Shelf life of primers?

[BobT]

I'm not sure how old they are but I have primers that were priced at $0.98 or $0.99 a box

[15meter]

These were from the fifties when the wood trays were still used. I had two cases of these and they work just fine.

Used up a box of these wood tray primers earlier this summer that had been gifted to me, all went bang.

[monkey wrangler]

I am glad to hear the life of primers is that long. I tried to keep about 2-5 years worth of primers. But after the dust settles I will increase that amount out farther.

[Tripplebeards]

I went through my inventory yesterday and am down to one brick of LMP and 200 LMR so they are on my my list today when I hit the LGS that has both in stock for $39.99. Since it’s a 1 brick limit per day and I will be taking a buddy with to buy for me I’ll probably pick up another box of LMP tomorrow since I have 5 guns and pistols to load for it. I should have enough SR and LR to get me by till the stupidity stops. I’ll probably pick up some SP tomorrow as well so I have a few if I want to start loading for my 32 S&W or 9mm some day.

[Drm50]

I don’t recommend putting primers or ammo in sealed plastic bags in location with big temperature swings. Water can condense in bag. Maybe water don’t hurt primers but I like mine dry and clean.

[Russel A]

I'm sure that I have used some from the 80's recently.
No difference noticed. Bulk primers are stored in the basement in there original packaging.

[elmacgyver0]

I am glad to hear the life of primers is that long. I tried to keep about 2-5 years worth of primers. But after the dust settles I will increase that amount out farther.

You seem pretty optimistic.
Hope you are right.

[Tripplebeards]

You seem pretty optimistic.
Hope you are right.

My LGS has every size primer in stock at normal prices and no one has been buying them. I’ve been there three times in the last two weeks and there has basically been one guy trying to buy up all the SP primers they have stock piles up on the back room with a 500 a day limit according to the owner who sold my a brick of them yesterday. I bought three bricks on three visits. Two cci 200’s and one CCi 350. I’ll head back this morning for another brick of 350’s if they have one left. There was one and a half bricks on the shelf yesterday afternoon on my last visit. If they are out of 350’s I’ll get a brick of the 250’s along with another 500 of the cci 500’s and call it a day. I think that will hold me over for a few elections accept for SP if I start getting into reloading for it. I’m sure I will sooner then later if the 9mm shortage stays constant for a couple of years. I figured at $39.99 per brick of CCI I’ll keep buying some more till they run out or I feel I will never need any more. Getting tired of looking for components I should have stocked up on. I believe I will have this issue fixed after today’s visits.

[cuslog]

1970's I believe, still go bang just fine.

[30calflash]

I've some of the CCI primers shown by Conditor and tey are fine. I've some yellow box win/westerns that i will get into soon.

The only thing I had go bad were some RWS musket caps. They were in the trunk of the car with some fluctuating temps and humidity. They didn't go bang or event phzzz!

[Texas by God]

99 of these went bang in .22 Hornet loads a few years back and I'll bet $100 that the last one will too! They are probably older than I am for sure. The rounded face was neat.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[Tripplebeards]

That’s a cool vintage box^^^^. You might have to load them with sone primers just for show and tell when the last one goes bang.

[Murphy]

I've always kept my primers in the shop along with all of my other reloading gear. A lot of us seem to have had the same experience. Even after years, if not decades, they still work just fine. This has been an interesting thread in the fact that the membership here is now 50,000+. We're spread all across the land in varying climates, from both coasts to the extreme north and south. I honestly have no idea how old some of my primers are. I've been reloading since the late 70's. I have a small box that I tend to toss partially used boxes of 100 in after making up a small batch for testing. I haven't a clue as to how old some of them may be. Like most others from reading this thread, they still work if I need to try just a few.

Murphy

[jfruser]

This is certainly heartening. I have come back to reloading after a 15 year hiatus and was looking at my 15YO stored in the garage primers with a gimlet eye. Decided to use them only in target/range applications and use new on heftier loads. I may be overly cautious, given the expereinces recounted here.

[David2011]

Several years ago I got primers from two friends. One lived about 200 yards off of salt water and the other was about 5 miles inland from the first guy. All of them had been stored in unairconditioned garages on the Texas Gulf Coast for about 20 years. None failed to fire.

[uscra112]

I don’t recommend putting primers or ammo in sealed plastic bags in location with big temperature swings. Water can condense in bag. Maybe water don’t hurt primers but I like mine dry and clean.

If the bag is sealed, there won't be any more moisture inside it to "sweat" than there was when you sealed it. And how much will that be? If you evacuated it like you should have, precious little.

[fcvan]

The current shelf life seems to be 20 minutes after they hit the shelf. They are swooped up 20 minutes after that.

[toallmy]

If I'm not mistaken several years ago there was a push to change the priming compound to a new improved environmental friendly compound - that had me concerned . But I suppose we won't know for years if it matters , and primers don't last long in my cabinet anyway .

[Petrol & Powder]

if stored properly they probably have a longer shelf life than we do.

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[Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang]

I have bricks of primers from the 70s and all work fine and some trays that are probably a bit older than that and no problems. Where do you guys store your primers? Separate from your powder?