From: bartb@hpfcla.fc.hp.com (Bart Bobbitt)
Subject: Re: vaccuum packing (was: Stockpiling)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Fort Collins Site

Doug Gwyn (gwyn@smoke.brl.mil) wrote:

: If you're concerned
: about moisture, little bags of silica gel dessicant stored in a closed
: box with the ammo should do the trick.

Some time ago, a couple of folks did some tests on storing primers in
military ammo cans with silica gel (dessicant) inside.  Seems the primer's
moisture content was reduced too much.  Primer ignition uniformity was
not as good as with primers stored without the silica gel inside.  After
the primers were taken out of the ammo can and subjected to normal room
humidity of about 30 to 40 percent for a couple of weeks, their ignition
uniformity returned to normal.

By the same token, primers stored in high-humidity environments also get
non-uniform in their ignition.

The conclusion was that primers need some moisture in them to maintain
their ignition characteristics.  I don't know what this range is, but the
primer makers probably do.

BB