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Just got a big shipment of primers in and am doing inventory. I have about 45,000 total. Just curious what would happen if for some reason they were stored together in a locking metal cabinet and one ignited? For what its worth, the powder is in a safe on the other side of the house.

AlaskanInTexas wrote:Just got a big shipment of primers in and am doing inventory. I have about 45,000 total. Just curious what would happen if for some reason they were stored together in a locking metal cabinet and one ignited?

There would be a loud pop.

Having accidentally set off a couple while trying to clear a jammed priming tool, I didn't see a chain reaction there, despite other primers touching the ones that fired, so I'm guessing you might see a small, directional chain reaction, (basically a "column" through the brick) but not much beyond that.

If they didn't blow up from all of the banging around and rough handling during shipping, they sure aren't gonna blow up sitting in a metal cabinet.

http://www.saami.org/specifications_and ... rimers.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting part at the end where maximum storeage of 10,000 primers at a residence. I would bet that most people reloading are in violation.

Any homeowners insurance issues w/ having powder / primer in large quantities?

Texas_Blaze wrote:Any homeowners insurance issues w/ having powder / primer in large quantities?

I'm investigating that angle as well. Hate to have the house burn down and then have them come back and deny coverage because of the primers/powder

I don't know whether you could cause a store of primers to detonate en mass, but until 1970 I would never have believed that a small locker of hand grenade FUSES! could wreak the devastation I observed when the locker blew up in the face of the Gunner's Mate on the next ship to mine in the Navy.

The gunner on the next ship, and I, were doing our morning magazine temperature and security checks and we stopped and chatted from ship to ship, the ships being "cameled apart" by about eight feet. We each had received a "BUWEPS" (Bureau of Weapons) notice that a certain lot number of fuses had been found to be detective, and we were to check to see if we had any, and follow certain procedures if found. I had not checked my GF locker yet, as it was on the other side of the ship and I was working my way around to it. His was a few feet away from where we were chatting.

We wished each other the best of the day, and he tuned to his task while I went up a ladder to the next level to check the "Hedgehog" (depth charge) magazines, and as I got to the top of the ladder an explosion behind me blew my hat across the deck and set the back of my jacket on fire.

He had found the defective fuses, in the worst possible way. I do not, to this day, know if he survived or the true extent of his injuries, he looked pretty bad to me just seconds later.

Reconstruction of the scene determined that he had opened the locker, apparently noted the lot number, and closed the lid and was dogging it back down when the locker blew up in his face. The blast flattened the box and blew several steps out out a a welded aluminum stair about 20 feet away, as well as causing secondary damage by dispersing burning and exploding debris for a large radius and almost knocked me down more than 50 feet away and up one deck.

A large secondary blast injured several people providing aid and fighting fires. My face was peppered with fragments and the only thing that saved my eyes was I was wearing glasses. I was about 15 feet away on a fire hose nozzle when the secondary blew, apparently one or more unexploded boxes of fuses that detonated due to the fire.

I always practice what I consider to be safe storage for such things since then, not that I have any grenade fuses around.

I separate mine by type in their own steel ammo cans. I do that more to keep them dry when it's humid than for any other reason, but sealed steel ammo cans should offer some protection from fire propagation too.