Powder and Primer Storage

[holmes168]

Weekly question- any tips to store powder and primers? My main concern is that my reloading setup is in the garage- in Texas. With the temps hitting over 100 degrees- am I affecting the powder and primer in a negative way? I can always move them inside to my very tiny portion of the bedroom closet if it would be a better storage spot, but would rather keep my stuff in the garage.

[GuanoLoco]

I use an old, retired refrigerator in the garage. Temperature variations and extremes are not your friend.

[Duelist]

I keep my powder and primers in a plastic footlocker in the house. I can lock it to keep the curious out of it, and it is not subject to AZ temperature extremes in the garage.

I don’t keep loaded ammo out there, either.

[Malamute]

Ives used ammo cans, small coolers, plastic containers and a dead small refrigerator. Keeping them from humidity and high temps seems to be two things that help them last from what I can gather. I keep primers in large ziplock bags in the dead fridge or plastic containers that arent airtight.

I havent heard of issues, but I dont like storing primers and powder directly next each other.

My little shed/shop isnt heated or cooled, but on the concrete floor, the temp of things at that level have always felt cool to the touch when I checked them in the summer, so I dont get too worried about ammo and primers/powder kept there in ammo cans.

[Trooper224]

Gunpowder and primers are routinely subjected to conditions all over the world that are far more severe than those encountered in your garage. My components are now stored in climate controlled conditions, but I did store them in the garage for years without issue. This is in an area of the country that sees ten below in the winter and above a hundred in the summer.

[Rich@CCC]

The only thing to really worry about is containment. You do not want to store powder in anything air tight. I prefer to store mine in a metal tool cabinet. It's not fire proof but it is not flammable and it has more than enough venting to eliminate the possibility of an explosion in a fire.

ETA:
A refrigerator that does not have a door latch(magnetic only) probably would not allow enough pressure build up to be dangerous either.

[ken grant]

I use two non-working upright freezers , burn light bulbs in them to dry out with the door cracked open a little until it is dried out . Remove the bulbs , close the door and let it cool down inside . Then store my powder or primers .

[Jamie]

I've stored powder and primers (separately) indoors for a few decades. I've (within the past year) used CCI primers from the early 1990's, and IMR 3031 (metal cans) and Hercules 2400 I purchased around 1990. They worked/work fine.

I keep my powder(s) in a wooden cabinet and my primers in a chest of drawers or whatever it's called...

[whomever]

"With the temps hitting over 100 degrees- am I affecting the powder and primer in a negative way?"

I was once visiting a friend who had stored some powder and primers for 3 or 4 years in a detached garage in southern Idaho (so dry but hot in summer), and we reloaded some 8mm Mauser. About 1 in 10 did the 'click-wait a half sec-boom' thing. I'd try and keep them at room temp one way or another if you're going to store them for more than a short time.

Mine are stored in the basement, powder and primers separate, in the recommended wooden box, with my plastic emergency water jerrycans setting on top. I figure by the time a fire gets to the primers/powder the house will be a total loss anyway. If you have an unfinished place in the basement with access to the plumbing a residential sprinkler in that room might bring peace of mind.