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Thread: Vacuum Packed Primers

  1. #1
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Vacuum Packed Primers

    Has anyone else tried vacuum packing primers long term? I put some S&B in a bag and have a couple of cases of them. Any idea's on whether this will be better than a milar bag and O2 pack?

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  2. #2
    Boolit Master Half Dog's Avatar
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    I would like to know too. Great question!
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  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    It sounds like a great idea for long term storage, but, given the various posts I've read here about folks having zero issues using 50+ years old primers that were just in their original packaging and stuck up on a shelf somewhere in the house, how much are you gaining? Wouldn't a .50 cal ammo can with a good seal gain you the same moisture protection and at the same time be a bit more convenient?

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    Ultimately what you’re doing is protecting the cardboard packaging. I am currently working through primers from 1976, not a single failure or anything strange. “Carefully” stored on shelves in a closet or in a filing cabinet. Have moved a few times.

    I’ve thought about sealing some up for storage in the basement, but they aren’t bothering anything where they are.

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master


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    Seems like a waste of time to me. You can buy sealed boxes cheap enough. I store mine in MTM ammo crates. If you really want overkill, put them in ammo crates, and then put those in an old refrigerator. The best storage for primers is inside of loaded ammo.

  6. #6
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    Vacuum sealing is probably a waste of time....unless you live down in a swamp or the rain forest. Stories of many decades old primers stored in plain cabinets abound on here - - with almost 100% success on fire rate. I sure would not use my food storage vacuum bags for primers. But they are all stored INSIDE in climate-controlled rooms and, I live in the desert SW.

    The call is entirely up to you.

    banger

  7. #7
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    Is it better?
    Yes.

    However; unless you live in some extremely humid sort of climate, It's a solution for a non-existent problem.
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  8. #8
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    I've picked up primers from a flooded basement - let 'em dry well and sorted 'em out from the ruined boxes (most were still in the trays) and shot 'em . It's my understanding the compounds are installed wet anyway, so as long as they're not underwater long enough for the material to start migrating, and they return to 100% dry, oughta work. But sealing sure can't hurt !

  9. #9
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I was thinking about my hunting camp. -40 in winter and 80 in summer. Humid
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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by jonp View Post
    I was thinking about my hunting camp. -40 in winter and 80 in summer. Humid
    I've had .38s go through the washing machine and still work fine.
    However; When in doubt--- paint over the primer with finger nail polish like the military does theirs.

    If I was hunting in such temperature extremes-
    I'd be much more concerned about how high and low temps. effect bullet velocity,
    and how it relates to point of aim and point of impact.

    Sealing the primers, or not, would be WAY down on my list of priorities.
    Last edited by Winger Ed.; 04-11-2021 at 03:18 PM.
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    OK People. Enough of this idle chit-chat.
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  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master
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    If I was going to store them for decades, I would vacuum pack them. My concern is rust/tarnishing.

    I plan to do that for primers that will be put away for a long time in an unheated outbuilding. You cannot legally store more than 10k in your home in most areas....plus they are dangerous in a fire. At the current value of primers, I will err on the safe side....even if it a waste of time.

    I get rolls of vacuum packing for less than $20 so not expensive to do.
    Don Verna


  12. #12
    Boolit Master VariableRecall's Avatar
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    If your primers are vacuum sealed you may be able to get away with storing them in a place that is not temperature or humidity controlled. Still, you might want to check on your primer hoard every once and a while and see if their seals were compromised from time to time if you are storing them in a shed or something.

  13. #13
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    Looks like a great idea for a Canoe trip, maybe put a piece of Styrofoam in each one, so they float
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  14. #14
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    It works for food so I see no reason it wouldn’t work for other things including primers as well as powder.
    "The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion."
    - Albert Camus -

  15. #15
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    i had a few hundred winchester primers that came in wooden trays. shot them and they worked fine. all but 1 tray are gone. used the other 2 up about 6 or 8 years ago. anyone that might know their vintage??

  16. #16
    Boolit Master Gtrubicon's Avatar
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    What does it hurt? Nothing! Most of us have used primers that are at least 40 years old, stored in various conditions. Pretty comfortable to say none were vacuum sealed. I like the idea from the standpoint of maybe they will be useful in the next century or beyond, you never know where they will end up over time. If we preserve our surplus the best we can, it is only for the better.

  17. #17
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    I say, "Go For It!", nothing ventured, nothing gained. Myself, don't see the need, but that's just me.
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  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    I had picked some up at a flea market, I think it was 20 bucks 900 mixed, Some 308 projectiles 180 grain soft points and a tool box.
    So far everything has popped. Something like 700 sm pistol, Lg rifle etc.

  19. #19
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by jonp View Post
    I was thinking about my hunting camp. -40 in winter and 80 in summer. Humid
    Sounds like a good place to have supplies for TEOTWAWKI. I can't imagine a need for loading centerfire hunting ammo in a camp otherwise, but I confess that I'm not a hunter, so please correct any misconceptions on my part.

  20. #20
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by kevin c View Post
    Sounds like a good place to have supplies for TEOTWAWKI. I can't imagine a need for loading centerfire hunting ammo in a camp otherwise, but I confess that I'm not a hunter, so please correct any misconceptions on my part.
    I reload at camp to target shoot there. We are there off and on year round not just for hunting. I keep a full reloading set-up there. Press, dies, bullets, powder and primers for all calibers I own to save hauling things back and forth. Keep clothes, food, fishing gear, etc. Everything I might need so I can jump in the truck and just show up
    Last edited by jonp; 04-12-2021 at 08:04 AM.
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BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
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GC Gas Check