Gun Show Find: Vintage Primers ID?

[zardoz]

Hello to all:

They had the gun show here yesterday, and one table was still asking over $50 for 1000 primers.

Then I found one table, that had 1000 for $30, but they were from an earlier time. I figured they would still be good, but this pre-dates my involvement with reloading.

One of the small inner boxes of 100, has a price of 74 cents on it, or less than a penny per primer. I am guessing this is from the 1970's? Can one of you fellows here give me an idea of when. Lot code on the box is 5 1365. Does that mean 1965? Surely not. Here is picture of what I got.

http://myfiero.com/uploads/20056_.jpg

[MtGun44]

I started reloading in 1967, this does not ring a bell. I was using Remington
primers then, so maybe I just didn't run across CCI primers that early in
my reloading career. It may be 1965, tho.

You'll have to find someone that specifically remembers that package type
to be sure.

Bill

[testhop]

thay are c.c.i i have some just like those .ngthem
i was given several thousand back in the late 50s or early 60s .
now that the primer shortage i am useing them so far no problums .

[Tom W.]

I too have a bunch of those left. And a lot of old Federal primers. They work just as well as the new ones..

The lot code on mine is 5 (?) 1195

[HeavyMetal]

CCI used this box in the late 60's to early 1971 or so.

I still have a few box's indentical in size and color! At 30 a thousand I'd have snapped up a few if he'd had more!

[Char-Gar]

Those CCI primers are packaged like the one's I used in the 60's. I still have some and they work just fine. When the Viet Nam war heated up in 1965 I laid in a supply and still have a thousand of the SR type.

[mike in co]

does that say fed mart on the sticker ?
it was member discount store in the san diego area in the early 60's...not sure when they closed down.

mike in co

[Buckshot]

does that say fed mart on the sticker ?
it was member discount store in the san diego area in the early 60's...not sure when they closed down.

mike in co

............Mike, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FedMart

...........Buckshot

[9.3X62AL]

I have a LOT of LP (#300) and a smaller amount of SRM (#450) packaged in the motif shown in your photo. They work quite well.

Properly stored, the shelf life of primers is numbered in decades.

[Bret4207]

Had some of that era, they worked fine. Storage is the key.

[Boz330]

Anybody have an idea of how many years back Remington packaged primers like this. Loose in a jar.

Bob

[357maximum]

Anybody have an idea of how many years back Remington packaged primers like this. Loose in a jar.

Bob

NO, but I bet I know why they stopped that practice. [smilie=1: KABOOM

I was given several K of winchester STAYNLESS primers in wood trays a few years back. They must have been stored properly ..they all went bang. The fella that gave them to me simply wanted the packages back...I was more than happy to empty them for him.[smilie=1:

The same gift also included a mason jar of asst SR/LR/LP/209 primers....not knowing what they were I put them all into a couple of spent plastic boolit lube sleeves and taped them together. Set them on my 100yard pile and put a 7mm/08 round into the mass....1 big blue smoky boom with a few popcorn pops afterwards....it was quite neat. Primers loose in a jar is a bad idea....mean ol mr gravity is gonna get ya at some point.

[cowboyt]

last year during the primer shortage I remembered that I had stashed a brick of rem 1 1/2's in a 20mm can in my dad's barn-dug them out and still work fine! - this are the old rem green&red box's with wood tray's--if their kept cool and dry they last just fine!!!

cowboyt

[Rocky Raab]

Coincidentally, While I was talking to the CCI guys at SHOT Show, a man walked up with a "green diamond" box exactly like that. He too was curious about when they were made.

The CCI guy glanced at the lot number and without hesitation said "1954." I started reloading in 1957 and distinctly remember those boxes, so your box may well be from 1955. The company name was originally Cascade Cartridge Inc, btw.

[zardoz]

Amazing. Yes, that sticker does indeed say FED MART.

So, there is the distinct possibility these are from mid 1950's, which is to say older than my teeth at this point. Eisenhower days. What we wouldn't give now days?

I'm set for awhile on SP primers for now, but this was too intriguing a find to let go. He also had some old Federal LP, probably from the same era.

[Rocky Raab]

Here's an interesting company history: LINK (http://www.cci-ammunition.com/general/history.aspx)

I was surprised to learn that his first contract was for corrosive chlorate primers for the military. I had always believed that CCI never made anything but non-corrosive. But it IS true to say that they never made any for the civilian market.

Long before I was able to vote (it was age 21 then), I proudly wore an "I Like Ike" button - and the chief reason I liked him was that he hunted quail with a .410, as I did back then.

[454PB]

The price seems high. I was paying $.39 per hundred when I started handloading in 1968.

I'm still using a large lot of primers purchased at a garage sale that were made in 1976.

[Boz330]

NO, but I bet I know why they stopped that practice. [smilie=1: KABOOM

I was given several K of winchester STAYNLESS primers in wood trays a few years back. They must have been stored properly ..they all went bang. The fella that gave them to me simply wanted the packages back...I was more than happy to empty them for him.[smilie=1:

The same gift also included a mason jar of asst SR/LR/LP/209 primers....not knowing what they were I put them all into a couple of spent plastic boolit lube sleeves and taped them together. Set them on my 100yard pile and put a 7mm/08 round into the mass....1 big blue smoky boom with a few popcorn pops afterwards....it was quite neat. Primers loose in a jar is a bad idea....mean ol mr gravity is gonna get ya at some point.

You had to be smart enough in the old days to not shake them or do something stupid. Kept the gene pool honest. That is some thick glass to, it would make a respectable grenade. I'm guessing these are from the late 40s or early 50s. Came from a bunch of stuff a friends dad had. There were also a bunch of the wooden tray primer boxes as well.
A little more nostalgia below. The price on the 4198 is $3.15 and that is a full can.

Bob

[Ed Barrett]

I went to a gunshow in Springfield Missouri this weekend. Primers were priced from $29.00 to $52.00 per brick. The guy selling for 52.00 wasn't selling a lot of primers. Of course they were much better primers, since they cost more. (G)

ps this was for Winchester Large rifle and small pistol.

[cajun shooter]

I worked in a gun store in 1971 and the primer boxes were red and white for CCI at a cost of $5.50 a thousand. We were paying jobber price for all CCI and Speer products. I started reloading in the late 60's after coming home from the military and I think the green box was before that.

[Bill*]

Are we still allowed to use the word "Vintage"? I thought Ebay bought the rights to it! :mrgreen:

[Typecaster]

I think I'm vintage.

Richard