For the Hunting Handloader

[memtb]

A question for those that use their handloads for hunting......like maybe someone doesn’t!

It’s probably overkill or paranoia or perhaps both! I grew-up in an region of the country where 85% humidity is quite low and they average 60 to 70 inches rain per year. I always worried about the potential for a primer to “inhale” enough moisture to cause a failure! The sealed primer may also resist oils from fouling the primer....if someone is a bit aggressive with oils/lubrication!

I don’t make this extra step on my plinking/practice/varmint loads.....just the stuff for serious use!

So.......do you seal your primers on your hunting or defense handloads? memtb

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

No...never have in over 60 years reloading. I also do not and never have lived anywhere where there is high humidity.

I have shot stuff I loaded many years before with no problems. I did have a problem with some .38 Special loads I shoot for Bulls Eye. They got wet and would not go bang. But it wasn't the primer that failed, it was the powder. It clumped and got hard and would not ignite when the primers went off.

If I thought I might have a problem with humidity, I'd add one of those small packages of dehumidifier in each container of my reloads.

 

[Winchester]

No, never worried about that.
The humidity is very low here in Colorado.

 

[JimP]

You are talking about territory with the humidity that most of us avoid. And with all the gun and shooting magazines that I have read over all the years I don't remember any of them talking about problems with humidity.

However if you would like to use some of that primer sealant I don't know why you shouldn't.

On a side note, a few years ago I was talking to a good friend of mine that served 4 or 5 tours of Vietnam back in the 60's and early 70's and he did mention some problems with ammo during the rainy seasons where it wouldn't go boom when you needed it the most. But then the conditions that they were in at times were worse than anything that I'll ever experience other than my grizzly hunt up in British Colombia where it rained 9 days out of 10 while we were hunting.

 

[memtb]

Well folks, I’ve discussed this topic with other people over the years......and y’all are in the majority!

I may be incorrect, but, I thought that “once upon a time” some factory ammo and perhaps military ammo were sealed. Of course, maybe I only dreamed it, and it was reality! memtb

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Military was sealed and still might be. When I was young and my Dad started reloading, he used to get a lot of surplus WWII brass. I remember he used to cuss about how hard it was to get the primers out. They were staked in and sealed. Don't know about todays stuff because I don't use it. I only use factory brass and then only certain brands.

 

[memtb]

My preferred sealant, dark blue fingernail polish, may not be as difficult to remove as the stuff of military yesteryear! I always clean my primer pockets, and the primers appear to come out cleanly.....so, it hasn’t been an issue thusfar! memtb

 

[JimP]

Cabela's used to sell a sealant for both bullets and primers but when I looked it shows it unavailable online and Midway doesn't even list anything.

On the military cases, they were usually crimped and you needed a industrial deprimer to punch them out or you could take a pocket knife and cut away the crimp. I have seen tools just for that purpose but I have never played around with the military brass except for buying bulk reloads that used it.

A even bigger problem with some older military brass was the use of the Berdan primers that had two flash holes on the sides of the primer pocket instead of one in the center like modern Boxer primers.