Primer Storage In Ammo Can, Dry Air, Silica Gel Packs

[Hartkopf]

I'm not sure how well silica gel packs work and if this is even remotely a possible hazard so I'm asking here. I take primers seriously, especially when storing several thousand.

Is it ok to store primers (aprox 5000 in original boxes) in a sealed metal ammo can with silica gel packs?

Can the air get too dry which could possibly cause a static electricity spark when the can is opened later?

Any and all long term primer storage tips welcome.

 

[RKRCPA]

I have primers that have been stored either on a shelf or in a drawer for over thirty years. They go bang every time I drop the hammer on one.

Don't over think it.

 

[Walkalong]

That’s a bomb.

Primers are tough, put them on the shelf, in a drawer, etc.

 

[Havok7416]

Put them on a shelf somewhere and forget about them. Don't overthink this. There is zero need for desiccant. I have lived in some very humid places and never had a need for special storage with primers (or anything else really).

 

[edwardware]

Is it ok to store primers (aprox 5000 in original boxes) in a sealed metal. . .

Can the air get too dry which could possibly cause a static electricity spark. . .

As @Walkalong said, a metal can full of primers is a bomb. And dry air doesn't cause static.

Put them on a shelf in your air conditioned space. When you have 25,000, start spreading them out a bit. They're not hygroscopic, so no desiccant is necessary unless it's raining on the shelf.

 

[Hooda Thunkit]

I just recently (last week) loaded the last of my Large Rifle primers I purchased in the Clinton Admin. Yep, 1994.

Those primers, in the original packaging, spent some years out in the garage, then some in the back of a closet, then some in a file cabinet in the un-conditioned barn, then back on the shelf in the reloading cabinet in the house.

Over 25 years of storage in various environments. They all worked, every single one.

Just put them somewhere out of the way, out of the direct sun and not on the top of the furnace. They'll be fine.

 

[rbernie]

Never put things that can go boom into a sealed container - as Walkalong has pointed out, you're just making a bomb.

I've had primers that had the packaging completely soaked due to a busted bit o' plumbing. Dried 'em out, and used them. As was pointed out ot me at the time, the primer paste is a slurry that uses water as a carrier, so it's not as if moisture will harm the compound. Oils, on the other hand, are supposed to be bad juju....

 

[JJFitch]

Primers stored on closet shelf since the 60's interesting to note that the little tray is made of wood!
These were loaded last year for evaluation. 100 yards from these 72 year old eyes!
Smiles,

 

[Hartkopf]

Never put things that can go boom into a sealed container - as Walkalong has pointed out, you're just making a bomb.

I've had primers that had the packaging completely soaked due to a busted bit o' plumbing. Dried 'em out, and used them. As was pointed out ot me at the time, the primer paste is a slurry that uses water as a carrier, so it's not as if moisture will harm the compound. Oils, on the other hand, are supposed to be bad juju....

Thank you all for the replies and advice! I finally scored enough primers just recently to now have to find a place for them all. Good to know the slurry is water based.

 

[GBExpat]

Is it ok to store primers (aprox 5000 in original boxes) in a sealed metal ammo can with silica gel packs?

Yes, but as others have mentioned, the silica gel packets are not required.

If, by some strange event, all 5000 went off at the same time in that ammo can, the can would not be shattered. Bulged (perhaps) with a trashed rubber gasket (for sure) but no "shell splinters" about which to be concerned.

The folks here are calling it a bomb because, (a) technically, it is and (b) it is best to not get in the habit of storing such items in strong, steel, sealed containers ... or, come to think of it, glass jars (thank you, RCModel), for that matter.

Look at the little primers pack in the pic posted by JJFitch in #8. When I think of primers that is still the default image that comes to my mind. A few decades ago primer storage changed so that the package primer-density is WAY down. If you filled an ammo can with primers in the old-style configuration in a USGI ammo can, you might actually have enough density for real, low-grade "bomb" potential.

 

[gonoles_1980]

Like other said, explosives shouldn't go in sealed metal containers. I put mine in a Styrofoam cooler the lid lifts on and off and has no hinges, so it would come right off in an explosion. I use the silica packs.

 

[mdi]

Primers aren't a delicate as many think. I store most of my primers in a plastic tub (the under bed size), not air tight, on a shelf in my non-climate controlled shop. I just reloaded some CCI Small Pistol Magnum primers I bought around 1988 and, just as I expected, all went bang...

 

[shamfrod]

I've been storing my primers in those cheap plastic ammo containers with a desiccant pack thrown in. They're not air tight but may not be the best option since they latch close.

 

[jebova2301]

Take a step back and think about it for a minute. Have you ever seen primers that are sold in sealed, airtight containers? I sure haven't. Next, primers are explosives. When you pack something full of explosives, and then seal it...you just made a bomb.

If they are fine to be shipped to warehouses where they previously may have sat for years at a time in a cardboard box that had no protection against air or anything, they are going to be just fine being stored on your shelf in the exact same manner.

 

[Riomouse911]

I have a bunch stored in their trays inside tall coffee cans, the rest stay in their factory boxes on the shelf until used. In the 25+ years I’ve been reloading I have never had an issue with a dud or a hang-fire from my primer storage methods.

As the guys said, don’t over think it.

Stay safe.

 

[lightman]

I store mine on the shelf in my loading room. Its climate controlled and out of direct sunlight.