CIL Primers . . . .

[JimF]

I have come upon 1,300, no. 8 1/2 size, CIL (Canadian) primers.

These are very old, but look just fine.

Would like to use them up.

Any pros or cons?

Thanx, —Jim

[Texas by God]

I dont know how old those are, but I've been using white box Remington 9-1/2 M primers that date from the early 70's since 2000 were given to me decades ago. I have used Western primers that had WOODEN dividers in the box of 100- Never a dud. They are probably good to go.

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[dverna]

They will be fine. Load up 50 and try them.

[Scrounge]

I have come upon 1,300, no. 8 1/2 size, CIL (Canadian) primers.

These are very old, but look just fine.

Would like to use them up.

Any pros or cons?

Thanx, —Jim

Depending on how old they are, they may be corrosive primers. If so, you'll want to do your cleaning, with water, as soon after you shoot them as possible. May even be Fulminate of Mercury, in which case they'll eventually destroy your brass. Unfortunately, I don't know any way for you figure out what they are. You can get lead test kits from Amazon that would tell you if there is lead in the primer, but not all the modern priming compounds are lead based, and most of the older ones are not lead based. If you're loading something for which brass is hard to get or expensive, you may want to not use them. Modern easily available brass eventually wears out anyway, so you may shorten the life, but if you inspect before reloading carefully, shorter life is about all you really need to worry about if you keep your weapons clean.

[slowfire]

CIL primers were pretty much all I used when I started reloading 50plus years ago They were all the LGS carried back then. They came in a red , green and white box with a red plastic divider They worked just fine. In fact in some ways they were superior to some of the primers we use today. They were very clean ,left no clinkers in the primer pockets eliminating the need to clean after decaping.
Even before Dominion Cartridge Company changed it's logo in the 1930's they were not using corrosive priming . So if they are marked CIL and have been stored properly I think they should be good. CIL have not sold ammo or components to the civilian market for several years now . But I still have a few thousand on my shelf to use in some of my old recipes.

[Winger Ed.]

Unfortunately, I don't know any way for you figure out what they are.

Take a empty primed case with one, shoot it onto a bare steel plate.
Do another with a known modern generation primer for a comparison.

They didn't call them corrosive primers for nothing.
If one is corrosive- it'll rust the plate real fast if its even a little bit humid.

[Reverend Al]

If they're clean and dry ... 'Choot 'Em!

[Outpost75]

CIL primers should state clearly on the boxes whether they are non-corrosive and non-mercuric. If the primers have nickle plated cups and are not unplated copper they are post WW2 and non-corrosive. Copper colored primers in wooden trays with cardboard wrappers are pre-WW2 and MAY be corrosive unless otherwise indicated on the box.

[rbuck351]

Reverend Al
I haven't seen any of those shotgun primers for reloading the normal shotgun primers since about 1960. My shotgun loading buddy use to reload his shotgun primers with those and used reclaimed shot and washed and reused the plastic shotcups. He could reload a box of 12ga for about $.75

[onelight]

What are battery pockets ? The box says those don't have them.

[Reverend Al]

Modern 209 style shotgun primers are this type of primer enclosed in a "batter cup" which is the flanged holder for the primer. In the old days you punched the fired primer out of the "battery cup" and then replaced it with a new primer like the CIL examples that I posted. These days you punch out the entire primer with the battery cup as a complete unit and replace it all with a new, 209 style primer which includes the batter cup.

[Reverend Al]

Like these ...

[onelight]

Ok thanks guys I have never head the phrase "battery pockets"