Old Powder/Primers

ByrdDog76

Member
Long story short. I kept my reloading gear at Dad’s in his Shop. It was not climate controlled and when he died I brought all of it to my place. I noticed about two boxes worth of .35 Whelen reloads that the primer had been struck on but they had not fired. I’m guessing that either the powder or primers had absorbed moisture.

The stuff has been in my utility room(inside the house) for several years. Assuming that it absorbed moisture, would several weeks in my safe with the dehumidifier and Dessicant material restore it to normal condition?

There is about 10# of powder and probably 1,000 primers, I hate for it to all go to waste.
 

transfixer

Senior Member
I think once the damage is done, it can't be reversed ,, I wouldn't trust the primers, I would pour a little of the powder out on the ground and see if it will burn, if it does its probably okay, primers aren't that expensive, I'd throw those out and buy new.
 

BriarPatch99

Senior Member
I have powder and primers from the '60 ...neither under controlled conditions...

I have recently shot some of both and they preformed just as well as they did 30 years ago ...

I always check the powder before using ... smell and signs of rusty looking dust are signs of is bad ...

It takes quite a lot to ruin a primer ...
 

transfixer

Senior Member
I've got primers and powder that are close to 20yrs old, but they've not been in a humid environment, Primers are relatively cheap, that's why I suggest replacing them. I've never had a misfire with one of my reloads, I wouldn't want to take the chance, my luck it would be when a big 12pt walked out broadside,, lol
 

BriarPatch99

Senior Member


May be wise to only use for plinking ammo .... but those powders and primers are most likely good to use ...

The 4831 in photo ...I just a few months ago loaded a few rounds(,with primers from the ',70S ) ...over the chronograph it gave almost the same velocity as in early 1970 ...

If the powder is bad ...pour it out in the yard .... Test a few of the primers ...if you seat them correctly and get misfire ...dig a hole and bury them ....

If not use them both knowing their age ....

I have been reloading since 1965 .... and have used older components many times over the years ... no need to waste good stuff just because it is old ...
 
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Yotedawg

Senior Member
By chance are the bad primers Wolf primers? Or do you know? Honestly, in thousands of rounds, I can only remember one ftf from a primer. Till I bought some Wolf primers back during the shortage of the Obama years.
 

Jester896

Senior Clown
a buddy of mine has probably loaded 50K +/- rounds of .223 in new Wolf brass with their primers so far this year. To my knowledge he has not had one FTF complaint so far. I think I have about 2K SRM primers on hand and have loaded 1K myself and not had one either.
 

JackSprat

Senior Member
Primers will not absorb moisture unless they are submerged for a long time.

Same for powder in capped containers. Unless all the tools in the storage area were rusted together (indicating really excessive moisture) powder would not be affected.

What will mess up some reloads is letting them sit around somewhere where you are using a lot of solvent of some sort in a confined space (garage). Want to know how I know that?
 

Yotedawg

Senior Member
a buddy of mine has probably loaded 50K +/- rounds of .223 in new Wolf brass with their primers so far this year. To my knowledge he has not had one FTF complaint so far. I think I have about 2K SRM primers on hand and have loaded 1K myself and not had one either.

Jester, I bought these primers around 2008-2010. It was when primers were really hard to find. Bought 5k small rifle primers and 5k large rifle primers. In warm weather they worked fine. In cool weather, they ftf'd on me or hang fired on me. Had about a second delay from between the time the firing pin fell to ignition. Before I knew this I worked up a load in a very, very accurate Savage BVSS in .223 to shoot in a club match at Dublin. It was springtime and I was actually out for spring break so it would have been April. The primers worked great through load development in the middle of the day when warm. Come match day, it was pretty brisk in Dublin, my first sighter was an ftf and I had many more ftf's that morning. Never had a problem in decades of reloading before then, and never had a problem since. I have right at 10k Wolf primers on hand and I can not trust them. I'm sure it has something to do with this particular lot but a simple google search will show others have had ftf's with Wolf primers in that timeframe.
 
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Jester896

Senior Clown
I don't doubt you found a problem. Not sure if mine are as old as yours, but close. Wonder what the lot # is. My buddy is getting the new primed brass for just under $.14 ea. not sure I can process it for that :). Shot a bunch of 7.62X39 of theirs without one. I wonder if his aren't Remington instead of Wolf. Or if there was a problem with light strikes from the rifle.

if you gotta throw them out...hook someone up ;)
 

Yotedawg

Senior Member
I don't doubt you found a problem. Not sure if mine are as old as yours, but close. Wonder what the lot # is. My buddy is getting the new primed brass for just under $.14 ea. not sure I can process it for that :). Shot a bunch of 7.62X39 of theirs without one. I wonder if his aren't Remington instead of Wolf. Or if there was a problem with light strikes from the rifle.

if you gotta throw them out...hook someone up ;)

Jester here's the lot numbers. I would guess 2009 manufacture date.
 

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Jester896

Senior Clown
mine are NCSRM 21-09 and I am down to 1300 and I think I got them in the same time frame your talking about.
 
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