Storage - Primer & Powder

[Firstcut]

Just have a quick question about storage of primers and powder. I live in south FL and am wondering if the garage is an appropriate place to store these items. The garage is shaded (western exposure) and not exposed to direct sunlight however can get pretty warm in the summer months. Any thoughts?

[ChrisStock]

I'm up in the Tampa bay area, and I have to leave my supplies in the garage at the "urging" of the spousal unit. It isn't like I'm stockpiling for years at a time, so it's not a problem if my supplies are there for 3 months before being restocked with new powder/primers. The only exception is my 8# jug of Promo powder, and it has been out there for 9 months with no ill effects. This has been covered here before, and I think the consensus was that it was ok.

[lynn jones]

hey first cut,

welcome to the forums.

primers and powder can be stored in your garage. i'd put them in an old cooler or some thing water tight. i keep mine in a closet in the house high on a shelf.

lynn

[Firstcut]

MANY THANKS!!!!!!

hey first cut,

welcome to the forums.

primers and powder can be stored in your garage. i'd put them in an old cooler or some thing water tight. i keep mine in a closet in the house high on a shelf.

lynn

[Jay6]

What about the flip side to that? I keep all of mine in the garage and in Maine it will be below freezing for most of the winter. I have a portable heater I will use to keep things comfortable loading in the winter but I was wondering if keeping everything out there all winter would be a bad thing?????

[kevin c]

Primers, AFAIK, aren't particularly sensitive to storage conditions. There might be a problem if they got soaking wet, but otherwise what I've read here from others is that what sounds like temps from 20 to 120 degrees (freezing in the winter or broiling in the summer) doesn't effect the pop on firing.

Powders kept sealed (airtight) in their original containers seem to store pretty well. Prolonged storage at high temp may cause problems. I've read that degrading powder will often not have the normal aromatic solvent smell, but a sour acidic odor instead.

Overall, if there is any effect, it might matter only to a precision rifle shooter shooting sub MOA, and that if the stuff is stored for long periods (years) where the temp/humidity extremes cycle over and over. If you rotate your primer and powder stock and shoot like most action shooters (rounds downrange in the four figures each year), I'm pretty sure you're not going to have any appreciable changes in the ballistics of your ammo from first purchase to last use, and am pretty certain you're not facing any potentially hazardous load changes (unless, of course, you loaded that way from the beginning .

edited, supposedly for clarity

Edited November 22, 2007 by kevin c

[adiksaputok]

i store mine on a small refrigerator in my garage i dont need to worry about temp and i know if it will go kaboom it will be quiet and caontained

[LPatterson]

Primers in 50 caliber ammo cans, powder in 20 & 40 MM ammo cans.

[Jim Norman]

DO NOT store powder in tightly secured metal cabinets unless those cabinets are vented. If you are unlucky enough to have a fire, you do not want 20 pounds of powder cooking off in a small enclosed metal locker. The pressure developed can lead to your own big bang.

If you want/need to lock up your powder, make sure that the locker is adequately vented.

Jim

[Bigbadaboom]

Primers in 50 caliber ammo cans, powder in 20 & 40 MM ammo cans.

+1

[Steve J]

DO NOT store powder in tightly secured metal cabinets unless those cabinets are vented. If you are unlucky enough to have a fire, you do not want 20 pounds of powder cooking off in a small enclosed metal locker. The pressure developed can lead to your own big bang.

If you want/need to lock up your powder, make sure that the locker is adequately vented.

Jim

+1 Store in original packaging. Stay away from sealed metal containers. Heavy wooden boxes are much safer for primers in a fire. The powder will just be a momentary hot spot when it goes, unless you have it in something that contains the expanding gases > kaboom. Ammo cans are right out. > kaboom.

[LPatterson]

DO NOT store powder in tightly secured metal cabinets unless those cabinets are vented. If you are unlucky enough to have a fire, you do not want 20 pounds of powder cooking off in a small enclosed metal locker. The pressure developed can lead to your own big bang.

If you want/need to lock up your powder, make sure that the locker is adequately vented.

Jim

+1 Store in original packaging. Stay away from sealed metal containers. Heavy wooden boxes are much safer for primers in a fire. The powder will just be a momentary hot spot when it goes, unless you have it in something that contains the expanding gases > kaboom. Ammo cans are right out. > kaboom.

Guys, thanks for the fire concern but this is an unattached metal storage building that leaks and if it catches fire I will notify the fire department of the explosive nature because it also contains about 10,000 rounds of shotgun shells. Next years practice & registered skeet shoot preload. Next years IPSC practice & match loads will go out there during the snow months, so far all I've acculated is 15,000 bullets to be loaded. Almost forgot the several thousand rounds of .22 that are out there for winter practice when the snow is too deep to pickup brass.

[JFD]

My Dad gave me primers and powder that had spent 10 years in his separate garage in the SC heat and what little cold we get. I could see no difference between those components and the ones I store in the spare bedroom I took over as a gun room.

Note to those with new houses: Call the spare bedroom an "office", take over that territory immediately, then move the gun stuff in quietly.