OLDDDD Primers

[jeeptim]

Yep me again got a Large lot of old primers look to be 30 to 40 years old Herters and cci look to have been stored well and i live in Ca, so loading a few up and shooting em is not an option it's an all day thing to go shooting.
I did smack a few with a hammer and boom they went anything i should be aware of using oldddd primers or should i just toss em?
thanx

 

[esheato]

Key words are cool and dry. If the packaging is intact, ie, obviously never wet, then you should be fine.

I would never advise pounding primers with a hammer, but since you already did and they went bang....I would load.

Start small...nothing sucks worse than loading 1k, just to find out they're crap and you have to pull them.

Ed

 

[Funshooter45]

Well, to be safe, you could just send them to me and I'll dispose of them for you.


Yeah, they should be just fine.

 

[rcmodel]

30- 40 year old primers is not old if they were stored properly.
If the boxs look undamaged from water or something, they should be as good as the day they made them.

PS: Don't hit primers with a hammer.
The flying shrapnel is going faster then a pistol bullet.

You could shoot your eye out very easily!

rc

 

[mbopp]

I had a long hiatus from shooting so I've got some primers that are pushing 30 years old. They still go bang.

 

[jeeptim]

Don't worrie when i hit em wit da hammer i had me eyes closed.
Thanks kinda what I thought the packaging is in perfect condition other the the tape at the end of each sleeve turning a bit yellow and the boxes are way cool once used on the shelf with the old powder tins,

 

[rcmodel]

i had me eyes closed

Your eye lids ain't thick enough to stop a primer anvil or cup if it hits you from hammer smacking distance.

I had a friend years ago end up with a primer cup buried in his foot.
It took an ER surgeon to cut it out from between the little bones in the top of his foot!

rc

 

[floydster]

I'm using rifle primers I bought back in the 60's, only have a few hundred left They all go bang.

 

[jeeptim]

Just kidding about my eye's closed thought you may have gotten a chuckle out of it.

 

[rfwobbly]

Thanks kinda what I thought the packaging is in perfect condition other the the tape at the end of each sleeve turning a bit yellow and the boxes are way cool once used on the shelf with the old powder tins,

What I want to know is the price written on the carton. Probably something like 78 cents.

 

[THe Dove]

My gawd RC,,,, was your friend wearing sandalls??????

The Dove

 

[jeeptim]

dont have a price on the old primers but i do have a can of bullseye $1.69

 

[Milanodan]

Still have my first can of Bullseye. Bought ~1964, $3.75. Think I got robbed.

 

[sweater914]

My ole man has several hundred primers for both rifle and pistol that are pushing 20+ years old, they've been stored and moved several times, he hasn't had any increase in failure rates. I remember being at some of the gun shows when he purchased some of these primers and it's dissappointing to see how much we're paying for the same product today. Cool and dry make or break wether the primers will ignite or fail.

 

[jmorris]

... loading a few up and shooting em is not an option it's an all day thing to go shooting.

I did smack a few with a hammer and boom they went...

You could just prime a case and see if they go "boom". Wouldn't make any more noise than your hammer and would be less likey to have stuff flying in every direction.

 

[greyling22]

We shot some 38's my grandfather had loaded back before he went off to ww2. only a few failed to fire. They were in a garage in east tx. They had large pistol primers which I thought was neat.

 

[hancjamk]

Hit them with a hammer? That's about as dumb as the guy who inserted primers into hollow point bullets and blow up his gun and his trigger finger along with it...

 

[raddiver]

I don't know about the wet thing.
Wasn't someone on here stating that he had a few primers that he wasn't comfortable with and submerged them in water for 8 days?

And they still went bang after 8 days underwater!

Truth or not, i don't know. but . . . I'm may go drop one in a cup of water now, just to prove or disprove that.

-Rad.

 

[rcmodel]

Primer compound is a wet paste when they put it in the primer cup.
After the foil seal, anvil, and lacquer are added, the wet primers are packaged, then they are dried.

You can wet them again.
And they will still work after they dry out again.

rc