Question about primer life
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troy fairweather
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Not in any of are lifetimes. Unless it gets contaminated.
FROGO207
Member
Pretty much the same as if they were still in the original packaging. And I have some from the early 40's that although corrosive still work as designed. I would say if you keep them at normal room temperature or less, and dry they would last a lifetime at minimum. They are way more robust than any of the propellants we use.
edwardware
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Installed in a carton vs installed in a case probably doesn't matter. I'm shooting primers manufactured in the 60s, thousands so far, and haven't had one fail yet.
Demi-human
maybe likes firearms a little bit…
The explosive compounds in a primer are only inert after oxidation.
That means after they are burned.
Oil, water and solvents do not “kill” primers, they may desensitize for a time, but unless they have been burned, in a firearm or otherwise, they will dry out and become explosive again.
Brake cleaner will wash the compound out of a primer, and leave a little puddle of it on the wood bench top in the shop. When it dries and you wonder if it will still work, you’ll get a snap and blast wood particles off the bench and scorch your BIC lighter...
Well, I did...
That means after they are burned.
Oil, water and solvents do not “kill” primers, they may desensitize for a time, but unless they have been burned, in a firearm or otherwise, they will dry out and become explosive again.
Brake cleaner will wash the compound out of a primer, and leave a little puddle of it on the wood bench top in the shop. When it dries and you wonder if it will still work, you’ll get a snap and blast wood particles off the bench and scorch your BIC lighter...
Well, I did...
When I first joined a Gun Club, in Atherton England. I used to get a lift with an older member, I was 18 YOA. I had been reading up on reloading. In being shown his reloading shed (bottom of the yard) he showed me how he had emptied all the little packets of pistol primers into a jam jar, with a screw-on lid! Thousands of them, sat on a shelf, above a concrete floor! Did I ever exit that place.
I am regularly using primers I purchased in the mid nineteen nineties. I have used CCI primers in packaging from the early 60's, thirty to forty years later.
The lifetime of the current lead styphanate primers is much longer than that of gunpowder, and I don't know how long modern primers last. The old chlorate corrosive primers would dud out in time. I read that primers will dud out if exposed to extremes of heat, such as 200 F.
The lifetime of the current lead styphanate primers is much longer than that of gunpowder, and I don't know how long modern primers last. The old chlorate corrosive primers would dud out in time. I read that primers will dud out if exposed to extremes of heat, such as 200 F.
My cousin reloaded a few primers. He said after taking apart a used primer, he used a punch to remove the firing pin dimple. He crushed strike anywhere matches. After filling the primer cup, he put back the anvil. He said the primers worked. He did it as a what if thing.
-mike
-mike
Average Joe
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Under normal conditions, they will outlast you.
LiveLife
Member
No.
Priming compound inside the primer cup is protected by durable barrier cup/sealant to make them impervious to water/moisture and many solvents. That's why primers are so hard to deactivate. And under normal storage conditions, primers will last for decades.
The color you see under the primer anvil is not the color of priming compound rather the color of barrier/sealant.
In below picture, Winchester and Magtech primer barrier cups are still inside the primer cup while Tula and PMC barrier cups have been removed.
Actually, if temperature is high enough, priming compound will ignite.
= Disclaimer = Danger = Do Not Try This At Home =
In the Tula SP primer thread, to satisfy my curiosity whether priming compound was still active in primers that failed to ignite, I heated the "dud" primer (3 strikes to primer cup) inside two stainless steel bowls on top of a gas grill side burner and after few seconds, primer "popped" - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...ts-your-experience.630512/page-3#post-7806689
Primer igniting from heat left a dent on the bottom bowl matching the anvil feet and smaller dent on the top bowl!
Use of good eye/face protection could not be stressed when handling/working with primers.
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Blue68f100
Member
I've heard that the newer Lead Free Primers do have a shelf life. Do not know if this is true or not. To my knowledge I have not seen the lead free on sale but have not looked for them.
Maybe someone will have some info on them.
Maybe someone will have some info on them.
LiveLife
Member
The PMC "non-toxic" primers made in Russia were bought around 20 years ago. They are still operational and I will let THR know when they are not but my guess is not in my lifetime.
Blue68f100
Member
Good to know they do not have a shelf life.
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