Dumb butt question I primed 50 .223 about 10 years back been in garage in a cabinet.

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gunnny12

New member
Well I found 50 .223 cases primed in my reloading bench, think they are good?

Been in a cabinet so no dust but heat and cold for 10 or so years, and nope not taking the rifle to the range to shoot one off, LOL

And as I live in a neighborhood well popping one in the garage out the question also.;)

Any ideas, if I asked this already blame it on age then.:eek:


Jeff
 
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Panfisher

New member
I would expect them to be fine, however for only 50 cases I would simply punch out the primers and put in new ones. Primers are what $4.00 per hundred, so a couple bucks worth of primers.
 
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skizzums

New member
Not as loud as you think to pop one off in the back yard. Seriously about as loud as a cap gun, and I've only done it with pistols, I would assume a rifle will have even less of a report
 
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Mike Irwin

Staff
Unless they were underwater the whole time, changes are they're going to be fine.

I primed a ton of .38 Special cases in 1994 and didn't get around to loading the last of them (I'd forgotten I still had about 250) until 2012.

Every one went bang.
 
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Sharkbite

New member
For use as simple practice/range ammo... Id load em up. But, if there is any concern at all...reprime the cases. Like the above poster said, about $2 in cost and a few minutes of time.
 
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T. O'Heir

New member
Got a basement? Way better than your garage for such emergency testing.
Heat and cold doesn't bother primers as much as it might powder.
 
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Pathfinder45

New member
From what I have read, primers are a lot more stable over time and temperature fluctuations then smokeless powder. Plus, I have dismantled some very old ammo, probably 75 year old Winchester 30-30 ammo, to salvage the Silvertips. Powder was bad, cases corroded, but I'll be darned if every one of those primers didn't go BANG! Same thing with with the primer on an ancient WRA Co. 45 Colt black powder round that must have been at least 120 years old.
 
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WVMountaineer

New member
As stated, load them up and shoot.


FWIW, I set a primer off in my progressive press a couple months ago about 10:30 pm at night, while in my reloading room. It never awoke my wife 2 rooms away. It really isn't loud at all. God Bless
 
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Pond James Pond

New member
Provided the rifle has been check for obstructions, I would say chambering one, putting the muzzle into a balled-up old rag or three and firing it off would be fine. No louder than a solid blow with a hammer.... But wear hearing protection!!
 
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gunnny12

New member
Thanks again think will load say 5 and see what happens,don't know why so cheap as only 50, back then say $1.99 per hundred.:rolleyes:
So a dollar but if I have clean the rifle an AR I want more bang for the buck. LOL


Jeff
 
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FlyFish

New member
I'm still using primers I bought nearly 40 years ago (priced at $0.99/hundred :eek:) with no problems whatsoever.
 
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Slamfire

New member
Gunpowder has the shortest lifetime of all the reloading components. Gunpowder is a high energy compound breaking down to a low energy compound. A rule of thumb for the reasonable shelf life of gunpowder is 20 years for double based and 45 years for single based. However, heat dramatically reduces the lifetime.


UN manual on ammunition inspection. See section 7.3.

Surveillance and in-service proof - the United Nations[/B

http://www.un.org/disarmament/conva...20-Surveillance_and_In-Service Proof(V.1).pdf



Because primers last so long, the Insensitive Munitions expert I knew said primers had an "infinite shelf life". Infinity is a long time and I am certain what he meant was that compared with propellant, primer lifetime seems infinite. Primers will last a long time, and unlike gunpowder, which becomes more dangerous as it gets older, primers dud out.

Go out and shoot them and don't worry. :)
 
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g.willikers

New member
Popping a primer in the garage isn't likely to draw attention.
While it sounds plenty loud enough indoors to warrant ear protection,
it's unlikely anyone will be passing by within earshot at that exact time.
Or you could wait until a neighbor fires up a lawnmower to cut the grass.
 
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SRE

New member
Ive used CCI primers from the early 90's in some reloads a couple years ago. Used them in some plinking .223 ammo and they ignited the charge of H4895 just fine.
 
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jdscholer

New member
I bought a bunch of used 8mm Mauser brass at the gun show; pretty grungy stuff, so I tossed it in a pan of water and boiled it on the stove with some Simple Green cleaner. Then into a cookie sheet to dry in the oven on 200 for an hour. (this is how I generally clean brass when I clean it)

I noticed that some of the brass had unfired primers, and thought I'd see if my process had deactivated them. NOPE! They worked fine, (and loud)

Primers aren't as touchy as ya might think. jd
 
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