old primers

[skeene]

I was digging around in the back of my reloading cabinet and found a bag with about 1500 various primers in it. All are still in the original boxes and I'm guessing that most of them date back to the late seventies to early eighties. They were all stored dry and cool. I was thinking of priming some brass with a primer out of each box and firing it to see if they still functioned and then go under the assumption that if one went "pop" from each box, they all would. Normally, I'd just get rid of them but given the current availability and prices I think I'd like to try them. However, I'd hate to find my thinking is totally off and reload a couple hundred rounds only to find half of the primers won't ignite. Anybody had any experience reloading with 35+ year old primers? Am I wrong in thinking that if one or two of the primers in each box ignite they all should?

 

[XtremeVel]

I haven't loaded any primers that were 35 years old myself, but I have loaded ones that were 25 + years without any issues... I would not expect another 10 years to make any difference...

 

[shibumiseeker]

Reload away with confidence.

 

[Kingpin]

I had some that old when I started reloading again a few years back I had no problems at all should be good to go. Try a test batch just to be sure.

 

[T/C Guy]

I'm still using primers I purchased in the early nineties, stored cool and dry. The loads I developed with these primers are still grouping the same (using the same 32x scope). Of course, the brand of primers, storage conditions before you acquired them, an extra ten years of storage, etc. would effect their performance but I think you're good to go.

 

[BogWalker]

If ammo that old goes bang I see no reason why the primers wouldn't.

 

[kjf48197]

I loaded some shotgun shells with primers from the early 80's. The guy I got them from had them in his barn. It was a nice barn but no Heat or ac. All 2500 went off like a champ.

 

[wolfman]

IMHO they are probably all bad. I will PM you my address and dispose of them properly for you.

 

[biggen]

I loaded some a couple of years ago, that were packed in wood trays. A guy gave them to me and they looked fine and worked fine. Don't know how old they actually were, but they had to be from quite awhile back.

 

[woody131]

I have had more problems with modern primers than the old ones and I've loaded out of boxes that said Cascade Catridge Company. That's from before it became just CCI. If it was for a precision rifle maybe not. Just because of the time invested to load. But if it's ran on a progressive I will load all I can find before I'll pay $40 a k for new ones.

 

[Relay4]

Unless they have gotten damp they should be alright. Load 5 rounds or so for a test.

 

[red_zr24x4]

A few years ago I bought 5000 surplus SRP that were pulled from 30 carbine, I can probably count on one hand how many bad ones I had.