Primed brass question

[melw]

I have been reloading since I turned 21. I bought my first AR15 in the 80s befor California gov and the unthinking people that follow them lost there minds.
I was loading for the AR on a singel stage press. This was done in large batchs. I was shooting a lot. So the batchs were quite large. When the ban came and I got marred to a gun hater all of that stoped. Fast foward about 10 years and one divorce later. I started to get back in to shooting sports. It has taken another 20 years to get back to shooting a Ca. Legal AR.
In diging out my 223 reloading tools I have found a large qty of primed 223 brass that has been stored in cardboard boxs under unknown conditions for what amouts to 30 years.
I wonder if the primers would be good? I know I would have no problem shooting loaded ammo from back then. I in fact have done so. The ammo worked fine. Do I dare load some ammo useing the primed brass?
Thanks!
Mel W.

[Ford SD]

I have been reloading since I turned 21. I bought my first AR15 in the 80s befor California gov and the unthinking people that follow them lost there minds.
I was loading for the AR on a singel stage press. This was done in large batchs. I was shooting a lot. So the batchs were quite large. When the ban came and I got marred to a gun hater all of that stoped. Fast foward about 10 years and one divorce later. I started to get back in to shooting sports. It has taken another 20 years to get back to shooting a Ca. Legal AR.
In diging out my 223 reloading tools I have found a large qty of primed 223 brass that has been stored in cardboard boxs under unknown conditions for what amouts to 30 years.
I wonder if the primers would be good? I know I would have no problem shooting loaded ammo from back then. I in fact have done so. The ammo worked fine. Do I dare load some ammo useing the primed brass?
Thanks!
Mel W.

I would find the worst looking 100 pcs and if only tarnished a bit, load and shoot (but I would use for practice) and see how they go

[Expat74]

I'd pick a sample and see if they ignite.. depending on how many primed cases you have that would be my choice before decapping them all and replacing the primers. Would not use the ammo for other than plinking..

[frkelly74]

most of them by far should work unless they have been under water or something like that. The few that don't, you pull down and salvage the salvageable brass/ bullets. They will probably work better than some kinds of 22 Ammo that you can sometimes buy here and there. Then you will know for sure which ones were good, Like matches, It is obvious which ones were good.

[Bayou52]

I would just shoot some of them unloaded to assure the go bang. They all probably will be good. I'm loading with 40 year old Alcan primers - work like new.....

Bayou52

[groovy mike]

Should be fine unless they got wet. Load 20 and see

[lightman]

Primers are pretty resilient. I would load up a few to try. After that long I would use them for plinking or informal target practice. Probably would not take them to the National Matches or hunting! I bet they all fire.

[melw]

Thanks guys! I will pull a few out and give them a try. If they go pop I will use them to make fun ammo.
All of the ones I looked at where not corroded. At the time I was loading them I was useing RCBS case lube.
The thick jell used with a pad. I handeled some and thay still feel kind of greasy.
That will have to be cleaned off.
Mel W.

[3006guns]

A rag moistened with lighter fluid will remove that RCBS lube. By the way, I'm using CCI primers FROM THE SIXTIES that were stored in less than perfect conditions and they all go bang. Some day I'll get through all of them and start using my "fresh" stock which is only about fifteen years old..........

[rodsvet]

They are most likely fine. I'm loading 223 with primers I bought in 1985 and kept in the garage where it gets pretty hot. Stored dry, the should be fine but as others have said, snap a few in the chamber just to be sure. Rod

[M-Tecs]

Primers are amazingly resilient. Even if fully underwater they should be fine when dried. I was given 6K of primers that had been underwater for close to three day and after drying the FTF about 1 out of 800.

[Motor]

All good replies. You do have to give them a good look over.

I got some ammo a couple years ago from a family member that was stored in a non-heated, or cooled, room off of their basement. This is in SW, PA so no real drastic conditions. The ammo was in Black Hills brand boxes with styrofoam inserts. They were 50rd boxes.

None of this ammo was any good. It seems what moisture there was was trapped by the styrofoam. I ended up only being able to salvage the bullets. The cases were very brittle and weak. When I carefully tried to de-capp the primers the de-capping pin went straight through the primer. The priming compound was mush.

To get the bullets out I simply tweeked the bullet side ways and cracked the neck. Many of them broke off at the shoulder. Its a good thing I have a bench block. I slipped the top half of the bullet into one of the holes and tapped it out of the brass sleeve that was one the case neck with a 3/16" pin punch.

All of this corrosion happened in less than 20 years.

Motor

[mdi]

I would think that they would be OK if they hadn't been submerged. Priming compound is water soluble (from what I've read) and I've read reports of soaked primers working fine after they are dried.

[melw]

Ok looks like I will be loading these.
Poped one in my rifle and it went bang.
Thanks for the info and advice.
Mel W.

[pworley1]

Bought all the primer from a LGS that closed in the late 70's. Still loading them and they still go bang.

[cajun shooter]

I have primers that were purchased by me in the late sixties while employed in a gun store. I had placed about 10-12 100 packs in a cigar box. This box was in several different locations like garges, storage buildings and shops. None of them had any type of HVAC systems and they were loaded up in some cases this past month. I had a 100% ignition on those that were fired. Later David

[jednorris]

Many years ago companies sold primed brass and they had to have assumed some of it would be stored for long periods. When seating a primer, the anvil gets crushed and exposes the primer mixture to the elements. As mentioned, I would not hesitste to load the brass as I believe the number of dead primers is miniscule.

[Smoke4320]

I have been using Herters 209 shotgun primers from the 50's ( that's Approx 65 year old primers) to do the barrel drying/conditioning on my 50 BP Rifle.. Not a single one has failed to fire

[jcwit]

I still have primers from the '40's, some even got wet, dried out they all go bang.

Just think, the priming compound is wet when put into the cup.

[medalguy]

jcwit you're exactly correct. Priming compound when put into the primer cups must have at least 20% moisture content in order for it to be stable enough to be spread. When it dries out it's very explosive. Wetting it doesn't hurt the compound at all- all it needs to do is dry out and it's good to go.