I got almost 2000 cci 200. They are old, got em for cheap. 1 box of 100, I notice a few would misfire. Are they just old, most are brass colered, the rest are silver. I use em when practicing since the misfires. About 95% of the time they fire. When hunting season rolls around I use new primers. What do you guys suggest?

As far as I know primers do not go bad IF THEY ARE STORED PROPERLY. You don't have to keep them in an airtight container but they should be kept away from moisture and any lubricants. I have some that are about 30 years old that I still use with no problems that have been kept in a coffee can with a plastic lid in my garage. Granted, I am in a mild climate where it seldom gets below freezing and relative humidity is low.
You probably have some that were not stored properly and practice is the best use of them but watch out for hangfires.

quote:

Originally posted by Blacktailer:
As far as I know primers do not go bad IF THEY ARE STORED PROPERLY.

Even poorly stored primers seem to be good forever.

Ditto they should last forever if not abused. Sounds like that one box may have been.

I still have a few hundred rounds of WW-I 303 Brit that fire first time, every time. They were 1917 production.

Store in a cool, dry place...

FWIW I recently called Hodgdon, IMR, Alliant, Federal, and Winchester and asked them about the actual shelf life of loaded amunition, powder and primers. I also told them I store all of the above in air tight army ammo cans with silicon discant blocks.

The short version of the collective responce was powder, primers, and loaded ammo stored as i described and kept in a cool dry place will last almot indefinately or at least 15-20 years with no ill effects of any kind. I called as I have some powder and primers i bought in large amounts nearing 15 years of age.

My experience (limited) has been that they last, like, forever! I even got one wet, blew it off and recently tried it and it fired! Not proof of anything though.

Thanks for the responses, I store em with my powder on a shelf. My climate aint wet, hardly rains. The silver primers havent misfired, Am not sure how old , but pretty old. They are packed in thin cardboard with cci name on there. With a plastic inside, I believe is a purplish color. They are not like todays cci boxes. The ones that do misfire I just yank the bullets out and powder and push the primer out ver slowly and put another primer in and load it back up.

I am using CCI and Win 209 primers that have sat in a hot, humid SE Texas garage for 35+ years with nary a misfire, yet. Not saying I recommend that sort of treatment, though.

I've been reloading for 40+ years and I can't remember ever having seen a brass CCI primer. Those have to be OLD.

I'd load'm for plinking ammo and be certain that they were fully seated ... and burn'm up.

Look how old some of the crappy WWII ammo is and it still fires, "mostly" !

They all go bad. Right after they go BANG.
Never been able to get them to work again.



muck

In the middle 80's, I purchased 700 primed RA54 cases. These were 30-06, in the factory box, I loaded them up, and they all went bang.

I have loaded CCI pistol primers from the 70's, at least 30 years old, all went bang.

In the summer of 1975 (I was 17), my family and I visited my uncle in Minnesota. I was crazy about guns, but had never fired one. Uncle Eddy had many, many rounds of .30-06 left over from WW2. They all fired. While they may only have been 30 years old at the time, it has to be considered that the technology to make the powder back then is nowhere as sophisticated as it is today, or was even in the 1970s. My vote goes to "primers don't go bad."

Will take them off your hands.

I purchased 3000 cci 205s last week, I loaded 100 rounds for 20 tact and 221 fb, no issues, great accuracy. as long as they are properly stored, they will last a long time. these 205s were made in 1993.

O.K. as I remember the silver primers always went off, the brass colored primers had misfires. Not alot, I was gonna load some 765's and some 30-30 with em and I'll let you guys know how many will misfire O.K. The misfires would happen when I was loading for 243, my first thought was maybe I need a new firing pin. I loaded up some 30-30's and the same thing happened, misfire, like I said before not alot maybe 95 percent of em wouldn't fire. When its time for hunting season comes around I use new primers.

fxr117 if you come and pick em up I'll give you half of what I got. Alright.