Age of primers

[bmt1]

Had a friend give me some large rifle primers,CCI brand. They are probably 8-12 yrs. old, but stored in a stable enviroment. Is there a shelf life for something like this ? Would they be ok to use ?

[bootsmcguire]

I found some in my grandfather's "gun closet" that were from the 1960's and had been stored in a sealed metal ammo can. The one flat I fired worked great.

[Nor Cal Mikie]

If stored well, my guess is they'll probably still be good long after you're gone. Picked up a bunch from a shooting friend that died. They had to be at least 30+ years old and went off well in my M1A.

[65impala]

Perfectly fine to use. I'm using primers that are 20 years old and getting excellent results.

[Dennis]

I am also using some that are 20 years old. They were stored inside.

[n4ue]

Hi. Count me in on having old primers. Mine have always been stored well and some date back to the early 70s. I never thought of dating them, I just look at the store label and the price and it's pretty easy to figger how old they are.
I used to work for IBM (I've Been Moved), so I have quite a sample size.
Same goes for powder. I'm still using a can (remember those?) that has a $5 price on it.... ha ha

ron

[Dr Honda]

I just loaded up some 8mm mauser, using primers with a $14 price tag. So..... I'd say they are from the late 90's. They shoot fine. (I started buying bricks and stashing them after the 94 BS that Clinton/Gore handed us)

As long as they were kept dry... they are fine.

[BobT]

I have a few hundred CCI 400s that are priced at $.96 a hundred, they still go bang every time.

Bob

[Frank V]

Had a friend give me some large rifle primers,CCI brand. They are probably 8-12 yrs. old, but stored in a stable enviroment. Is there a shelf life for something like this ? Would they be ok to use ?

Yes you can use them with confidence. If they have been stored properly they will fire just as if they'd been purchased yesterday.
I have some CCI400s that have a .79c price sticker on them. No problems, how old do you suppose those are? I found them on the bottom of an old stack of primers.