Interesting idea for primer storage

[quickshot]

So surfing the web looking for space saving tips for small reloading areas I came across one for primers. Storing them in pill bottles. Now I'm all for maximizing every square inch of space but this???? I'm not so sure.

[Iron Whittler]

I would say DO NOT DO IT? Primers are best stored in their original boxes. Loose primers in containers may detonate from impact, or in the case of plastic bottles shown, Static electricity. Primers can be dangerous if not stored properly. Keep primers stored in their original containers in a cool, dry cabinet away from any heat source and your stash of powder. This goes triple if you have black powder in your load room. Just my 2 pennies worth. Be safe and have fun.:Fire:

[pertnear]

Definitely a bad idea!!!

They package them they way they do for a reason - SAFETY! Those are mini grenades if one went off.

[Artful]

:goodpost: - it was orginally packing containers were designed that way for a reason (and at much expense)

[ReloaderFred]

That's the worst possible way to store primers. Ask any primer manufacturer, and they will tell you straight out the only safe way to store primers is the original packaging they left the plant in.

Priming compound is an actual explosive, unlike gunpowder. If one goes off in a bottle, they all go off, with tremendous force for their size.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Bzcraig]

Apart from the safety issues, square packaging is a more efficient use of space.

[shoot-n-lead]

What everyone else said...bad idea.

[dragon813gt]

Apart from the safety issues, square packaging is more more efficient use of space.

Exactly what I was going to post. I don't see any batch numbers on the bottles either. If there's a recall you need that number.

[Kevin Rohrer]

Really b-a-d idea for a variety of reasons.

[MOA]

Well that picture only qualifies for less than a thousand words, THAT IS A REAL NO NO!

[Hickory]

Good looking bombs you have!

[mold maker]

Not even a good idea for used primers.

[PbHurler]

I'm hoping quickshot is unfamiliar with purple font.............

[Bmi48219]

Not to hijack a thread but has anyone thought of a good second career for primer trays & sleeves? I always feel guilty throwing them in the recycle bins (trays in one bin, sleeves another) Guess you could use them for molds assuming the material you're casting doesn't bond to plastic or require heat.

[dragon813gt]

Not even a good idea for used primers.

Why? All my spent primers are stored in a Gatorade bottle. When scrap prices are high enough I turn them in for cash. There is no harm in storing spent primers in this manner.

[quickshot]

This is NOT how I store my primers. I'm not sure what the person who came up with this pic was thinking. This just struck me as so stupid that I had to share.

[jaguarxk120]

I think there was a guy that stored primers in Mason jars.

He now go's by the name "Lefty", some people also refer to him as "One eyed Jack"

[alamogunr]

Not even a good idea for used primers.


Why? All my spent primers are stored in a Gatorade bottle. When scrap prices are high enough I turn them in for cash. There is no harm in storing spent primers in this manner.

I have to ask the same question: WHY NOT?

I store mine in coffee cans. Not sure why I keep them since scrap dealers around here are difficult(understatement) to deal with.

I guess it is just a rough indication of how many rounds I've reloaded.

[OS OK]

That picture stood the hair on the back of my neck!

Sorta like crawling up on a claymore mine that has been turned around in the wrong direction...

[alamogunr]

Maybe I should take a picture of my pill bottle storage. We generate a lot of empty pill bottles and the only thing I store in them is boolit sizing dies, which means a lot of pill bottles get thrown away.

Works well since I don't have to clean the dies. Just slip them in the bottle and keep the goo enclosed.

[Walter Laich]

That picture stood the hair on the back of my neck!

Sorta like crawling up on a claymore mine that has been turned around in the wrong direction...

actually a claymore in dangerous on both sides. We would place them on the 'enemy side' of tree trunks for a bit more protection.
Oh, the C-4 inside did a great job of heating water when you burned it IN THE OPEN. in an oxygen-free environment it was much more exciting.

[Paper Puncher]

I have to ask the same question: WHY NOT?

I store mine in coffee cans. Not sure why I keep them since scrap dealers around here are difficult(understatement) to deal with.

I guess it is just a rough indication of how many rounds I've reloaded.

If you ever swept the floor of an indoor range it is amazing how much unburnt gunpowder there is.
Can you be sure ALL the priming compound ignited in the primer? All of the powder in the case sure didn't. Probably did but.....

[17nut]

Soo all that lawyer bull aside what is the real problem?

Are percussion caps completly safe and insensitive to being kept in a tin all huddled up?

199657

Aside from the anvil in what major way are they different from Boxer primers and why are they sold in tins and seen as quite safe?

[mold maker]

Why? All my spent primers are stored in a Gatorade bottle. When scrap prices are high enough I turn them in for cash. There is no harm in storing spent primers in this manner.

No harm indeed, but unless a very small amount, it sure takes up lots of space. Mine are in three 2 liter drink bottles waiting for scrap prices to go up.
Guess I should have used purple.

[earlmck]

Back in the days when primers were packaged in reasonable sized trays this was not an issue, but the humongous packages some of our manufacturers are using get a person to thinking of alternative storage methods. I won't buy Federal primers any more because of their stooopid huge cartons, now have a bias toward Remington for their much nicer sized cartons. And Federal used to be my favorite primer.

[mdi]

Soo all that lawyer bull aside what is the real problem?

Are percussion caps completly safe and insensitive to being kept in a tin all huddled up?

199657

Aside from the anvil in what major way are they different from Boxer primers and why are they sold in tins and seen as quite safe?

No anvils. A cap is placed on a nipple which acts as an anvil. Hammer squishes compound between cap and nipple, so without an anvil there is nuttin' to squish the compound...

Just wondering, how much space is actually lost to the "huge" primer packaging some speak of? In real life, how much difference does 10 square inches make? I keep my primers in their bricks, in a cabinet and get one tray out at a time. If i saved "a that space" with more "efficient" primer storage, I'd just stuff something else there...

[alamogunr]

I haven't bought primers in several years after stocking up before Obama's first election. All those primers are in, what I consider to be, efficient sized containers. Brands are Winchester and Wolf. Trying to use up the Wolf because of inconsistent cup hardness.

[Smk SHoe]

quite a bit of space between federal and winchester sized primer boxes.I can store about 2 1/2 winchester boxes in the area of one federal box. I still use federal ( my go to if i have a choice) But if you have a few thousand the space does add up.

[17nut]

No anvils. A cap is placed on a nipple which acts as an anvil. Hammer squishes compound between cap and nipple, so without an anvil there is nuttin' to squish the compound...

Just wondering, how much space is actually lost to the "huge" primer packaging some speak of? In real life, how much difference does 10 square inches make? I keep my primers in their bricks, in a cabinet and get one tray out at a time. If i saved "a that space" with more "efficient" primer storage, I'd just stuff something else there...

Yes Boxer primers do have anvils!
That is the difference between a percussion cap and a Boxer primer.

[opos]

Don't know how often I see and hear about "store primers in the original containers...do not repackage them"....that's my code....I don't run my car on flat tires either but I suppose I could get some distance on them before a problem..living in California where we get to rock and roll now and then and things fall off shelves and onto the floor...I don't want a bunch of loose primers rattling around just as they hit the tile.

[OS OK]

Don't know how often I see and hear about "store primers in the original containers...do not repackage them"....that's my code....I don't run my car on flat tires either but I suppose I could get some distance on them before a problem..living in California where we get to rock and roll now and then and things fall off shelves and onto the floor...I don't want a bunch of loose primers rattling around just as they hit the tile.

OMG...opos...."Do you realize that you are using 'Common Sense'? What a novel approach!"

[Shawlerbrook]

That is a perfect example of an answer in search of a problem. WHY ???

[KenT7021]

There is some information in Hatcher's Notebook about an explosion involving loose primers carried in a bucket in a Gov't. Arsenal.I personally would not store live primers loose in any container.

[CraigOK]

Well to each their own I guess...Id rather use the space required than have those go boom

[Landy88]

Yes Boxer primers do have anvils!
That is the difference between a percussion cap and a Boxer primer.

Tins are also MUCH less of a risk for and protection against static electricity than plastic bottles.

[OS OK]

If you can't afford the space to properly store your primers...I suggest you give up handloading all together. The next complaint I hate to hear is that they don't have the time to do a job correctly...hogwash!

[jmorris]

I would normally give an idea like that a thumbs down but that one is bad enough, I'd pick another finger to adequately display my disapproval.

I think the only way you could come up with something worse would be to use glass bottles.

[mac60]

There is some information in Hatcher's Notebook about an explosion involving loose primers carried in a bucket in a Gov't. Arsenal.I personally would not store live primers loose in any container.

I knew I read that somewhere. It wasn't in Hatcher's notebook though. Could have been an early edition ABC's of reloading. As I remember, an employee was carrying a quantity of primers from one area of the plant to another and was absentmindedly shaking the container that he was carrying the primers in - it exploded and killed him!

[KenT7021]

That incident is indeed in Hatcher's Notebook.In same chapter with the ammo dump explosions I believe.

[mac60]

That incident is indeed in Hatcher's Notebook.In same chapter with the ammo dump explosions I believe.

I've never read Hatcher's notebook. I could swear it was ABC's of reloading. The author may have read it in Hatcher's notebook, and was just passing it along. I, along with most who have posted in this thread would never store primers like the OP.

[W.R.Buchanan]

This person was obviously under the influence of whatever came in those pill bottles.

What I don't understand is what this guy saw as wrong with the little trays primers come in? Just looking to be different?

I am all for reusing pill bottles for storing some stuff. I have a bunch and the newer ones that have the screw on tops are very useful and are excellent water proof containers. Use a hair dryer to remove the labels.

I have salt and pepper packets from McDonalds stored in one in my bug out bag so I can season my Beef Bullion when I'm stranded during the up coming societal melt down.

Works for me. :dung_hits_fan:

Randy

[OS OK]

This person was obviously under the influence of whatever came in those pill bottles.

What I don't understand is what this guy saw as wrong with the little trays primers come in? Just looking to be different?

I am all for reusing pill bottles for storing some stuff. I have a bunch and the newer ones that have the screw on tops are very useful and are excellent water proof containers. Use a hair dryer to remove the labels.

I have salt and pepper packets from McDonalds stored in one in my bug out bag so I can season my Beef Bullion when I'm stranded during the up coming societal melt down.

Works for me. :dung_hits_fan:

Randy

Yeah...I see this ending badly...some cop is going to check your ruck and ask for the prescriptions for that salt and pepper! . . :bigsmyl2:

[bedbugbilly]

I'm a "space saver" as well - currently setting up my new reloading area from our move this past month - BUT - I count 10 bottles (unless the old eyes are deceiving me) with what appears to be 100 primers in each - i.e. a case of primers. Not only a dangerous situation to store that way but look at it - are you really saving any space? And stacking one pill bottle on another creates a dangerous situation as when reaching for them, I can easily see how they could be "up set" and one fall on the floor (at least I can see how I could easily do such a thing).

Keep 'em packed in their original container - they are packed that way for a reason and cases or individual packs of 100 are easily stacked on top of each other and much less likely to be spilled from the shelf to the floor.

[alamogunr]

Somebody needs to point out that the OP never said he stored primers in pill bottles. He said he found it on the internet and even this is not the stupidest thing on the internet.

I find that leaving primers in the sleeve makes it easy to see how many are left after a short session. Plus, I mark the quantity left on the outside with a sharpie.

[Ole Joe Clarke]

Bad idea, the only thing I have seen worse on the net is storing them loose in glass jars.

I tear the cardboard covers apart and write powder charges, or "9 mm ready to load" and other notes to self on the white side.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

[jrmartin1964]

Primers weren't always sold in flat, divided trays. There was a time when they came like this...
199799

Not recommending it as a practice, just sayin'...

[woodbutcher]

:shock: Empty pill bottles might be good for a lot of things.But primer storage ain`t one of em.I use some for storage of small fishing items such as hooks,split shot and ect.Works good.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[castalott]

I 'remember' reading that priming compound used to be made in an open topped building (4 concrete walls with no top) . The lighting was powerful lights mounted on poles outside ( think football field). Small amounts were transported in an "Angel buggy". (think rubber tired baby buggy with ground strap.) The Angel buggy had absolute right of way. The President of the company had to step off the sidewalk or out of the way for the angel buggy. ....just saying...

[Landy88]

The Angel buggy had absolute right of way. The President of the company had to step off the sidewalk or out of the way for the angel buggy.

Had to or was glad to; and happy to add a few extra long steps, too?

[Baja_Traveler]

Every Schuetzen shooter I've ever seen (including me) stores 1-200 primers in a pellet tin for match days. When you are decapping and priming the same case 1-200 times in every match, having loose primers is the only way to go just for efficiency sake. Schuetzen shooters have been doing it this way since the invention of the primer, and I've never heard of anyone blowing themselves up storing them this way. I think this falls under the same wives tale of needing a special brass powder measure to drop black powder...

[Ole Joe Clarke]

Hatcher's notebook is a good read about how not to handle primers.

[str8wal]

I fail to see any advantage to this. It's not as though the trays occupy very much space to begin with. It is also much easier to keep track of how many primers you have when they lie in their cozy little slots. I don't know about any danger, my musket caps come loose in a small tin. Different strokes.....

[castalott]

Had to or was glad to; and happy to add a few extra long steps, too?

Even a small amount of priming compound is scary stuff.... They didn't call them 'Angel buggies' for just any reason.... Dale

[ReloaderFred]

Every Schuetzen shooter I've ever seen (including me) stores 1-200 primers in a pellet tin for match days. When you are decapping and priming the same case 1-200 times in every match, having loose primers is the only way to go just for efficiency sake. Schuetzen shooters have been doing it this way since the invention of the primer, and I've never heard of anyone blowing themselves up storing them this way. I think this falls under the same wives tale of needing a special brass powder measure to drop black powder...

I go to the SHOT Show every year, and have since 1991. I've talked to the reps from all the major primer manufacturers about primers and how they should be handled. Every one of them cautions that primers should be handled carefully, and several have recounted events in where an employee, or employees, were killed or injured by exploding primers or priming compound. The biggest problem is shaking loose primers, or static electricity setting them off.

I used to run an AmmoLoad motor driven reloading machine when I was rangemaster for our department. I had the primer column on that machine blow up twice. The first time, the primer column was nearly full, and the damage it caused was an eye opener, to say the least. The follower is still imbedded somewhere in the attic of the range house, and if it hadn't been for the tubular steel blast housing, and the blast shield across the front of the machine, I would have been injured in the blast. The second time it blew, there were only a few primers in the column, but it still caused damage. Priming compound is an explosive, unlike gunpowder. The power contained in multiple primers is nothing to trifle with.

Just because you get away with something it doesn't make it safe. I've buried the needle on a 140 mph speedometer several times when I was working, and got away without incident. Was it safe? Would I do it all the time? The answer to both questions is an emphatic "NO"!

Primers are packaged the way they are for a reason, born of experience. Trust those who deal with them on a daily basis and don't tempt fate. Leave them in the original packaging, period.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Soundguy]

I haven't bought primers in several years after stocking up before Obama's first election. All those primers are in, what I consider to be, efficient sized containers. Brands are Winchester and Wolf. Trying to use up the Wolf because of inconsistent cup hardness.

yup.. no problems with the flat trays and bricks here.

[Soundguy]

Primers weren't always sold in flat, divided trays. There was a time when they came like this...
199799

Not recommending it as a practice, just sayin'...

We used to drown/burn people for being witches till we learned better too. ;)

[mdi]

Just a thought. How do ammo manufacturers get their primers? Are the primers shipped to the factories the same way we, as hobby reloaders get them, in trays of 100 in bricks of 500? For commercial manufacturing this seems very inefficient (someone would have to open the bricks, open the sleeves and dump the primers into a feeder) and I don't think a modern mass production facility would go for this...

[ReloaderFred]

I've gotten OEM CCI primers through my friend's Class 6 FFL. The only difference was they were unplated, and came in white boxes. The trays and outside packaging was the same as what consumers get, just different printing on the labels.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[dragon813gt]

Just a thought. How do ammo manufacturers get their primers? Are the primers shipped to the factories the same way we, as hobby reloaders get them, in trays of 100 in bricks of 500? For commercial manufacturing this seems very inefficient (someone would have to open the bricks, open the sleeves and dump the primers into a feeder) and I don't think a modern mass production facility would go for this...

I'd imagine they are in the same packaging just in larger quantities. Wouldn't be hard to have the tray in say 500 or 1000 count.

CCI has changed their packaging over the years. I still have a lot of the old ones where they were on their side and lined up in rows. The primers touched each other and the trays were a lot smarter. They changed the packaging for a reason and I trust their decision. Nothing takes up as much space as Federal packaging so I'm happy w/ CCI.

[MOA]

The good ole days.


https://s19.postimg.org/y2ubato5f/20150116_125533.jpg (https://postimage.org)

https://s19.postimg.org/optq6pkeb/20150116_125404.jpg (https://postimage.org)

https://s19.postimg.org/ance5h4eb/20150116_125506.jpg (https://postimage.org)

https://s19.postimg.org/jtq3f0k8z/20150116_125421.jpg (https://postimage.org)

[BNE]

I'd imagine they are in the same packaging just in larger quantities. Wouldn't be hard to have the tray in say 500 or 1000 count.

CCI has changed their packaging over the years. I still have a lot of the old ones where they were on their side and lined up in rows. The primers touched each other and the trays were a lot smarter. They changed the packaging for a reason and I trust their decision. Nothing takes up as much space as Federal packaging so I'm happy w/ CCI.

I does not really matter. A robot can be trained to do all the above - Open the box, orient the primer, and insert. Faster than we can see it done. And have multiple safety / vision / pressure sensitive measurements done in the process. I have no idea how they do it, but I know a robot could do all the above.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I cringe everytime I drop a primer. here's why.

In the 4th grade I brought a unloaded .22 Short case to school with me one day. I had pulled the bullet myself with pliers and dumped the powder the day before and it was a prize to me.

I had the empty case sitting on the top edge of my desk admiring it, when Ms. Biaggi walked by and her dress knocked the case off onto the floor,,, Where it promptly went off!

It was loud and scared the pee out of everyone in class,,, and I was promptly sent to the Principals Office which was not at all new to me at the time. I was pain in the butt at that time of my life, and Ms. Biaggi only had to look at me cross ways for me to leave the room. Pretty sure that chair in the office had my name on it permanently.

I cringe everytime I drop a .22 cartridge or primer ever since, and this has been going on for 56 years since that day.

This is a true story so don't discount the possibility. It can happen!

Yesterday I dropped a primer while filming one of my Videos and had the thought again, but it hit a carpet so no worries.

Randy

[castalott]

Someone told the story of someone she knew who found a 12 guage shell. No gun but the fork of a tree and a nail with a hammer ....and he lost all the fingers on one hand and both eyes....


I have no idea if it is true but it gives me chills when I think of what I did as a kid....

[mdi]

I does not really matter. A robot can be trained to do all the above - Open the box, orient the primer, and insert. Faster than we can see it done. And have multiple safety / vision / pressure sensitive measurements done in the process. I have no idea how they do it, but I know a robot could do all the above.
Hmmm. How did the primers get shipped before robots became popular in manufacturing, like 10-15 years ago? Personally, I don't thing a "package opening robot" is a viable method...

[dragon813gt]

Let's look at the big ammo manufacturers. They're ATK(Federal), Winchester and Remington. All three companies make their own primers. S&B is the same way. They aren't packaging primers for commercial sale and then having a robot unpackage them. The smaller brands most likely don't have robots so they will be loading the machines manually. It really doesn't matter to me because I don't buy factory ammo ;)

[garym1a2]

My guess is they will use a tape and reel system, sort of like a tape and reel system used in microelectronic assy. An antistate tape, with a plastic tape seal. Rolls of 3-5K.

Sort of like APS strips.


I'd imagine they are in the same packaging just in larger quantities. Wouldn't be hard to have the tray in say 500 or 1000 count.

CCI has changed their packaging over the years. I still have a lot of the old ones where they were on their side and lined up in rows. The primers touched each other and the trays were a lot smarter. They changed the packaging for a reason and I trust their decision. Nothing takes up as much space as Federal packaging so I'm happy w/ CCI.

[garym1a2]

I watched a couple you tube videos where use camadex machines and bowl feeders.

[kmrra]

after just one bottle I would have said NO, let alone filling 9 of them LOL

[DerekP Houston]

I have enough trouble losing 1-2 primers flipping the square package on to the round lee safety prime container, how on earth did he get them in those tiny pill bottles without making a mess?!

My primers stay in the same box I bought them in. Shelf space is limited but I'll make do.

Used primers I can imagine would be alright, but i've had a few squashed live primers get tossed in the mix so I stopped keeping a large container of spent primers hanging around. Recycle yard wasn't interested in them when I asked.

[dragon813gt]

I have enough trouble losing 1-2 primers flipping the square package on to the round lee safety prime container

Do you wanna know the trick to prevent that from happening?