Primer Storage Solutions?

[ryanmattes]

With the primer shortage recently I've been picking up what I can find for a reasonable price, which means instead of having a single box full of CCI bricks with a few loose 100 packs, I have tons of different 100 packs of varying sizes and shapes to store.

I'm trying to find a reasonable way to store all the loose, variously-sized packs of primers, and I haven't come up with a good solution yet.

I keep powder in a separate, wood cabinet, and keep the primers in ammo cans on the bottom shelf of a locking, metal cabinet where my gunsmithing tools are. But stacked in an ammo can I have to take a bunch out to get to the ones I want.

Anyone have a good solution for primer storage? Even if it's a DIY cabinet or box, I'm willing to build to get something that's convenient and safe.

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[onelight]

I use the small ammo cans and rubber band like box's together . But still have to do a bit of digging. I have them in the house and prefer ammo cans when possible.
I look forward to hearing other ideas .

[ryanmattes]

My brother does woodworking as a hobby, and he's pretty good at things like walnut jewelry boxes and stuff, so if I give him a challenge he'll definitely take it up. But I'm at a loss for a good, convenient design that doesn't end up the size of a bookshelf.

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[Ickisrulz]

I use a big Igloo cooler.

[onelight]

I have thought that a container that is open on the sides for loading the primer boxes with a handle on top could be built that would set into a 50 cal ammo can might be handy but have not taken the time to put plans together to build one. I may pursue if my currant system gets to annoying :)

[tazman]

With the primer shortage recently I've been picking up what I can find for a reasonable price, which means instead of having a single box full of CCI bricks with a few loose 100 packs, I have tons of different 100 packs of varying sizes and shapes to store.

I'm trying to find a reasonable way to store all the loose, variously-sized packs of primers, and I haven't come up with a good solution yet.

I keep powder in a separate, wood cabinet, and keep the primers in ammo cans on the bottom shelf of a locking, metal cabinet where my gunsmithing tools are. But stacked in an ammo can I have to take a bunch out to get to the ones I want.

Anyone have a good solution for primer storage? Even if it's a DIY cabinet or box, I'm willing to build to get something that's convenient and safe.

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You will need to start by sorting all the boxes of primers by brand and type. Then tie them together and put each brand and type in it's own box or carton(even tupperware will work for this). Make sure to label the containers. If you label the ends of the containers, you can stack them and read what is inside.
If you are short of shelf space, a tote or large cooler would do the job. Place the containers on end and you can read the labels.

[Baltimoreed]

My wife’s uncle used an old dead fridge to store primers and powder in his basement. I have a small chest freezer that I removed the base from [that housed the mechanics of it] and then set it on a 2x6 frame with dolly wheels for extra store bought ammo. It lives under my work bench in my shop. My bricks of primers are in sealed bags in my old gun safe in the house. A hint for your primer and powder storage, date them as you buy them so you can rotate your stock and use the oldest first. And keep a key sheet so as you consume them you cross them off the list. My list is stuck to the safe with a magnet. The bricks of primers that I’m currently using are on a shelf in my reloading room, SR-LR-SP-LP.

[Bazoo]

Some of the stores I've bought pads from have the sleeves taped with scotch tape. If taped, they can be stored in whatever without fear if them getting scattered.

[Kevin Rohrer]

I throw mine on a basement shelf. Cool and dry, no worries. They set w/ the powder.

[JimB..]

Sort them by type, then take them out of the packaging and put them in baby food jars with labels, makes storage a lot easier.

Ok, I’m kidding.

If you’re storing the 100 packs that are the current win/cci/s&b size then just build a box that looks like a scaled-down cd box. Put the primer boxes in on edge so you can read the label. Put a sliding top on it if you want, and if you really want to go crazy put a rebate on the upper edge that fits into the bottom so you can stack them.

Another way to visualize it is a drawer to a card catalog, but you said no cabinet.

I keep most of mine in 5 drawer lateral file cabinets, but there are the 10-20k that I’m working with kept in aero bins by type in the reloading room.

There is no advantage to keeping them in an ammo box other than that it’s easy to pick up and move around.

[Gtrubicon]

Store them in the bottom of the brass they were made to be in.

[tazman]

My loading area is in my basement where it is always cool and dry. I built two sets of heavy duty shelves from 2X4 lumber and half inch plywood with plenty of braces and support.
The shelves hold my cast boolits on one set and my primers and 22lr ammo on the other set. My powder is scattered around on other shelves so it isn't all in one spot.
Loaded ammo goes into boxes stored in totes that fit under the bottom shelf. Each tote holds a different rifle caliber. Pistol ammo is stored in 20cal and 50cal ammo cans, sealed, labeled, and stacked under the other set of shelves.

Gotta love those ammo cans. The seals work really well. I had 5 of them under water for 4 straight days due to a heavy rainstorm in a house I lived in before I retired. Nothing got the least bit wet. All the ammo worked as intended.

[ryanmattes]

I've got a pretty good system for most of it. In the pics below I've got dirty brass in the black plastic bins, deprimed and various stages of cleaning in translucent bins,

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201222/947cb0283f22b53c2bc957212e83094e.jpg

the shelf is full of primed brass ready to load and bullets both cast and commercial (with my casting and coating gear below it),

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201222/c1cc475c2a567d2abb2ee2a6aefed433.jpg

and then smaller bins of loaded ammo for the bulk stuff.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201222/69e2738c386ba90fc34283ee8179cd4e.jpg

Precision rifle I keep in the boxes as sets, whether dirty or cleaned and primed (I mark the boxes with how many times they've been sized and whether it was full-length or neck only).

I have a separate, locking cabinet with all my tools, dies, etc, and loaded ammo, and I keep my primers in there. 10k primers easily fit in a .30 ammo can when it was mostly bricks of CCI and Rem, but the Federal packaging is something like 4 times larger than CCI, and almost half of my primers are Federal right now.

I'm thinking something like card file drawers might be the best way to mix these different sizes and keep them organized. I'm tiring of having to take a few dozen packs out to get what I'm looking for, and then have to figure out how to stack them back in there.

[MrWolf]

I am in the process of finally unpacking everything and organizing. Even then I doubt I will be as organized as some here. My primers are still in the original 1,000 boxes. I did manage to drop a 100 box and found all but three. Look again this morning when I try and get more work done.

[dtknowles]

Why not just stack them on a shelf like they would be in a store?

Tim

[Chad5005]

i keep all my primers in 50cal plastic mtm ammo cans sorted by manufacture and type and loaded ammo in 50cal and 30cal ammo cans in crates and use a few silica packs in each

[farmbif]

when I started gettin g real serious in reloading a lot of different calibers I would get several hundred of different brands and types of primers, because different reloading data called for different brand primers, and stored them in cardboard boxes that would fit inside a drawer. I would put all the primer pkgs on edge so I could see what they were. still have a couple of those old boxes for stray 100 packs. had an old dresser I used for storage and organization of stuff in my first real reloading room

[lightman]

I store mine in their original boxes stacked on shelves. I try to keep size, type and brand together.

[Vegas Vince]

I use 2 old refrigerators (not working) one for powder & one for primers. Keeps moisture out, nice & dry.

[onelight]

Why not just stack them on a shelf like they would be in a store?

Tim
Don't be ridiculous , it's got to be better if it cost money and takes many hours to put together :bigsmyl2:

[Hossfly]

Don't be ridiculous , it's got to be better if it cost money and takes many hours to put together :bigsmyl2:

My thought exactly, why buy something for $10.00 when you can build your own for $100.00.

[ryanmattes]

I have limited shelf space right now, and the primers I have stacked in the cabinet now are taking up space I'd rather use for something else. And I'd like to be able to move them all easily, since I don't plan to stay in this house but a few more years.

Ammo cans work, but if what I need isn't on top I have to take a bunch out and then repack everything back in each time. It's not all that much effort, but I was wondering if one of you guys who have been doing this decades longer than I have had some simple, effective solution that I just haven't thought of.

Or if there was some existing box or rack that was just the right size, like a card file drawer or something. Or, you know, something like the old Saltines tins that just happen to fit (they don't, I checked).

Push comes to shove, I'll cobble something together, or maybe get my brother to put a box or drawer together that lets me pack them away efficiently, so I don't have to regularly unpack and repack them.

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[Pigboat]

Ammo cans work, but if what I need isn't on top I have to take a bunch out and then repack everything back in each time. It's not all that much effort, but I was wondering if one of you guys who have been doing this decades longer than I have had some simple, effective solution that I just haven't thought of.


I used to have the same problem but then started sealing mine in those ziplock vacuum bags with a food saver vac. and then putting them in the ammo cans. There's enough excess bag at the top you can label and store them like files in a drawer. These are the leftovers after I ran out of cans.

https://i.postimg.cc/L6J77L0D/primer-storage.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Handloader109]

I keep my stash in a couple of metal ammo cans. 50 cal models from mainly HF which are way better than the American made that Walmart used to stock (those had warped hinges and were pretty cheap junk). The best I found that the primer boxes fit into perfectly was a larger can that I bought from Academy. I haven't seen any available in 6 months, but they are slightly larger than 50 cal boxed and all the various primer boxes fit snug.

[Cord]

I don't like having my primers exposed to the air;
Once when using some that were stored on a shelf for a long time,
I noticed the edges of the priming compound turning dark and shrinking.
They still worked, but it bothered me.

Now they are in plastic Seal-Rite type boxes with the four locking tabs on top,
the size for storing pasta or cereal. Most of the containers will hold 8 bricks each.
There is a container for bricks of each type, and a post-it note on each brick
with the year purchased for rotating, which is just reverse stacking them in an empty.
It's sad to look at the old price tags.

When I pull out a brick and start using it, it goes into a separate box marked "In Use"
so that one is my go-to box with some of each and avoids digging through a bunch of different boxes.

This year I took inventory and made a spreadsheet to balance primers and j-words
and make sure there are enough for shooting cast.
.

[jpamp]

I like large Akron bins for primers in my cabinet, east to just pull out the bin for that size primer etc. I assume ammo cans would work too.