can i preprime cases and store them?

[FlyinBryan]

or would this be bad for the primers to be exposed to open air?

what if i preprimed several hundred 45acp cases and stored them in sealed containers?

or should i wait till i want to load them and then do it?

 

[jagugator]

I have done .223 cases and haven't had any issues. I just store them in one gallon ziplock bags. If they can sell preprimed brass I don't see why you can't preprime it yourself and load it later.

Cheers,
Ed

 

[dmickey]

If the primed cases are stored in a cool, dry place it would not harm them in any way! Remington sells preprimed 6mm BR brass and I'm sure that various dealers do not sell them off the shelf very rapidly!

 

[Steve in PA]

I have 1k of .45acp brass all primed and ready to load, stored in a large plastic container from Wal-Mart.

 

[Deavis]

Primers aren't sold in air tight containers and are actually pretty hard to deactivate as some people on this board have shown through experiment.

 

[kimbernut]

Pre priming cases

I've been doing it for 10 years with no problem but my shop is air conditioned. Some of my .380 Auto,.38 sp. and 9mm has been stored for 10 years preprepped cause I don't shoot them as much as others but they have not given me any trouble.

 

[ranger335v]

"Storing" primers in the brass on a shelf is no worse than storing them in a loose fitted cardboard box on a shelf.

 

[Slamfire]

Local gunstore had 700 primed cases of RA54 (Remington Arms 1954) 30-06 cases in the original Remington boxes. Probably estate sale stuff.

I bought those in the middle 80's. Each and every round went bang.

I size, trim, primer all my rifle brass and store them in that condition. Depending on the caliber, it may be years before I dump the powder and seat a bullet in the stuff.

It all works just fine.

 

[Seafarer12]

I load in stages so I always have primed brass in ziplock bags. I have never had a problem.

 

[Crazy4nitro]

I just Laugh at the ones who tell me NOT to store my Primers next to my Powder.
The World is Full of wonderful things....

'Nitro

 

[JohnMcD348]

Short answer.


Yes.

 

[Walkalong]

I have some brass that has been primed for over 10 years. I also have primers older than that. All still good to go. I shot some of my oldest Fed primers last time out.

 

[cpttango30]

I had 308 brass that was primed for 8+ years. Loaded them all and they all fired no problems.

these were stored in a cardboard box and started in CA then went to TX then to NJ and were shot in VA. So if they were ok then prepriming brass a few weeks or months stored in plastic ziploc bags should be good to go.

 

[btefft]

I do it regularly.

Hack

 

[deadhawg]

I recently finished loading and firing some 357 ammo that I had primed over 15 years ago. They were not stored in ideal conditions, most of the time in a garage that sometimes reached over 100 degrees. They all went bang.

Ron

 

[moooose102]

IF you are going to store in a ziplock bag, try to use a small bag of dessicant to absorb moisture. if you are carefull, they come in lots of items you buy everyday. just save them, and dry them out in the oven every now and then. (i use a ziplock bag to store my dried dessicant bags in). ZIPLOCK BAGS ARE A RELOADERS FREIND!

 

[45ACPUSER]

I snag all the free zip lock bags at work! Pharmacy uses them like tic tacs! Man what waste! When I loaded on a single stage press eons ago I had brass in various stages of prep. I used zip lock bags with notes on what was done or what they were primed with....worked then and I use them now for case storage.

 

[rocklock]

I do it, too. Make sure you clean out the primer pocket first if using already fired brass.

 

[rcmodel]

I found a quart coffee *can full of primed 9mm cases I didn't know I had in the bottom of my junque cabinet a couple of months ago .
(*Metal Folgers can with a snap-on plastic lid.)

I loaded them & shot them about a week ago.

They were primed on 11-19-78, or 30 years ago, according to the note in the can.

They were all 4-F!
(Feed, Fire & Function Freely!)

rcmodel

 

[Thernlund]

They were all 4-F!
(Feed, Fire & Function Freely!)

Is that the gunnies version of "5 by 5"?


-T.

 

[JGAreddog]

primers are tough

A friend had some primer that got wet and actually corroded. Just to see he hit them with a hammer and BANG! they popped off one by one just like they were new. Out of 50 primers only 2 wouldn't fire.

 

[rcmodel]

Primer compound is usually sealed inside the primer cup by a foil or paper disk, and a drop of lacquer. The lacquer not only seals them, but helps keep the anvil in place until they are loaded.

Then when a new primer is seated fully, the primer anvil is crushed further into the cup, the point on the anvil generally pierces the lacquer & foil seal, and if excess force is used, cracks or crushes the primer pellet to some extent.

At that point, the factory double seal (foil & lacquer) have been compromised slightly, but the tight fit in the primer pocket makes up for it.

SO, in theory, a seated primer is more susceptible to moisture then a new one still in the package that hasn't been seated yet.

But, the primer compound was mixed and inserted into the primer cup wet, at about the consistency of tooth-paste. Once the cup, compound, foil or paper seal, lacquer & anvil have been assembled wet, the primers are sent to a drying room where moisture & the lacquer solvent are removed.

So, again in theory, a primer could be soaking wet one day, but as long as it was dried out completely, it would work perfectly the next day.

That's how they were made!

rcmodel

 

[The Bushmaster]

rcmodel..."junque" drawer? Gettin a bit fancy aren't we?

On topic...Prime that brass, store them in a dry cool place (like a closet) and load them later. Not a problem...

 

[ftierson]

Yes...



Forrest

 

[scrat]

do it all the time. Makes for speedy loading.