Primers in a jar?

[gilgsn]

Hello,

Is there any reason not to store primers in a glass jar, as opposed to the plastic trays they come in? Could they go off if the jar fell to the ground?

 

[thorn-]

Yep, they could.

A jar would also trap moisture more easily than a sleeve tray.

thorn

 

[JohnM]

Hardly likely, but why?
Think of all the primers you're going to lose if you do drop the jar and break it
The factory cartons work fine for storage and keeping track of your supply.

 

[Walkalong]

Is there any reason not to store primers in a glass jar

Yes, glass shrapnel.

 

[rcmodel]

That has been a BIG NO NO since well before I started reloading in 1962.
A glass jar full of primers is a field expedient hand grenade if you drop it on the floor.
There have been actual reported fatalities from exactly that.

Primers are shipped and stored in those neat little trays to keep them separated from each other if one primer were to explode.
At the very worst, no more then 100 would go off at once.
But more likely no more then one or two rows would go off.
And the flying cups & anvils would at least be slowed down enough not to kill you on the spot.

A glass jar, or any other container of loose primers = Potential Bomb = Don't do it!!!

rc

 

[ranger335v]

There's not a single reason to do so, several reasons not to.

 

[Pete D.]

Jar

A glass jar?
Why would you want to?
I have a hard time believing that that was a serious question.
Pete

 

[oneounceload]

There is a story about a young worker at one of the ammo plants walking down the hall with a glass jar full of primers and swirling them around as he walked. Story goes he built up enough static electricity that the jar exploded

Can't say whether it is real or not, but I wouldn't want to find out

 

[W.E.G.]

 

[Krogen]

That guy's had a headache for a long time now. He's sure aged since the last time I saw him.... ;-)

 

[mac60]

I read a different version of that story. In this version the primers were in a coffee can and the guy was shaking the can. The guy was killed.

 

[mdi]

I too have read of primers stored in a jar/container exploding when dropped. Packed loose and a slight concussion can ignite one, and then a chain reaction and KABOOM! Easiest to keep 'em in original plastic flats

 

[AK_Maine_iac]

I have often thought that the practice of keeping pre- loaded rounds, including the primers, for inline muzzle loaders in those plastic tubes. Especially in the pocket of a wool jacket. Wool, static electricity and primer. Sounds like a accident waiting to happen.

 

[BeerSleeper]

Flip the question around. Instead of asking for a good reason *why not*, ask for a reason *why*?

I see nothing to be accomplished by repackaging new primers.

Leave them in the well and properly designed package they came in (even if it's that ginormous federal box)

 

[rfwobbly]

Supposing you did.... How could you ever tell rifle from pistol? Or mag from regular?

 

[zxcvbob]

 

[gamestalker]

I like the tray they come in, because I can turn it up side down and dispense the number of them I need without having to handle them.

 

[BeerSleeper]

^^what he said^^

I know it's probably just me being obsessive, but I try to never touch the primers with my dirty fingers.

You can slide the tray out, and drop primers in the priming tool, 10 at a time. If I need less than 100 primed brass, I either prime in multiples of ten (one row of primers dropped from the tray), or multiples of 100 and put the extra primed brass in a jar (if you must put primers in a jar, that's probably a good way to do it).

 

[AFK]

What he said

 

[moxie]

Look under the bridge. The answer is there.

 

[jack44]

Safety.............. Man!

 

[GLOOB]

Primers are high explosives. High explosives make a concussive wave in air that will set off other high explosives. E.g, when you set off a bundle of dynamite, you only need one cap. With nothing but air between them, a detonated primer could potentially set off another nearby primer without even contacting it. A jar full? One detonation = 1 massive simultaneous explosion. When they're in loaded ammo or proper packaging, they're insulated on all sides by buffer material.

 

[kingmt]

Wow. You guys get a little carried away. Listen to the stories you guys are telling. They arn't that bad. If you drop a glass jar it would break before it could build up pressure. It might still be able to get some glass moving but not lethal. Coffee can? Come on! Static. If that was the cases they would have to be stored in a static free environment or grounded. Not all primers come in the nice little square tray that keeps them all separate.

OP
Why would you want to keep them in a jar.

 

[GLOOB]

Carried away? No. I don't think the chance of one going off by static is significant. I doubt your chances of one going off by itself is very high, no matter how you store them.

But in that off chance that one were to go off in a jar, then they'd all blow. And that wouldn't be any fun. It could easily kill or maim anyone within arms reach.

Primers are high explosives. That's what high explosives do.

 

[1SOW]

Primers ARE the most dangerous components reloaders handle. They generally take a sharp impact to "explode", but purposely piling them together loose inside a container is tempting Murphy to make an appearance, a very dramatic appearance.

Take a small empty Testors paint bottle. Punch a hole in the lid with a nail. Fill the bottle "half" full of match heads. Put one match in the hole as a fuse. Light the match and run, because it WILL explode decisively. Matches aren't even "explosive", just flammable.

Primers are "explosive" uncontained. With enough heat or impact they will explode.