, it was the delivery person that left the package in a puddle. I live in Southern Oregon that gets a lot of rain, and since it's a small town, a lot of my shopping is done on line and delivered to my home. UPS, FED EX, and USPS have never failed to find a dry spot to leave a package. I'd take it up with the delivery service...

"...did that with one piece of..." That's why you decap first.
Water will do nothing to primers.
Highly unlikely insurance will cover the product packaging. A wet box doesn't mean there's a loss either. Insurance is usually to cover theft or damage serious enough to mean you can't use whatever the thing is.
Plus, you didn't hire the carrier. Read the policy first then call the seller. You aren't the carrier's customer. Hence the seller makes the claim.

I removed 5 primers that were fail to fire, all of the primers had 5 opportunities to fire in 3 different rifles. I removed the primers, inspected them and then reinstalled the same 5 primers back into the same 5 cases. All 5 fired when I struck them with a firing pin on one of my M1917s.

If I have a doubt about a primer or box of primers I think nothing of installing the primers in cases with no powder, no bullet and then chambering the case and pulling the trigger.

F. Guffey

Whether they may, or may not be ok, if I received a shipment of primers that were clearly wet, they would be going back. Then there's the risk of the water being contaminated with something that may, or may not deactivate or alter the performance of the compound. A good deal of my reloads are loaded for self defense purposes, my life depends on them positively functioning as intended, might, or if doesn't cut it for me.

No, I would use the insurance, as this clearly qualifies as damaged goods, IMO.

GS

gamestalker said:

if I received a shipment of primers that were clearly wet, they would be going back...

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I have to agree. Enforcing the signature rule would probably cut back on these incidents also.

Whether they may, or may not be ok, if I received a shipment of primers that were clearly wet, they would be going back.

Click to expand...

I have to agree. Enforcing the signature rule would probably cut back on these incidents also.

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If I have a doubt about a primer or box of primers I think nothing of installing the primers in cases with no powder, no bullet and then chambering the case and pulling the trigger.

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I have never had primers shipped to me, I have received primers that were included that were not listed as part of the equipment/components I purchased, same with powder.

I acquired a pick up load of components and equipment, including powder and primers. some of the primers were stored with RCBS case lube, the plastic bottle cracked and leaked on the primers, I will test the primers, most of the components and equipment I can track goes back to 75 and before. A fiber barrel of powder has a 1966 Rail Way express date on it.

F. Guffey

Be sure to let us know when ya use the primers. I'm curious to know if you see any difference.

I read a document once about the safe storage and transport of lead styphnate (primer compound). If I remember correctly (it has been a while) the document was military. To transport, wet it down, keep it covered with water. At the destination, dry it out.

I think you are ok.

I have to agree that the delivery of Haz-Mat items seems a little "loose" in regards to the rules according to the carriers/DOT.m If you pay for adult signature and delivery you should get it. I have had primers/propellant left on the front doorstep of where I work on a late Friday evening and when driving by Sat around noon found it there having been through a rainy night. Lucky that it was not stolen IMHO. When I complained nicely they (FED-X) said I had signed for it previously (no one had signed for it there, I asked everyone at the shop) so not their problem if it got wet!

BTW all the primers worked OK after they dried out however.

I put some primers in water for a week, let them dry out and loaded them. All fired with no problem. I wouldn't worry about the packaging being damp, just let them dry and use them.

Lafitte