Wet 209 Primers

[dg31872]

Last week we had a pipe in our garage freeze and split. Water everywhere.
Sheet rock and insulation ruined, but the biggest problem is I have a 1,000 209 primers that got soaked.
Are they ruined? Is there anything that I can do to salvage the primers?

[farmbif]

dry them out, they might just still go bang.
won't know till you try

[wch]

My experience with them is that they hang fire and that experience gave me a sensation of impending injury.

[dg31872]

Insulation and sheetrock, I can get at the local big box store.
But the primers are invaluable.
So, what is the best way to dry them out?
I don't think my wife's oven is a good idea.
That would be suicide by wife.
Pack them is a bag of rice?

[hoodat]

I boiled a bunch of grungy gun-show brass one time, and then baked them in the oven to dry. THEN discovered that several were primed. For kicks I chambered one to see -- what if?? BANG! And every one of them functioned. Primers apparently aren't as fragile as we often think. jd

[GhostHawk]

I would put them in a single layer in cardboard box, keep dry for now. When it warms up set them out in sun or warm spot to dry. Give them a few weeks to get really cooked dry. Then load one or 2 from each box into an empty hull and test.

You'll soon know the score.

I had an ice cream bucket of gifted to me .22mag that got WD-40 spilled into it. Man they were dead. Spread them in a thin layer and let them cook for 3 months and they came back to life.

[Tortoise1]

Following. Please keep us posted on what you do and how it turns out...

[John Boy]

Use a hair dryer to dry them out. Test a couple and believe the rest are OK....

[JimB..]

I’m not so sure that they won’t fire wet, primers are tough.

If the water was gross I might invest $1 in a gallon of distilled water to rinse them off, but otherwise spread them out on a couple paper towels in a cookie sheet in a sunny window.

Edit: Primers are sealed with something, not sure what, but it’s likely to deteriorate with heat. If you want to use a fan that’ll do no harm, but I wouldn’t use a hair dryer. Besides, there is no need to speed the process up from a day to an hour.

[Cap'n Morgan]

From what I read, modern priming mixtures are handled in a wet state for security reasons. You should have no problems after drying your primers.

[1Papalote]

I have 6 flats of WW209 primers that show water damage to the packaging and rust on the primer itself. My B-I-L found them in a 5 gallon bucket. I loaded several and fired them empty to find out. All went bang. I haven't tried to use the in a loaded round just yet. I'll keep them until I find suitable replacements.

[mroliver77]

There is a post somewhere from years back where a fellow dropped primers in his coffee. He dried them out with no ill effects.

[dg31872]

I am glad to hear that there is still hope.
Thank you for your experiences and response.
I will spread them out of cardboard and put them on our closet shelf.
I should know something in a week or so.
I hope.

[longbow]

It likely depends on how wet they got. If just dowsed with water and not flooded I'll side with the guys saying dry them out and try. They will probably be okay. If they were absolutely soaked or flooded then some of the priming compound may have leached out or might separate and crystalize when it dries. It would still be worth drying them and trying them though. I would! Like mentioned above, I would try a hair dryer or just put them under a light bulb to apply a bit of warm air NOT HOT! Even just opening them up and spreading them out to let them, air dry in the house should work. And yes, I believe they are sealed at the flash hole so should be okay.

Good luck!

Longbow

[Winger Ed.]

I'd let them dry on a bright, sunny window sill for a few days, and try 'em.

[M-Tecs]

Not 209's but I was given 6K of SR that had been under water in a flood for three day. After drying I used them for shooting prairie dogs. I maybe had one or two misfires per thousand. I've also tested using oils to chemically inert them. Once they dry they mostly fired. Primers are not easily killed by other means than firing.

[BrutalAB]

There is a post somewhere from years back where a fellow dropped primers in his coffee. He dried them out with no ill effects.

Now thats some coffee with a bang to it.

[recumbent]

Put them in front of a box fan for 3 or 4 days.

[RMc]

...just put them under a light bulb to apply a bit of warm air...

Longbow

You can still get incandescent light bulbs?

I'm still wondering how long that Watt Equivalent thing will last!

[BrutalAB]

If "dram equivalent "is any indication... forever.