Old Primers

briandg:
I believe that it may have been during the primer scare as well. people who had connections were walking into places, being notified,and walking out with cases. some people back stocked cases. A butt load of these things are working their way back into the system, hoarders dying and widows selling. A year ago I found a pile of them from the seventies at a store.
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I can explain why I still have tens of thousands. During the early and mid 1990s my wife and I owned a gun shop. One large niche for us was we stocked and sold reloading components. When we sold the business the buyer could not afford all of the inventory. We dragged literally hundreds of pounds of powder and other components to gun shows just to get rid of it. Even after that I ended up with a small mountain of components including primers. Over the past few decades I have worked down the piles but when I see a good deal I still buy components. I never want to get caught short if another Sandy Hook happens or the political winds change direction. Anyway, this is how I ended up with so many primers, powder and bullets. Heck, I still have 500 round bricks of assorted 22 LR and during the recent shortage gave thousands to my son so he and his friends could shoot. All of it left overs. :)

Ron
 
During Clinton I bought three magazines, a pistol,about six thousand primers, and only a few cans of powder.couldn't afford much else. My brother, otoh, spent maybe five to ten thousand bucks on rifles and magazines to sell after the bans,bought them on credit.

I was investing in mutual funds. I won that game. I may be income challenged now, and don't have many toys, but my 401k is almost where I want it to be.
 
briandg:
During Clinton I bought three magazines, a pistol,about six thousand primers, and only a few cans of powder.couldn't afford much else. My brother, otoh, spent maybe five to ten thousand bucks on rifles and magazines to sell after the bans,bought them on credit.

I was investing in mutual funds. I won that game. I may be income challenged now, and don't have many toys, but my 401k is almost where I want it to be.
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If your 401K is about where you want it to be then I would say you are hardly income challenged. :)

Your brother made a bad investment as once a drought passes a $1,000 AR suddenly becomes a $500 AR. Guns are not a wise or fiscally responsible investment when you can't buy low and sell high.

Ron
 
A 401 k isn't income for another twelve years. Been a lot of trouble in the past decade. Thank God for health insurance.

He was very overconfident, and reckless. He also bought and restored vintage mustang, but wound up keeping most of them. The ar rifles were, in fact, over a thousand. He bough a nine mms upper?

I have a grudging respect for him, but he was always on the edge of disaster.

A really decent guy who is just as dumb as a possum. He has said the same about me, but his judgment has always been questionable.

He's probably on the high road.
 
He is why I moved to Memphis. Well, maybe the rest of my family had a hand in it. Bought my first pistol there. The guy I bought it from wound up in prison for selling "explosive devices" that I believe were grenades, but we can't Always believe it when people tell stories.
 
I'm still using primers packaged like that.....when did they get old !
I bought up several cartons at a gun show years ago , that were dirt cheap by todays prices( $10.00 per 1000 carton ) at that price I stocked up . Primers have a very long shelf life and are quite stable .
Those should be just fine !
Gary
 
Back in 2000/02 I had a job that over worked me but paid really good. I used to stop off every payday and buy reloading supplies to shoot up if I ever got the time. I'm wishing now I had bought more...

Tony
 
Some days, like right now, I can barely walk, don't shoot anywhere near as much. I need to go load up a bunch of nine and go tomorrow while the heat is off.
 
briandg wrote:
I may be income challenged now, and don't have many toys, but my 401k is almost where I want it to be.
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Congratulations. That is an accomplishment to be justly proud of.
 
Has anyone ever noticed when we look for storage data on primers everything seems to point to a "cool dry location". Ever wonder exactly what a cool dry place is? Well I asked CCI what they thought.

"While there is no shortage of primer storage data available from organizations the climate control seems to always come down to "store in a cool dry place". Can the CCI experts please define a cool dry place?
For example a temperature below or between and a RH (Relative Humidity) below or between using actual numbers?"


Thank You

Ron Blain
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Their reply was:
Ron,

If the temperature was kept between 50 and 80 degrees and 40% humidity or less your primers would store for a very long time.

Cody B./Technical Service Rep.
2299 Snake River Ave.
Lewiston, ID 83501
Alliant/Blazer/CCI/Speer
(800)379-1732
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CCI has always been very good with their Ask The Experts information.

Ron
 
Cool, dry, it is defined by a basement with zip lock bags and large silica gel dry packs.

In my case I don't bother with bags. since my basement stays cool and humidity stays stable
 
Betting on what the economy will do is risky for financial professionals, so I don't have a chance!

I go with what I know, my mortgage is paid off, my vehicles are older but well kept, I have more in home canning & gardening equipment than I have in ammunition/components.
I don't shoot 3 times a day, or even every day, I DO EAT 3 TIMES EVERY DAY!

The corn, green beans, squash, pickles (and a lot of other good stuff!) Is already in storage!
Tomatoes are kicking my butt now, no 'Free Time' at all with juice, pulp, bbq sauce, pasta sauce, etc all going up now!
A big (economy in volume), high quality pressure canner costs what an 'Also Ran' progressive reloader does, but gives you EXACTLY what you like to eat, CLEAN FOOD, and storage for years if you can/store it correctly.

Priorities boys, Priorities!

I did get stuck with 50,000 primers a while back for a contract that fell through, but I got a crazy good deal on them so no sweat... They get stored with the canned goods, cool & dry...
I normally like fresh primers since I don't load much 'blasting' ammo, but when the opertunity presents itself a little surplus isn't a bad thing if you have room,
AND APPROATE STORAGE!
NO 500 POUNDS OF GUNPOWDER IN THE HOUSE!

Not like the idiot up state that tried to hot can .22 rimfire in his oven and burned the house down a while back! :(
He 'Only' had the oven set on 275*F for 'About' an hour! Couldn't understand why the house burned, it went 'Fine' on the YouTube video he watched!

I think I'll stick to dried air in ammo cans for storage! ;)
 
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By the way, the local farm store is selling ARs for $299 after rebate.
I was just in there getting canning lids & a strainer.

I remember 'Pre Ban' lower receivers selling for $500 to $1,000...
 
Board member Slamfire put up a description of Naval Ordnance testing of M80 cartridges with something like 18 months exposure to 140°F. It made the powder dangerous by spoiling the deterrent coatings, making its burn rate increased. But I don't recall the primers even noticing it.

We've also had folks on other boards intentionally try to neutralize primers with WD-40, kerosene, water, soapy water and other items that conventional wisdom held should knock them out, but after drying them off they all worked. As I mentioned in post 11, The military tests them for function down to -65°F. So, while I won't say a primer is completely indestructible, as the Arizona summers in a car trunk I referred to can kill some, but it seems they withstand about anything a human can withstand and clearly are more stable than gunpowder. So if your gunpowder keeps working and your primers are kept in the same conditions, they are even more certain to be fine.
 
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