Primer packaging

[barretcreek]

Before there were plastic trays in which to pack primers 10 to a slot, how were they packaged? I would think having no more than 10 in common was a safety feature settled on a long time ago.

[Parashooter]

When I started handloading 65 years ago, they were packed the same way but the trays were made of wood.

[lyman]

some were packaged in rows, lined up like sweet tarts or similar candies,
some of the packaging had wood pieces with groves cut in them to hold them, or paper, molded to shape

[barretcreek]

Thanks.

[NuJudge]

A lot of the European primers I have from the 60s and 70s are in little tins, or packed in cardboard flats.

[fguffey]

Before there were plastic trays in which to pack primers 10 to a slot, how were they packaged? I would think having no more than 10 in common was a safety feature settled on a long time ago.

"Safety features settled on a long time ago" I have government hand-outs from a leading California university that suggest farmers use DDT to rid their children of pest. At the same time, we had ducks that were born with birth defects. There came a time it became illegal to have strike any-where matches in New York. I have hauled bombs, like a moderator on the Shooters forum says, "IT's no biggy", I do it all the time. I was told it is safe to haul bombs without a trigger/fuse devise and then a company called Tri State out of Joplin, Missouri has a truck blow a hole into the payment. I knew there was no way a bomb would explode by dropping them because that is the way we unloaded; we opened the rear doors and then shoved them out, but we did not haul the bombs with the fuses, and if one of the bombs was leaking, I had a problem.

And then there were the chemicals, the only chemical that came with scary instructions was a defoliant, if instructions were not followed, I was not allowed to deliver. And then there were insect poisons. In the middle of a dirt air strip, I was instructed to roll the 55 gal barrels out of the trailer-onto the ground and I asked; how high do you want them stacked?

And then there were reloading primers, I have a few boxes left, they are small boxes, to me a small box seems to be a bad choice. And then came the R. Lee period. R. Lee was not happy because of the lack of respect that was shown by other component manufacturers like Federal. Federal did not donate primers to R. Lee, if he used Federal primers, he had to purchase them. Not a problem, he published a book called Modern Reloading, in his book he made an effort to discredit Federal Primers. There were not many reloaders that read R. Lee's book carefully, I did and nothing that R.Lee said about Federal primers scared me.

I looked at the large box, after looking at the large primer box I made to tool that allowed me to dump 50 primers at a time. I did not spend the rest of my life complaining about something I did not understand. And then: One day I started out to bust a primer while reloading/installing primers, it took 3 hours, when I managed to bust that primer, I had crushed and foaled that primer into a ball.

I like a little space between my primers.

F. Guffey

[barretcreek]

Pretty sure it's in Hatcher's Notebook he mentions a guy walking with a jar of loose primers. Didn't make it to his destination.

[fguffey]

Pretty sure it's in Hatcher's Notebook he mentions a guy walking with a jar of loose primers. Didn't make it to his destination.

And there was the reloader, shooter, writer that carried his ammo in baggies. he dropped a baggie at the range. He almost blead to death before they could stop the bleeding.

F. Guffey

[JimF]

When I started handloading 65 years ago, they were packed the same way but the trays were made of wood.

Me too . . . .

In fact, I still have a “brick” of Western large rifle primers in those wooden trays.

I look at them from time-to-time . . . .just for old times sake!

Likewise, I still have a 500 round pack of Western .38 Special wadcutter ammo . . . .also just for “looking at”!

“My name is Jim . . . .and I’m an Alc-hoarder”!

(I’m trying to correct this changing of my quotes and apostrophes to query marks . . . .with very limited success!)

[fguffey]

Me too . . .

I did not go through everything, but I checked this one box that was different, the box contained shot gun primers, separated with what looked like compressed paper.

Many years ago, strike-anywhere matches were shipped in large 3 cubic ft. containers, today there are states that ban strike-anywhere matches. The matches have been known to ignite inside of the large container, but none have ever ignited the container.

F. Guffey