PERCUSSION CAP STORAGE

[tom berwinkle]

Can I store my caps in a uninsulated building that is hot in the summer? winter storage is not a problem, I have heat so nothing freezes.Caps are in a insulated wooden box.

 

[AGTR05]

I keep mine in my garage storage room in hot central Texas. As long as they are dry and free of moisture they should be fine. My 25 year old caps work every time.

 

[SDSmlf]

Manufactures always recommend storing them in a cool dry environment. See no reason to put percussion caps through extreme temperature and humidity cycles just because we can. At some point the chemical compound in the cap will begin to break down. Why accelerate the process?

 

[Bad Karma]

I have most of them stored in vacuum sealed bags, 500 per bag. And I keep them in the house, cool and dry. I don’t think they’ll deteriorate significantly under the conditions you described but I would not keep them longer than a year or two..

 

[hawkeye2]

I have an unheated cabin at the range and I leave caps in there in the original containers, both sealed and unsealed, as well as leaving them in my cap pouch too for up to a year or sometimes even more and have never had a problem with them. At home they are kept in an inexpensive gun safe with all my ammo in the basement. Currently I'm working through 3000 RWS caps that are old enough to have come in the 250 cap metal containers that I got off the widow of one of our team members, again no problems.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I have some dating back to 1970. They simply have been sitting on shelves in the house, garage, storage buildings, etc. Still good.

 

[sawyer04]

Yeap, same here, since the 70's when Dixie sold the cheap Italian caps. Still use them and no misfires yet, although they have been kept in a controlled environment. Had an associate that had the Italian caps and they took on moisture, but after drying they fired.

 

[Bad Karma]

Wow! Nearly 50 year old caps? Mine never seem to get a chance to age like that. Although I guess if I poked around in the dimmer reaches of my shop I might be surprised to find an old tin or two. I know that 40 year old pistol and rifle primers survive intact but for some reason I think of percussion caps as being more fragile, exposed as they are to atmosphere.

 

[Mean Gene]

Actually I wouldn't be surprised if caps placed on a loaded revolver would still go off a decade later.

 

[45man]

They are pretty good for a long time. I have caps 60+ years old that I fear. Italian that I won at a shoot. The metal is brittle and safety glasses are needed. When I used them I had to pick metal out of my chin and nose. I use the caps to clear the nipple and hold the gun upside down. I use only Rem and CCI for hunting. RWS also shattered metal.
Now I got permission to shoot down the road and seen cans of BP on a picnic bench. Rusty. I asked and the guy was so afraid to keep powder indoors, he left cans outside.

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

Actually I wouldn't be surprised if caps placed on a loaded revolver would still go off a decade later.

YES! THEY WILL FIRE! Never underestimate!

 

[hanshi]

Wow! Nearly 50 year old caps? Mine never seem to get a chance to age like that.

Don't aged caps make the shots more crisp and mellow?

 

[hawkeye2]

Don't aged caps make the shots more crisp and mellow?

Only if the caps are stored in a chared oak container.

 

[Sidney Smith]

Mine are on a cabinet shelf in my basement work room. Been there for probably 20 years. They still pop like new.