Bad time to have a flood?

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

Deja vu

New member
I reload in the basement and I always keep my powder sealed but I am afraid that the humidity got to my primers...

The primers seem to still go off but they back out even with no powder or bullet in the casing. It stops my revolvers from being able to turn. It doesn’t seem to mess with my lever action or bolt action 357s.

What could be causing this? Do I have to go get more primers in the current market? It’s sad cause I had about 25k primers (federal small magnum pistol primers)

Fortunately my large rifle primers where not in the basement as I was letting my brother use them to reload.
 
I know of one guy who was given thousands of wet primers and he dried them out (gun smith and shooter).

The issue of course is they are explosives (unlike gun powder) and can chain react when one goes off (cascade).

The primer boxes are designed to stop that (no idea if they do, not something anyone really wants to try).

Unclenick might have an idea on spacing to dry.

While I DO NOT ADVISE ANYONE TO DO SO, I did it with some primers my brother gave me that had gotten wet. 100 at a time and a 12 x 12 board in sunlight.

The gun smith had no issues and I had no issues (I did not try to fire damp, dried first)
 
The primers seem to still go off but they back out even with no powder or bullet in the casing. It stops my revolvers from being able to turn. It doesn’t seem to mess with my lever action or bolt action 357s.

What could be causing this? Do I have to go get more primers in the current market? It’s sad cause I had about 25k primers (federal small magnum pistol primers)
Click to expand...
Shooting cases with only primers (no bullet, no powder), makes the primers back out and tie-up your revolver. Don't do it...there is nothing wrong with those primers, it is what primers do when the case is not pushed back by a charge and bullet being fired. I learned that the hard way.
 
Um, perhaps putting them in a closed container (plastic) with silica gel and getting the moisture out?

ALWAYS store powder and primers in plastic ammo cans with silica gel, ALWAYS. even in a house humidity can have significant fluctuations and effect powder and primers.
 
Last edited:
Deja vu said:
I reload in the basement and I always keep my powder sealed but I am afraid that the humidity got to my primers...



The primers seem to still go off but they back out even with no powder or bullet in the casing. It stops my revolvers from being able to turn. It doesn’t seem to mess with my lever action or bolt action 357s.



What could be causing this? Do I have to go get more primers in the current market? It’s sad cause I had about 25k primers (federal small magnum pistol primers)



Fortunately my large rifle primers where not in the basement as I was letting my brother use them to reload.
Click to expand...
Primers will back out in a revolver if firing them in empty cases.

Sent from my SM-G781U1 using Tapatalk
 
If you drill the flash hole open to 1/8", the primers won't back out. Been doing that for years, to shoot paraffin bullets.
 
Um, perhaps putting them in a close container with silica gel and getting the moisture out?
Click to expand...

Do not put primers in a closed container. Its called a Hand Grenade!!!!~~!!~~~~~~

Powder should have a vent path as well.
 
RC20

PLASTIC ammo can...

If your going to quote, please quote all of it, or at least clarify rather than taking me out of context.

"ALWAYS store powder and primers in plastic ammo cans with silica gel, ALWAYS. even in a house humidity can have significant fluctuations and effect powder and primers."

Also as you stated regarding primer cascades "The primer boxes are designed to stop that (no idea if they do, not something anyone really wants to try)."

A plastic ammo can, crate, or large tupperware will not hold much if any pressure, the risk of a hand grenade is non existent in my mind, but it will keep moisture out.
 
Last edited:
Primers have a layer of protection between the outside world and the cake mix (explosive mix). They are pretty forgiving about storage. Fire a primer in an uncharged case. Does it back out a little? Mine do. Tells me you have an undercharged case.

Ron
 
PLASTIC ammo can...

If your going to quote, please quote all of it, or at least clarify rather than taking me out of context.

"ALWAYS store powder and primers in plastic ammo cans with silica gel, ALWAYS. even in a house humidity can have significant fluctuations and effect powder and primers."

Also as you stated regarding primer cascades "The primer boxes are designed to stop that (no idea if they do, not something anyone really wants to try)."

A plastic ammo can, crate, or large tupperware will not hold much if any pressure, the risk of a hand grenade is non existent in my mind, but it will keep moisture out.
Click to expand...

Excuse me all to heck.

Any container that blows is going to shrapnel and primers are an explosive.

Powder does not need silica anything, keep the lid on it when not using. Its not like you are going to have a magic barrier while you fish out a charge. Its going to be open and on the bench absorbing whatever level of humidity there is.

Smokeless Powder is not classified as an explosive but you will note if you read the link, you want to have a gas path to vent it.

Primers are packed in trays and boxed to be as harmless as possible if they do go boom

Is it rare? Yes. But its known as a toggle action. Like a plane crash, its lethal if it does and you are the one it does it to.

I won't tell you what to do of course, hopefully if it happens its only you that suffers.

But the understanding and handling of these has come at the cost of lives and lessons learned for others if not you.
 
RC20 said:
Excuse me all to heck.

Any container that blows is going to shrapnel and primers are an explosive.

Powder does not need silica anything, keep the lid on it when not using. Its not like you are going to have a magic barrier while you fish out a charge. Its going to be open and on the bench absorbing whatever level of humidity there is.

Smokeless Powder is not classified as an explosive but you will note if you read the link, you want to have a gas path to vent it.

Is it rare? Yes. But its known as a toggle action. Like a plane crash, its lethal if it does and you are the one it does it to.

I won't tell you what to do of course, hopefully if it happens its only you that suffers.

But the understanding and handling of these has come at the cost of lives and lessons learned for others if not you.
Click to expand...

nope you are not excused. By your logic the individual trays are a container, and the 1000rnd box is a container, and the cardboard case they were shipped in is a container. It all depends on the type of container, how much pressure it can contain, and how many primers you have in it.. I would bet that if 100 primers detonated at the same time in a 50cal ammo can nothing would happen as the volume of the can should be more than adequate to contain the gasses without rupturing.

Powder, primers, and loaded ammo should be stored in a cool DRY location to maximize its shelf life. Silica gel absorbs moisture keeping it DRY.

The point is a plastic container like a plastic ammo can, will flex and unseal under minimal pressure VENTING the gasses rather than exploding

Ideally you want to store powder and primers separately, but both still in a cool dry location

"is it rare? Yes. But its known as a toggle action. Like a plane crash, its lethal if it does and you are the one it does it to." Huh? What are you calling a toggle action? What is lethal if it does it. what would you be doing? as near as i can tell you are talking about rounds in a tube magazine detonating each other from recoil. in which case you would mist likely have your hand injured, but it would most likely not be lethal, although unplesant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GkaNg6S0H4

You are trying to tell me what to do, in a very passive agressive manner

"But the understanding and handling of these has come at the cost of lives and lessons learned for others if not you." Please, cite some reasonable examples... not the guy with 10,000 primers in a locked safe next to his bed...
 
Last edited:
dahermit said:
Shooting cases with only primers (no bullet, no powder), makes the primers back out and tie-up your revolver. Don't do it...there is nothing wrong with those primers, it is what primers do when the case is not pushed back by a charge and bullet being fired. I learned that the hard way.
Click to expand...

This is correct. If testing primers to see if they work, you will run into problems if you aren't using a bullet in the case. Every time you fire a gun the primer ignites and and backs out. Once the powder ignites, forces the bullet down the barrel and slams the case back, the primer reseats itself.
 
reddog81 said:
This is correct. If testing primers to see if they work, you will run into problems if you aren't using a bullet in the case. Every time you fire a gun the primer ignites and and backs out. Once the powder ignites, forces the bullet down the barrel and slams the case back, the primer reseats itself.
Click to expand...
I was always told never to fire on a primer only, as depending on the gun the firing pin could pierce the primer and get stuck. Based on this I'm thinking it might only be an issue in some firearms.
 
Primers are fine.
Primers are made under water to begin with and dried out before we get them. I have accidently ran primed cases through my ultrasonic cleaner with dirty cases and when I discovered it, I set them up on a shelf for a couple months to dry out. I used them and they fired just fine.
I couldn't tell a difference between the ones I dried out and the new primers.
 
You are trying to tell me what to do, in a very passive agressive manner
Click to expand...

To make it clear, you can do anything you want and I could care less.

Others reading the nonsense and believing it are at risk.

You clearly not only have zero expertise but certainly have opinions. You have the right to express those and I have the right to correct them.

Opinions are not facts and those have been presented whether you like it or not.
 
RC20

You do care, quite obviously, as demonstrated by your vehement responses. I know you do, you can lay off the act.

Might I ask who gave you the RIGHT to CORRECT my opinions? That sounds a awful lot like telling me what to do.... I though you were not doing that?

You have no idea what I have expertise in, or my experience level is.

You have failed to present facts, or use common sense or logic in your reasoning, just wrote statement of what are, in your opinion, facts.

Rather than continuing to hijack this thread I started a new one. With some facts included. Feel free to chime in.https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=609895
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top