Old primers

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I recently traded for some reloading equipment and with it there were thoundsands of old primers. Three thousand of them are small pistol primers made by Herters. I primed some 38 spl cases with them but no powder or bullets. When I pulled the trigger they all fired with a loud bang. Does anyone know when Herters went out of business? There was also two hundred large rifle primers made at the Frankfort Arsenal. They do not have a date on them. I will not be using them.

[frkelly74]

If they go bang, use them!

[GOPHER SLAYER]

No Phineas,I didn't know those primers were corosive. It just so happens that along with all the other reloading gear was two full cans of GI bore cleaner. Thanks

[runfiverun]

i have a box of empty 7mm WSM brass so it couldn't have been too long ago.

[williamwaco]

The primer number 1 1/2 tells the story..

Those are Remingtons.

[fatelk]

The old Herters and the new Herters are two different things. The old Herters was pretty much undone by the GCA '68, so they're probably pretty old. In recent years someone has revived the Herters name, mostly just putting the name on foreign ammo I think.

At a gun show a while back I saw some and commented to a friend that it was "Hillbilly ammo". He looked at me like I was crazy and asked why. I said some folks call 'em ammo, some call 'em bullets, and some just call 'em for what they do to whatever you use 'em on; they'll hurt ya, so they is "Herters".

Sorry, I have an odd sense of humor. For example, one of the funniest things anyone ever said to me was when a good friend told me that my sense of humor is actually a lot like humor, just not very funny.:)

[454PB]

I think Herters went out of business about 1976. As long as those primers have been stored properly, they should be fine.

[knifemaker]

Primers are very much like powder. If they were stored in a area where very high heat or moisture did not get to them, they will be good for over 50 years. If there is concern, just use them for loading your plinking or practice ammo.

[jcwit]

I'm still using primers from the 1940's, with no issues.

[Bad Water Bill]

IIRC the government stopped using any corrosive primers about 1953.

The newest Herters catalog i have is dated 1976. I believe I stopped in their store in Mitchell in Oct of 1971.

Cabelas purchased a good part of their productts and rights as they wanted the waterfowl decoys etc. They also sell ammo and clothing branded HERTERS

I do not think GCA 68 was the fall of the co. I still have broadheads and arrows. They carried a hugh amount of fishing gear. I recovered a canoe and kayak with their fiberglass kits. I would have to look in the catalog to see how much more they carried.

Here is a little more on Herters for your education

George Leonard Herter (died 1994) of Waseca, Minnesota was the founder of the Herter's outdoor goods business and an author. His best known books are the Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices series (published in 3 volumes), which have a cult following today.[1]

In 1937 Herter took his father's dry goods store and turned it into a mail order outdoor goods business, selling hunting and fishing items through a catalog. He later opened retail outlet stores which pioneered the style of outdoor goods stores now used by Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops. The company went bankrupt in 1981.[1]

[gnoahhh]

If you don't want to use those old FA-70 primers, send 'em to me! Ha ha! They were some of the best primers ever made. Very consistent, and absolutely sure fire (think steamy jungles of Guadalcanal and frozen fox holes in the Ardenne). Yes they are corrosive, but so what? You're going to clean your rifle anyway at the end of the day, right? Just switch to hot water and/or the old GI bore cleaner instead of whatever 'modern' cleaner you're using.

I'm slowly working my way through 10,000 old Alcan small pistol primers from the early 60's, and several pounds of Bullseye from the same era. Not a single misfire yet.

I still use my Herter's cook book in my kitchen all the time. George L. Herter had quite the gift for gab. All work ceased whenever the Herter's catalog arrived at the house when I was a kid! It was more popular than the Sears Christmas catalog!

[madsenshooter]

I have some Herter's LR primers. I'm near the end of a box of 1000. These were made in Japan and they've been super, not a misfire or hangfire one.

[Bent Ramrod]

I got about 1500 Frankford Arsenal corrosive primers a few years ago for $5. They came in paper tubes that looked like soda straws. I used them for all my black powder cartridge shooting through the primer shortage and very few (less than 10) required a second snap of the trigger. All went off on the second try. Since I had to clean the gun with water mixtures anyway, the corrosiveness didn't matter.

In my experience, the only other old primers that were in good condition when received that began to get a little iffy towards the end, were a few hundred RWS primers that came in flats of 250, maybe from the 1960's era. Maybe about 25 of them failed to fire the first snap, and they went off with the second try.

I wouldn't use such stuff for a hunting trip or in pursuit of the armed and dangerous, but if the price was right, I'd probably buy some more, for practice and fun shooting.