Do Primers Go Bad

[John Klingenberg]

I'm using the RCBS hand priming tool and both the rifles are Rugers. One is the Predator and the other a standard. They have no issues with factory ammo. I used the same powder in .257 Roberts loads with pre primed casings with no issues. It has to either be the primers or the guy holding the priming tool(me) I'm not ruling out either one.
I have been considering a bench primer just for the ease of use with arthritic hands. They get sore pretty easily.

Just a swipe of your finger across a primer can make them unreliable. Just a little of your skin oils or resizing lube can ruin one. I have primers I use that are close to 20 years old from a large buy i made. Theyve been in hot Texas, moderate New Mexico, cold Michigan, always dry but not temp regulated and theyve been fine. I'd assess your process more than anything.

 

[arch408]

If all failures were same lot, I'd suspect the primers. Maybe contamination. Oil, WD40, case lube, etc. If you use a spray case lube, always orient the case with the primer pocket away from the spray so none can get in the into the primer pocket. Never handle the primer. Sweat or case lube on you hands could possibly contaminate the primer. Make sure primers are seated correctly. Primer pockets could be too deep and the firing pin might not reach far enough. Could be lots of reasons. Good luck

 

[Dhawk]

I have used 20 year old primers , no problem. Must be something besides age.

 

[Oi.223]

In the early-mid 60's, I purchased surplus 4831 at a reloading clinic. They dispensed it into paper bagswith the admonition to put it in air tight containers, and protect them from the sun or extreme heat.
I shot up the last of it a few years ago. That means I had it for over 40 years and it was maybe 20-25 years old when they sold it to me.

 

[Guns416]

I was out shooting some reloads yesterday in a 6.5 CM comparing them to some factory loads. I had a couple hang fires and a couple no fire in the reloads. There's plenty of primer/pin contact and no issues with the factory loads. All I can figure is that the primers are too old?

I have used primers that are over 20 years old and never had a problem with them. Just as long as you keep them cool and dry I think they will be okay for a very long time. I have some old Winchester primers that are in card board outer boxes and little wooden trays. I am going to try those and try some new Federal match primers and shoot them over a crony and see what the results are.

 

[Buck Buster]

I was out shooting some reloads yesterday in a 6.5 CM comparing them to some factory loads. I had a couple hang fires and a couple no fire in the reloads. There's plenty of primer/pin contact and no issues with the factory loads. All I can figure is that the primers are too old?

I don't load 222's very often because I seldom shoot the gun, but when my Grandson started hunting I loaded some up for him and those CCI 22 cal. primers were probably 40 years old and they all went bang so far ! They are kept in a drawer in my loading desk in the basement, it gets cool down there in the summer, but I have a wood burner going all winter down there! I have never had a problem with primers going bad, but I would say it could happen if they somehow corroded !

 

[Rockbottom]

My uncle would remove the powder and projectiles from military surplus '06 ammo and reload them with whatever powder and soft nosed projectiles he had. He taught me reloading in 1959 and I got all his reloading stuff after he died. I had 3 or 4 misfires last year while trying to sight-in a rifle with some of his old ammo. The cartridges had original military crimped primers and '53 headstamps. So some of the military primers were bad after 65 years. And about the same number were good. The rest are marked for disassembly. I'll burn the powder and try to make the primers pop, clean the rifle and try to salvage the brass.

 

[Alex cooray]

How old are they, as far as you know? Brand? Do you happen to wet tumble or sonic clean your brass? More likely the primers got wet than too old.

Its better to clean your brass before setting the primers.

 

[smokey3]

My hand loads for the 2017 and 2018 season where from the last I had from a brick from 2007. My next hand loads will be from a brick from 2012. When I buy primers I always write the date that I purchased them. I always use the older primers first as I rotate my stock. I have yet to experience a misfire. (knock on wood) I use the rcbs bench priming tool. I have a son in law that was told primers are made so that they deteriorate in a couple of years. He did not know what to say when I showed him that his loads where made from primers I had from 2007 last year. I told him that whom ever told him that was full of bs.

I recently just started reloading again after a 20+ year hiatus. All my primers that I used were very old, some from the eighties when there was a shortage and I stocked piled a few bricks. They all fired and were quite accurate to boot. Problem was most likely the primers were not fully seated in the cases.

 

[crkckr]

First off, I have reloaded over 1 million rounds of ammo over the years (I had a commercial operation in Tucson way back when and used 2 Dillon 1000 presses, one for large and one for small primers). Mostly I used WW primers because they were easy to turn over into the tray to load my primer tubes. Sometimes Federal, if there were no WW to had.

I looked closely at anyone that brought in a defective round, which didn't happen very often. It always turned out to be something wrong with the gun, probably 99% because someone had done their own trigger work or replaced the springs with lighter ones. I was never once able to say with certainty that it was a bad primer.
I also did some testing with primers, exposing them to various things I had laying around. I tested after 8 & 24 hours, with these results. All cases were primed with WWLP primers on the Dillon press in 2, 45 ACP cases and left upright for the duration. N = normal.
S = squib 0 = nada!
8 hrs. 24 hrs.
Water, 2 drops N, 2 N, 2
Rem oil. 2 drop S, 2 S, 2
Kroil, 2 drops S, 2 S, 2
Alcohol, 2 drops. 1 lite, 1 N. N,
Parts Cleaner 'spray' as above
WD-40, 2 drops 0, 2. S,

The water really surprised me when it didn't seem to affect them at all. Clearly WD-40 is a primer killer but when left for 24 hrs. it had evaporated enough to at least get a squib. I'm not sure if the squibs would have set a charge off or maybe caused a hang fire. The alcohol lite would have definitely set the charge off but no telling about accuracy. I also carried 10 primers around in my pocket for 10 days (WWLP) and all of them worked just fine. They were handled every time I got my keys out, etc.
The bottom line is, unless you have really sweaty hands, get them wet for a while or douse them with WD, they are very likely to go off. Casual handling of primers (e.g., picking a dropped one on the bench or floor) with your bare (non-greasy/sweaty) hands/fingers will NOT kill your primers! These things are tougher than most realize. In fact, I had some of my shop .45 ammo (200SWC, 5.5/231) go thru the wash (were they ever clean!) and they worked just fine a week later. However, this not to say they can't be killed!
I have some 7.62 x 39 WW factory ammo that a buddy left sitting out in his basement for 2 - 3 years, some FMJ & some SP. The boxes are perfect, no water damage at all. Yet both of them have occasional misfires with deep indents in the primers (SKS), which did not fire at all. I pulled the bullets from those and found the base of the bullets corroded and the powder clumped together. These rounds apparently sucked enough moisture out of the damp MO air to kill them. I sorted them by shaking the cases. If I could feel the powder, they were good. If not, they got pulled. Most were ok, the SP's were loaded with a fine powder I couldn't really feel. I just resized the case neck & reseated the bullets. I tried putting some known bad rounds in dessicant but even after a month it was no help. Oh well.
I suspect that most failures to fire are a fault of the shooter or reloader. I've been guilty of not seating them deep enough and having the primer cake break up from the first firing pin hit and of course, not go off at all. You can tell because the interior if the case will be the color of the now-powdered primer compound when the bullet is pulled.
Time wise, if kept dry primers will essentially last forever. I've fired primed brass from 1917 (!) that worked just fine. Same with ammo loaded during WW-1! Keep them dry & free of the humidity, free of things like penetrating oil and they will do their job.
Cheers,
crkckr

 

[John@redmt]

Thanks for all the suggestions and things to look for. I contacted Winchester through the website and the first thing they asked was for the batch and UPC code. Within 10 minutes of sending them pix of the boxes they said they are sending packaging to send them back. Could it be a bad batch? Maybe they just wanted to verify that they were theirs? I don't know but they wanted them back no questions asked

 

[Doninidaho]

I like to tumble my brass with the spent primers in place. Then, I decamp, I'm pushing out any media that might be in the hole. Then I "scrub" the pocket and inspect, a puff of canned air is always used to blow away any sort of dust, every single case. In about 40 years of shooting reloads (thousands of rounds, several calibers, rifles, handguns, shotguns) I've had one failure to fire. I do as many have mentioned, everything is in a dedicated room with a dehumidifier. Careful inspection determined nothing out of the ordinary, spilled the powder charge out on notebook paper and nothing but powder, lit it with a match and it burned nicely but I know that's not real scientific. Decapped the primer, didn't look different than several "new" ones except for a nice firing pin strike dead center (custom action built concentric to the center line). So...who knows? But I figure people make mistakes and equipment breaks.

 

[John@redmt]

I'm betting on my reloading error but I can not figure where it would be. When I loaded these it as walnut vibratory, primers removed, pockets checked and cleaned, size and trim , prime and load. Possible contaminated? I doubt it. Gun malfunction, I doubt it. Thinking back, there are 3 different guns in 2 calibers. All 3 had less than 2-300 rounds through them.
Rcbs hand primer, clean temp controlled room, hands don't sweat, I wouldn't use wd40 for anything, I hate the stuff. No doubt it could be me but where?

 

[Dr. Vette]

Do you use a primer pocket uniformer?
Also, do you debur the flash holes? Just wondering if any material was stuck inside.

Might be worth a try to see if the brass was the culprit.