Bad caps?

[kflach]

I just opened a "new" tin of Remington caps. Some of them look normal, but a bunch of them are a grayish color. Quite a few have had the explosive material fall out and become separated from the copper cap. I suspect it's best just to treat all 100 of them as being bad. Do I need to soak them in water before I throw 'em in the trash? Should I try to salvage the ones that look right?

[Dick Dastardly]

Were they mine, I'd return 'em to the vendor for an exchange or refund.  Remington caps are my chosen ones.  I've been lucky enough to get a good supply.  But, if they are defective, back they go.

DD-DLoS

[fourfingersofdeath]

Sounds like they are reallllllll old.

I bought a box of five thousand Remington small rifle primers many years age when a gunshop in Sydney was closing. It took me ages to go throught them and I opended a packet many years later and there were spider webs all over the trays

Raising kids and poor as a church mouse, I dusted them off and used them for rabbit and other small game. They all worked and put a lot of meat on the table.

However, if i had of bought them like that I would have gone right back to the shop with them.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Kevin, I know it's long after you posted, but ...

If the store won't deal with you and give you a new batch, just shoot 'em.  They're not particularly unsafe, IMHO.  Just use the ones that are the normal color (green, if I remember Rem's color) and you could use the others to clean any oil from your "cones" (nipples) prior to firing, which is a long-standing recommendation prior to loading with powder.  If they don't go off, oh well - there's no powder to worry about.  Do you understand what I'm recommending?

[kflach]

SHB,
That's essentially what I ended up doing. The caps are apparently "non-returnable" items under Texas law. Even if I could return them, I figured it would cost me half the refunded money in gas just to get to the store I bought them from (it's way across town). Since more than half of them appear to be good I'm just using that batch for nipple cleaning and shooting at the range. I'm pretty sure I'm still coming out ahead that way.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Good stuff, Grasshop ... er, Cockroach.   

[Percussion Pete]

I keep reading about Remington caps doing this. I bought 1000 #10 caps from Cabelas and they were all perfect so far. (700) I sort of agree that the caps might get old. I would think that Cabelas would have a good turnover and might be fresher.

Just a thought.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

I've shot thousands of Remington #11s, with never a failure or bad ones in the new can.  Some were over 20 years old.

Having said that, Deer Creek Powder quit carrying Rem. caps because of issues; mostly inconsistent sizing.

[kflach]

I shot over 1000 caps before I came across this particular tin. All have been Remington. On the whole Remington's been good to me.

[Dalton Masterson]

I had some musket caps that were like that one time. I got them on sale, and they were nothing but headaches...
Never had a problem with Rem. #10s.
DM