Originally Posted by
pnut
Bought a ton of old reloading stuff off a guy this week.
He was just piling it all in boxes saying take it all.
With it I got 1# of IMR 4831 and about 2000 Winchester small pistol primers. This was all from the late 80's he said and kept in a spare bedroom with heat and AC.
The powder was sealed in a metal can and still has a nice ether smell. The primers were always kept dry and look nice and shiny still in their original boxes.
Should I not use them at all or just load up a few rounds and see each do?
Your did all the proper things. Use me. Primers don't generally go bad. You can even dunk in water and let em dry and they can still go bang. Most of the IMR4350 on the market in the past 50 years was surplus powder from WWII believe it or not.