PRIMER DESSICATION--REVEALED

[jb1000br]

For all those in high humidity environments and care about keeping their primers dry:

I just got off the phone with Federals customer service where i asked them if storing primers in a sealed container with a dessicant was a good idea?

here is the answer:

Mike (i believe) called their primer chemist and posed my question

their primers (esp. 210M and 205M), are not hygroscopic (water absorption from the atmosphere) but the chemist himself actually stores his primers as i have described--he knows they dont particularly need it, but he does it anyway.

so there is no real problem with primers absorbing atmospheric humidity, but it also is not possible to get them "too dry" using a dessicant in a sealed container.

So just for my piece of mind--(we all know how important that is in precision shooting) I will dessicate my primers to the best of my ability to keep them as similar as possible.

thats all,
JB

 

[Pdvdh]

Gonna bring a thread back from Jurassic Park days.
I recently accidentally sent a CCI 250 primer thru an ultrasonic wash while I was ultrasonic cleaning some casings. The primer was left in one of my cases.
I next also dried that case with the live primer in the oven at a 195F setting.
After finding the primer in that case, I deprimed it, set it on concrete outside, and hit it with a MAP gas torch. It went off like other healthy primers I've torch tested.
I was impressed. Indeed the primer mixture seems VERY resistant to water contamination.

Back to your regularly scheduled Programming ...

 

[venatic]

I can also attest to the fact that Hornady One Shot doesn't have any effect on powder or primers. Couple years ago I took a few sized primed 300 Win Mag cases and filled them with One Shot then emptied and loaded.
Then I went one step further I filled a few cases with One Shot poured it out THEN I sprayed the powder in the pan before pouring it in the case.
After a couple days I took half the test loads along with regular ammo to range to check velocity and see if there were hang fires or other anomaly's.
They all fired just fine no issues at all.
I kept the other half of the test loads for about 6 months before getting back out to try them.
They also shot fine and in fact had a lower ES/SD than the normal loads did.