Firing Cartridge with Primer and Nothing Else

cali92rs · October 23, 2009, 10:25 PM

Long story short, I have some brass with the primers installed, but no powder or bullet. I want to fire these off in my 454 SRH, so i can safely decap them. My question is, is this safe? How loud will the pop be?

rantingredneck · October 23, 2009, 10:27 PM

It's safe. Do it outside. Quieter than a .22, louder than an air rifle.

cali92rs · October 23, 2009, 10:35 PM

Bitchin..thanks for the quick response

Crosshair · October 23, 2009, 10:41 PM

Why not decap them and reuse the primers? Just go slow and wear ear muffs. I've done it many times and have yet to set off a primer.

Christchild · October 23, 2009, 10:48 PM

Hmmm.......Decapping live primers, uh, CrossHair?

Unless I'm missing something, that could very possibly crush the priming mix and ignite the primer......??? If nothing else, I don't think I'd be willing to take a chance doing that, then not knowing if the Live-Decapped primers were reliable the 2nd time. I wouldn't want to trust my components to THAT extent.

That wouldn't be a major problem, if it was pointed in the right direction, but that is One of the Many things I do NOT want to do to my Dies!

Cali92RS, put the primed Cases into the FireArm that's chambered for that Cartridge, and fire them. But, like another poster stated, do that outside, if possible.

It'll leave a little carbon in Your bore, but that's easily removed with a light cleaning.

Try to avoid Decapping live primers, using Your Dies.

DiscoRacing · October 23, 2009, 10:51 PM

FYI... I have decapped at least 100 rds with live primers...with no adverse effects at all.... except that... the live primer fell out

.45 COLT · October 23, 2009, 10:53 PM

Don't know if it's "safe" or not, but I decap live primers. Never had one go off.

Firing off just primers might bind up the cylinder in your RH. Primer backs out, nothing to push the shell back and reseat the primer. Not dangerous at all, just a PITA.

DC

koolminx · October 23, 2009, 10:56 PM

Seems kind of silly that you can press a primer INTO a shell without it going off, but people get all mushy when thinking about pushing it back out.... Don't make sense...

Christchild · October 23, 2009, 11:13 PM

I look at it that way, because those 2 operations are functioning on different forces.

You're pushing a primer into the pocket with a "Flat" pusher, utilizing the primer cup, sliding it into a primer pocket, seating it quite firmly. Wider Point of Contact.

Decapping is done with a Pin, pushing the anvil into the priming mix against the cup. Precise, Small Point of Contact, where the force is much more concentrated.

I know SOME of You guys likely have a bit more experience in doing that, than I do, and I learn when Yawl chime in about these type of things (that I've never done), but You won't catch me doing that, unless it's absolutely necessary.

cali92rs · October 23, 2009, 11:42 PM

The reason i dont want to re-use these primers is because I won the gun on gun broker and as part of the deal, it came with dies and brass.
For some reason, half the brass have live primers in them. (Maybe the previous gun owner was in the process of reloading a batch, then had to ge rid of them? I dont know).
But regardless, I have no idea what kind of primers these are, and im kinda anal, so I dont want to reload them...

OK, long story long now. LOL

Christchild · October 23, 2009, 11:46 PM

Cali92,

You're thinking! And very much in the right direction. Who knows if they're Large Rifle or LR Magnum?

Don't take UNnecessary chances.

Stay Safe!

Casimer · October 23, 2009, 11:47 PM

You know, you can buy primed brass. Maybe the seller has sent you factory primed brass. It could be worth your while to contact them and find out.

And FWIW I've deprimed live primers w/o a problem as well - but wear eye protection

Sport45 · October 24, 2009, 12:17 AM

Put on your eye and ear protection and decap them if you don't want to load and shoot them with "plinker" loads. They won't go off in the decapping process unless you slam the pin down into them. If you use a die larger than the case, like a universal decapper, the gas has plenty of room to exit even if it does go off.

Firing them in your revolver will most likely back the primer out and tie up the cylinder. Won't hurt anything, but you might get tired of having to hammer the thing open after each shot to load the next. The "pop" is louder than a good cap gun , but not as loud as a .22lr rifle.

Big Don · October 24, 2009, 01:36 AM

I just finished decapping a whole bunch of .45 and .308 brass with intact primers and nary a problem. I did not reuse the primers however and did have the proper PPE (eyes and ears) just in case. (The brass had been lying around the guy's place, primed but nothing to protect the primers so away they went.)

SL1 · October 24, 2009, 07:30 AM

It would not matter if the primers are "pistol" or "rifle" or "magnum" or "standard" if you shoot them in .454 cases in a SRH at pressures down in the .45 Long Colt range. And, do you want to shoot ALL of your practice loads at full Casull power?!

One thing to be careful about when you reload these cases is that not all .454 Casull brass uses the same primers. I may have this backwards, because I don't shoot that cartridge and am working from memory of what I read, but that cartride was originally developed with large pistol primers and later was "converted" to large rifle primers because of the high pressure. SO, as I understand it, some brass has the deeper primer pockets needed for the rifle primers and some does not. That could create a hazard if you seat large rifle primers in cases with (more shallow) large pistol primer pockets, because it would leave the primers "high". Cartridges with high primers that are loaded in a revolver can fire from the recoil banging them against the recoil shield when they are NOT in the chambers aligned with the barrel. Sine the bullet is blocked from leaving the case/cylinder, this is effectively a bomb, and would be very dangerous with a .454 Casull load.

Because you don't know what brass you got with the gun, you need to check-out ALL of you primer pockets before you reload them and segregate the ones with large and small primers if you do have both.

SL1

cali92rs · October 27, 2009, 02:09 PM

Sport45...
You hit the nail on the head.
Almost after ever round, the cylinder would lock up and it was a PITA to get it out.
I dint about 20 of them before I got too frustrated and quit.
Im just gonna put on my safety glasses and decap them nice and slowly.

QBall45 · October 27, 2009, 02:59 PM

Your fine to pop those primers in your gun. Do so outside.

You could also safely de cap them live. Protection for eyes & ears is mandatory. The key is to use slow steady pressure. Be gentle.

Hope your not wasting too many primers.

Brian Pfleuger · October 27, 2009, 03:04 PM

I fired one indoors, a magnum pistol primer in my G33. It was loud enough that my electronic ear protection cut-off. That's not saying much, closing the bolt on my 11-87 makes it cut-off. It's "loud-ish", I guess.

I also decapped one with a live primer, it was decidedly uneventful.

dsv424 · October 27, 2009, 03:53 PM

I have de-capped probably over 500 of them in all different calibers and have not had a single one go off. I even de-capped a few back-wards loaded ones without a problem. I just go slow and easy and no problems what so ever. I remember the first one I did was a bit scary but after being re-assured by most I talked to I don't even think twice about it now. Besides with the price of primers now a' days its worth it to re-prime them.

Sport45 · October 27, 2009, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Sport45...
You hit the nail on the head.
Almost after ever round, the cylinder would lock up and it was a PITA to get it out.

I was speaking from experience so this wasn't hard to predict.

October 23, 2009, 10:25 PM	#1
cali92rs Member Join Date: July 7, 2009 Posts: 38	Firing Cartridge with Primer and Nothing Else Long story short, I have some brass with the primers installed, but no powder or bullet. I want to fire these off in my 454 SRH, so i can safely decap them. My question is, is this safe? How loud will the pop be?

October 23, 2009, 10:27 PM	#2
rantingredneck Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,728	It's safe. Do it outside. Quieter than a .22, louder than an air rifle. __________________ NRA Member NC Hunter's Education Instructor PCCA Member (What's PCCA you ask? <- Check the link)

October 23, 2009, 10:41 PM	#4
Crosshair Senior Member Join Date: December 16, 2004 Location: Grand Forks, ND Posts: 5,333	Why not decap them and reuse the primers? Just go slow and wear ear muffs. I've done it many times and have yet to set off a primer. __________________ I don't carry a gun to go looking for trouble, I carry a gun in case trouble finds me.

October 23, 2009, 11:13 PM	#9
Christchild Senior Member Join Date: June 19, 2009 Location: Loadbenchville, Bolt 02770 Posts: 544	I look at it that way, because those 2 operations are functioning on different forces. You're pushing a primer into the pocket with a "Flat" pusher, utilizing the primer cup, sliding it into a primer pocket, seating it quite firmly. Wider Point of Contact. Decapping is done with a Pin, pushing the anvil into the priming mix against the cup. Precise, Small Point of Contact, where the force is much more concentrated. I know SOME of You guys likely have a bit more experience in doing that, than I do, and I learn when Yawl chime in about these type of things (that I've never done), but You won't catch me doing that, unless it's absolutely necessary. Last edited by Christchild; October 23, 2009 at 11:47 PM.

October 24, 2009, 12:17 AM	#13
Sport45 Senior Member Join Date: May 25, 1999 Location: Too close to Houston Posts: 4,196	Put on your eye and ear protection and decap them if you don't want to load and shoot them with "plinker" loads. They won't go off in the decapping process unless you slam the pin down into them. If you use a die larger than the case, like a universal decapper, the gas has plenty of room to exit even if it does go off. Firing them in your revolver will most likely back the primer out and tie up the cylinder. Won't hurt anything, but you might get tired of having to hammer the thing open after each shot to load the next. The "pop" is louder than a good cap gun , but not as loud as a .22lr rifle. __________________ Proud member of the NRA and Texas State Rifle Association. Registered and active voter.

October 23, 2009, 10:35 PM	#3
cali92rs Member Join Date: July 7, 2009 Posts: 38	Bitchin..thanks for the quick response

October 23, 2009, 10:48 PM	#5
Christchild Senior Member Join Date: June 19, 2009 Location: Loadbenchville, Bolt 02770 Posts: 544	Hmmm.......Decapping live primers, uh, CrossHair? Unless I'm missing something, that could very possibly crush the priming mix and ignite the primer......??? If nothing else, I don't think I'd be willing to take a chance doing that, then not knowing if the Live-Decapped primers were reliable the 2nd time. I wouldn't want to trust my components to THAT extent. That wouldn't be a major problem, if it was pointed in the right direction, but that is One of the Many things I do NOT want to do to my Dies! Cali92RS, put the primed Cases into the FireArm that's chambered for that Cartridge, and fire them. But, like another poster stated, do that outside, if possible. It'll leave a little carbon in Your bore, but that's easily removed with a light cleaning. Try to avoid Decapping live primers, using Your Dies.

October 23, 2009, 10:51 PM	#6
DiscoRacing Senior Member Join Date: December 19, 2008 Location: milton, wv Posts: 3,640	FYI... I have decapped at least 100 rds with live primers...with no adverse effects at all.... except that... the live primer fell out

October 23, 2009, 10:53 PM	#7
.45 COLT Senior Member Join Date: May 18, 2004 Posts: 308	Don't know if it's "safe" or not, but I decap live primers. Never had one go off. Firing off just primers might bind up the cylinder in your RH. Primer backs out, nothing to push the shell back and reseat the primer. Not dangerous at all, just a PITA. DC

October 23, 2009, 10:56 PM	#8
koolminx Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2009 Posts: 520	Seems kind of silly that you can press a primer INTO a shell without it going off, but people get all mushy when thinking about pushing it back out.... Don't make sense...

October 23, 2009, 11:42 PM	#10
cali92rs Member Join Date: July 7, 2009 Posts: 38	The reason i dont want to re-use these primers is because I won the gun on gun broker and as part of the deal, it came with dies and brass. For some reason, half the brass have live primers in them. (Maybe the previous gun owner was in the process of reloading a batch, then had to ge rid of them? I dont know). But regardless, I have no idea what kind of primers these are, and im kinda anal, so I dont want to reload them... OK, long story long now. LOL

October 23, 2009, 11:46 PM	#11
Christchild Senior Member Join Date: June 19, 2009 Location: Loadbenchville, Bolt 02770 Posts: 544	Cali92, You're thinking! And very much in the right direction. Who knows if they're Large Rifle or LR Magnum? Don't take UNnecessary chances. Stay Safe!

October 23, 2009, 11:47 PM	#12
Casimer Senior Member Join Date: April 23, 2007 Location: Pennsylvania, USA Posts: 1,918	You know, you can buy primed brass. Maybe the seller has sent you factory primed brass. It could be worth your while to contact them and find out. And FWIW I've deprimed live primers w/o a problem as well - but wear eye protection

October 24, 2009, 01:36 AM	#14
Big Don Senior Member Join Date: June 13, 2006 Location: Hayden, ID Posts: 375	I just finished decapping a whole bunch of .45 and .308 brass with intact primers and nary a problem. I did not reuse the primers however and did have the proper PPE (eyes and ears) just in case. (The brass had been lying around the guy's place, primed but nothing to protect the primers so away they went.) __________________ [SIZE="3"][SIZE="2"]Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he's too old to fight, he'll just kill you. "If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it?"- Benjamin Franklin

October 24, 2009, 07:30 AM	#15
SL1 Senior Member Join Date: November 8, 2007 Posts: 2,001	Why not just load them to .45 Colt pressures and shoot them? It would not matter if the primers are "pistol" or "rifle" or "magnum" or "standard" if you shoot them in .454 cases in a SRH at pressures down in the .45 Long Colt range. And, do you want to shoot ALL of your practice loads at full Casull power?! One thing to be careful about when you reload these cases is that not all .454 Casull brass uses the same primers. I may have this backwards, because I don't shoot that cartridge and am working from memory of what I read, but that cartride was originally developed with large pistol primers and later was "converted" to large rifle primers because of the high pressure. SO, as I understand it, some brass has the deeper primer pockets needed for the rifle primers and some does not. That could create a hazard if you seat large rifle primers in cases with (more shallow) large pistol primer pockets, because it would leave the primers "high". Cartridges with high primers that are loaded in a revolver can fire from the recoil banging them against the recoil shield when they are NOT in the chambers aligned with the barrel. Sine the bullet is blocked from leaving the case/cylinder, this is effectively a bomb, and would be very dangerous with a .454 Casull load. Because you don't know what brass you got with the gun, you need to check-out ALL of you primer pockets before you reload them and segregate the ones with large and small primers if you do have both. SL1

October 27, 2009, 02:09 PM	#16
cali92rs Member Join Date: July 7, 2009 Posts: 38	Sport45... You hit the nail on the head. Almost after ever round, the cylinder would lock up and it was a PITA to get it out. I dint about 20 of them before I got too frustrated and quit. Im just gonna put on my safety glasses and decap them nice and slowly.

October 27, 2009, 02:59 PM	#17
QBall45 Senior Member Join Date: April 5, 2008 Location: South Central Minnesota Posts: 584	Your fine to pop those primers in your gun. Do so outside. You could also safely de cap them live. Protection for eyes & ears is mandatory. The key is to use slow steady pressure. Be gentle. Hope your not wasting too many primers.

October 27, 2009, 03:04 PM	#18
Brian Pfleuger Moderator Emeritus Join Date: June 25, 2008 Location: Austin, CO Posts: 19,578	I fired one indoors, a magnum pistol primer in my G33. It was loud enough that my electronic ear protection cut-off. That's not saying much, closing the bolt on my 11-87 makes it cut-off. It's "loud-ish", I guess. I also decapped one with a live primer, it was decidedly uneventful. __________________ Nobody plans to screw up their lives... ...they just don't plan not to. -Andy Stanley

October 27, 2009, 03:53 PM	#19
dsv424 Senior Member Join Date: December 4, 2008 Location: Dallas, Tx. Posts: 266	I have de-capped probably over 500 of them in all different calibers and have not had a single one go off. I even de-capped a few back-wards loaded ones without a problem. I just go slow and easy and no problems what so ever. I remember the first one I did was a bit scary but after being re-assured by most I talked to I don't even think twice about it now. Besides with the price of primers now a' days its worth it to re-prime them.