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View Full Version : Fair price for "old" Primers



chaos
05-05-2008, 08:03 PM
I met a nice lady whose husband passed away some years back. He was an avid reloader/ shooter. She came to me with an offer to sell me a bunch of his old reloading equipment ( She's hanging on to the guns for sentimental reasons). I would like to be FAIR with my offers as I really dont want either one of us to be taken to the cleaners..... She is a friend. What are primers that are 10-15 years old worth? Still packaged up by the case and stored properly. How about the powder?... unopened cans stored in climate controlled environment. I know ammo is pretty much good forever if stored properly. I've got some 8mm mauser made back in the 30's that's actually pretty good. Of course I'll open the powder and smell of it before proceding, but I really dont know how much to give for this stuff.

richbug
05-05-2008, 08:05 PM
In my book, $75 a case would be fair. The market is pretty crazy right now, I found a few cases of Federals the other day for $95 per and got pretty excited about it.

felix
05-05-2008, 08:22 PM
Pay her bottom line retail. That way you will have a clear concious. ... felix

trickyasafox
05-05-2008, 08:26 PM
15 years is a long time- id say closer to 60 per case. I got some primers that looked to be stored properly that actually picked up a bunch of moisture. things couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old, but they had a lot of duds. the powder if still sealed will be fine I'd assume, but primers can be tricky.

the powder I think holds much more of its value. then again if she's a friend? give as much as you can and build some good karma.

454PB
05-05-2008, 09:46 PM
About 8 years ago I bought 15 bricks of various size CCI primers for $7 each. All of them had the purchase date written on the side, started with 1977 and up to 1980. Not a single one has misfired or given me any problems so far, and I started using them up oldest first. I guess that price would at least double these days, maybe triple.

Down South
05-05-2008, 10:16 PM
I've still have some primers that are more than 35 years old. Of course they were new back then when I bought em. I still use some of those from time to time with no mis-fires. I think 70-75% of retail would be a good deal for both of you. Plus you save S&H + Hazmat.

Tom Herman
05-06-2008, 12:36 AM
I would pay a friend retail... I bought 2,000 primed .45 LC and 1,000 primed 30'06 from a friend (USMC vet, wounded twice at Khe Sahn) that's going blind. I paid full retail. it's the least I can do for someone that put his butt on the line for me.
If it were strictly "business", I'd pay 50% of retail.
I'm almost done with my last bunch of Winchester WLP primers from the late '80's... They have been dragged from New England to NC to WA state, and have only been stored in their paper box. I've had zero misfires. So, I wouldn't sweat it if the primers aren't factory fresh.

-Tom



I met a nice lady whose husband passed away some years back. He was an avid reloader/ shooter. She came to me with an offer to sell me a bunch of his old reloading equipment ( She's hanging on to the guns for sentimental reasons). I would like to be FAIR with my offers as I really dont want either one of us to be taken to the cleaners..... She is a friend. What are primers that are 10-15 years old worth? Still packaged up by the case and stored properly. How about the powder?... unopened cans stored in climate controlled environment. I know ammo is pretty much good forever if stored properly. I've got some 8mm mauser made back in the 30's that's actually pretty good. Of course I'll open the powder and smell of it before proceding, but I really dont know how much to give for this stuff.

jonk
05-06-2008, 08:55 AM
I have a buddy who is a lawyer. A crook's estate was seized to pay for his court costs and the buddy lawyer was charged with disposing of some of the estate. He sold me a whole box of reloading stuff including some primers. Said primers and reloading gear had been stored in the back of an SUV for 2 years while the court case went through. Constant temperature changes. Humidity. Up to 150 in the summer I'm sure, down to -10 in the winter. It trashed some powder that the guy had. However the primers work perfectly.

Ergo I'd say that they are probably fine. I'd give $15/1000. A few dollars under retail, but a good price for an unknown quantity.

Bad Water Bill
05-06-2008, 08:50 PM
Right after this country quit using flint locks (1968 ) I bought several K of C C I l r primers. Yup still 100% BANG. Pay the lady what you would want YOUR wife to receive in the ladys shoes. BWB :castmine: