A guy gave me a bunch pf pistol primers he inherited along with some other stuff. They are marke 1994. What do you guys think? Are they still fok to use or should I trash them. There are about 8000 large and 12000 small primers.

Use them.

I use old components pretty often.
Powder and primers from the 60's and 70's have worked fine for me.

So the poweder he has will still be good? He's got pounds and pounds of Unique and Bullseye he offered to give me.

If they have been kept dry and oil free they are good to go. I have shot primers over 20 yrs old with no issue.

I sold my .45 long Colt in about '84, then finally got a .41 Rem about 3 years ago. I still had about 900 CCI primers left from back then and, so far, I haven't had a bit of trouble with them. If it's a revolver, you might just load a few primers only to check.

I was given some RWS large rifle primers that seem to be very old. I have used them to reload for range use but I wouldn't use them on an African safari. I've had one or two suspect ignitions that just didn't feel right. I would not use old primers on defense loads in a handgun either.

none of it will be any good anymore, just send it to me and I'll dispose of it for you

I've still got a few Herter's Primers from the 60s and wouldn't hesitate to use them!

Some of the 8mm X 57mm that I have a lot of was packaged in 1938. Every once in a while there is a miss fire. Usually it goes off the second time. The miss fire may or may not be related to primer age but the incidence is rather small. roger

I have reloaded with 40 year old primers and 50+ year old powder with no issues.

I have never had a misfire or issue with WWII ammo.

I have gotten misfires about 5% of the time with WWI ammo. Yeah, I know I should have just thrown it out but I couldn't resist finding out if it still worked.

I was given ~1500 '60s vintage CCI LR primers from two lot numbers. All from one lot have worked great but I've had several FTFs in the other lot. I use those primers for the range and buy new for hunting ammo.

My buddy got a bunch of old Winchester 8 1/2-120s that had been salvaged from a store fire. After surviving the sprinkler system and fire department, believe it or not, they're still good! Lot# DB11L41 is still going strong.

Some of my working stock has been around longer than that and still works very well. The key is in proper storage.

Both powder and primers are quite stable if stored right. (Pretty stable if stored wrong too!) I still have a few pounds of Hogedon's original 4831, WWII surplus, and it does fine. Also still have a few hundred WWII surplus small pistol caps that are equally reliable.

Primers like powder everything depends on how it was stored . Still in original packaging ?. Do any of the packages look like they were wet or mutilated ?.

Got a chrony ?. Take your favorite load in caliber of your choice . Duplicate it using those older primer components use the Chrony and a target . Bingo if it works your good to go .

I have some primers from turn of the century .
They're OLD wood box paper jacket stuff .
I've used them in my old military shooters .
I quit a while back because I had to scrub out the bores because they're corrosive.

Primers didn't go bad I just got lazier !.

I do use some 35 year old primers without any problems . I how ever bought them new and stored them properly . Good luck ...

I hae loaded some very old stuff and no problems. I used some FA70 rifle primers in some BP loads a while back. Works great. I got a box of old primers a while back. All have worked. Herters, very old CCI, old designations of winchester, dominion, eley, all have worked. The only old reloadig stuff that has given me trouble is powder that was deterioriated, full of red smoke and red powder. An the other was old shotshell plastic wads, UV from flourescent lights breaks them down. I have fired WW1 vintage 30-06, FA17 ,if I remember right. It fired fine but some of the necks split. I don't think age has much to do with it. Storage conditions do. Keep it all dry and cool and it should last almost forever.