Time capsule discovery!

[fmajor]

I ceased reloading way back in 1993(-ish) and sold the equipment in 2002 or 2003 but kept some supplies if I were to ever begin shooting again. I have just started gearing up to start again and am in the process of building a bench and ordering supplies so this was a timely event.

I 'stored' the stuff in a semi-sealed 5-gal bucket and most recently they have been in my garage. So all that stuff was exposed to temperature swings from very cold to very hot.

There are approximately 140 pieces of 300 Win mag brass of which 100 I bought new. There are probably 50 cases that are still "new" - never been sized, primed, or fired the others have been reloaded at least once.

Since I won't be doing anything in .30 cal again, I'm not sure what to do with the brass...I have given thought to buying a .284 barrel and having a 7mm-300 Win chamber done for my RemAge conversion.

I also found a partial box of Hornady .284 120gr pointed hollow-points and a full box of .284 140gr 100 Nosler Ballistic Tips!!! (very exited about that!)

What is most intriguing to me are the 400 Winchester Large Rifle primers I found (given the scarcity of large rifle primers these days). There are no signs of water/moisture contamination....

So, would the primers be safe to load or should I (safely) dispose of them? My gut is telling me one thing, but I also could use primers.

 

[Eric H]

Size a case, insert a primer and put it in the chamber and pull the trigger. No need to waste any powder or bullets.

 

[DoneNOut]

Trust your gut.

 

[nwmnbowhunter]

I have similar primers i bought from a guy. Sitting in his garage. They all go bang.

 

[ShtrRdy]

I had to store my reloading stuff in a garage for 15 years. It was exposed to extreme temperature swings. The CCI primers worked fine. Most of the powder had degraded.

 

[fmajor]

I had to store my reloading stuff in a garage for 15 years. It was exposed to extreme temperature swings. The CCI primers worked fine. Most of the powder had degraded.

That's good to know!

I had shot up most of my powder and sold the remaining few lbs of RL22 I had left. Maybe I'll prime a couple cases just to see if they go bang. However, I'm also in the middle of re-building my rifle (as well as a bench, landscaping, modding my trailer, etc etc) so it may be a while before I'm able.

 

[Calvin45]

Heck I shoot all kinds of old primers and have no idea what they've seen over the decades. Provided they haven't also seen massive humidity swings I don't think it matters much. Just don't use those ones in any ammunition that's for life and death situations (which most of our ammo is not for haha - but I wouldn't use anything that didn't inspire full confidence to face a brown bear or Cape buffalo or to prepare for surviving hypothetical anarchy chaos situations

 

[victor3ranger]

I have some primers that are as old as me and they still do what they were designed to do

 

[birddog 68]

I have some primers that are as old as me and they still do what they were designed to do

Yes but are you a whippersnapper or a silver haired fox?

 

[victor3ranger]

Yes but are you a whippersnapper or a silver haired fox?

lol I my hair is starting to pass the silver stage into the white but at least it's still up there

 

[Pdvdh]

Primers are pretty durable. But I've had a few bad ones that were multiple decades old and with a storage history that couldn't be confirmed.

I now use the really old ones, or ones from uncertain storage conditions, for fire forming wildcat cartridges or breaking in new barrels.

Use fresher primers for load development, hunting, and self defense. IMO, going bang may or may not mean a full powered primer.

Been reloading since 1970.

 

[just_jon]

Primers will be fine. I did a test where I put primers in a strainer and ran the under the faucet for 60 seconds. Eleven days later, they worked just fine. Attached is SAAMI guidelines for handling and storage of primers.

https://www.longrangehunting.com/attachments/info-doc-primers-pdf.446545/

 

[Pdvdh]

I ran a seated primer thru a 135F ultrasonic cleaner bath containing citric acid solution for 15 minutes. Accidentally...

It went bang and made noise. My firing pin makes noise when it drops on a dud primer too.

 

[memtb]

I ceased reloading way back in 1993(-ish) and sold the equipment in 2002 or 2003 but kept some supplies if I were to ever begin shooting again. I have just started gearing up to start again and am in the process of building a bench and ordering supplies so this was a timely event.

I 'stored' the stuff in a semi-sealed 5-gal bucket and most recently they have been in my garage. So all that stuff was exposed to temperature swings from very cold to very hot.

There are approximately 140 pieces of 300 Win mag brass of which 100 I bought new. There are probably 50 cases that are still "new" - never been sized, primed, or fired the others have been reloaded at least once.

Since I won't be doing anything in .30 cal again, I'm not sure what to do with the brass...I have given thought to buying a .284 barrel and having a 7mm-300 Win chamber done for my RemAge conversion.

I also found a partial box of Hornady .284 120gr pointed hollow-points and a full box of .284 140gr 100 Nosler Ballistic Tips!!! (very exited about that!)

What is most intriguing to me are the 400 Winchester Large Rifle primers I found (given the scarcity of large rifle primers these days). There are no signs of water/moisture contamination....

So, would the primers be safe to load or should I (safely) dispose of them? My gut is telling me one thing, but I also could use primers.

JMO…..unless they've been stored in oil or water, I'm betting that they are good!

Ammunition loaded pre WWII still works just fine! I have primers from the early '90's…..still using them! memtb