June 9, 2012, 05:16 PM | #1 |
Senior Member
Join Date: April 29, 2012
Location: East Texas
Posts: 105
|
Live Primer Disposal
I have a couple of cases that are damaged and have live primers seated. I've read here and other sites that say you can soak them in WD-40 or dish soap and other ways to "de-arm" the primers. Any truth to that, I don't really want to de-cap a live primer.
|
June 9, 2012, 05:21 PM | #2 |
Senior Member
Join Date: September 28, 2008
Posts: 10,442
|
I've never had a problem decapping live primers.
Just go easy and let them fall out on their own, without doing a full stroke on the press handle. Must have done hundreds over the years without a single one going off. Yet. Otherwise, soaking them in most any oil or solvent should do. You might test a few afterward to make sure.
__________________
Walt Kelly, alias Pogo, sez: “Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent.” |
June 9, 2012, 05:25 PM | #3 |
Senior Member
Join Date: September 28, 2008
Posts: 10,442
|
Dang, almost forgot.
Must be getting all PC in my old age. How about disarming those cases the fun way. Punch and hammer.
__________________
Walt Kelly, alias Pogo, sez: “Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent.” |
June 9, 2012, 05:28 PM | #4 |
Senior Member
Join Date: January 7, 2012
Location: Auburn, AL.
Posts: 2,332
|
I've never had one go off while decapping. They just push right back out as easy as they go in.
|
June 9, 2012, 05:32 PM | #5 |
Senior Member
Join Date: January 16, 2010
Location: If you have to ask...
Posts: 2,860
|
No problems depriming either, just use eye protection same as any other time I'm at my loading bench.
__________________
Life Member NRA, TSRA Smokeless powder is a passing fad! -Steve Garbe I hate rude behavior in a man. I won't tolerate it. -Woodrow F. Call Lonesome Dove My favorite recipes start out with a handful of used wheelweights. |
June 9, 2012, 08:47 PM | #6 |
Senior Member
Join Date: September 17, 2006
Posts: 105
|
Same here, no problem decapping live primers, I am always a bit careful with them and just give an easy pull on the press.
|
June 9, 2012, 09:20 PM | #7 |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 30, 2008
Location: Oklahoma, America
Posts: 286
|
Step 1. Light burn barrel
Step 2. Throw in damaged cases Step 3. Wait for "Pop" Well my friends have told me that my most common response to any issue is to "burn it!"
__________________
"Be kind, be courteous, and have a plan to kill everybody you meet." |
June 9, 2012, 10:27 PM | #8 |
Senior Member
Join Date: August 25, 2008
Location: In the valley above the plain
Posts: 13,417
|
Decap them.
If you're worried, go slow.
__________________
Don't even try it. It's even worse than the internet would lead you to believe. |
June 10, 2012, 02:16 AM | #9 |
Member
Join Date: January 24, 2012
Location: La Conner, WA
Posts: 69
|
If they will chamber, fire them in your gun. I do this in my shop. About like a firecracker.
Rick |
June 10, 2012, 02:58 AM | #10 |
Senior Member
Join Date: March 16, 2010
Posts: 733
|
I decap them and reuse the primer (for plinking).... easy as pie....
|
June 10, 2012, 07:18 AM | #11 |
Member
Join Date: July 25, 2008
Posts: 45
|
reef,
Easiest is to shoot them. Realize the stuff they leave behind has lots of lead in it. You might not want to do it in a press with a resizing die, because IF (big if) it goes off, the only place for the gas to go is out the primer hole. I have done lots that way but it has always made me nervious. A "Universal Decapping Die" has more room for the gasses to go. The way I do it is with a Lee Decapper (http://www.midwayusa.com/product/636...ase-30-caliber). A small punch and base. Put on a heavy glove and a face shield and tap with a small hammer. |
June 10, 2012, 09:42 AM | #12 |
Senior Member
Join Date: April 3, 2011
Posts: 2,088
|
Any liquid should make it inert, use hot water.
|
June 10, 2012, 12:23 PM | #13 |
Senior Member
Join Date: August 23, 2011
Location: Trinity, Texas
Posts: 636
|
I would guess that soaking them in water would leave them inert.
__________________
David Bachelder Trinity, Texas I load, 9mm Luger, 38 and 40 S&W, 38 Special, 357Magnum, 45ACP, 45 Colt, 223, 300 AAC, 243 and 30-06 |
June 10, 2012, 04:44 PM | #14 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: August 25, 2008
Location: In the valley above the plain
Posts: 13,417
|
Quote:
If you really want to neutralize a primer... Don't use water. Don't use lubricating oils. Use a good penetrating oil. However, you may have to let the primer soak for several days, before it is completely inert. You'll also have to find a way to clean every bit of residue from the inside of the case, or it will contaminate the power (and possibly primer) of future loads. Me? I just run them through the decapping die. Primers don't detonate from pressure; they require an impact. If primers were capable of detonating when a little pressure was applied to the anvil, nearly every cartridge any reloader ever attempted to prime would cause the primer to detonate. In new primers, the anvil is not fully seated in the primer cup. When the primer is seated, the anvil contacts the web of the cartridge case before the cup is fully seated, and applies pressure to the priming mixture, as the cup is seated fully. You're just compressing it a little further, when you decap a live primer. Don't slam your press handle, and you'll be fine.
__________________
Don't even try it. It's even worse than the internet would lead you to believe. |
|
June 10, 2012, 04:47 PM | #15 |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 1, 2002
Posts: 2,832
|
"I don't really want to de-cap a live primer. "
It's a little bitty primer, not a stick of dynamite. Deprime it normally, even if it should go off you won't lose an arm or leg. |
June 10, 2012, 05:05 PM | #16 |
Senior Member
Join Date: August 23, 2011
Location: Trinity, Texas
Posts: 636
|
I'v decapped many. Never had a problem. I have tossed a towel over the press first.
Anymore, I don't worry about it. I have heard them go off before. It's very loud and it may make you hurt yourself
__________________
David Bachelder Trinity, Texas I load, 9mm Luger, 38 and 40 S&W, 38 Special, 357Magnum, 45ACP, 45 Colt, 223, 300 AAC, 243 and 30-06 |
June 10, 2012, 08:36 PM | #17 | ||
Junior member
Join Date: April 18, 2008
Location: N. Central Florida
Posts: 8,518
|
Quote:
Quote:
|
||
June 10, 2012, 08:57 PM | #18 |
Senior Member
Join Date: January 20, 2001
Location: UCLA (upper corner of lower Alabama)
Posts: 533
|
Add one more to the "deprime" crowd.
I've deprimed fully seated, fully seated inverted and seated sideways. Except for the seated sideways primers I reuse them and have never had a failure. |
June 10, 2012, 10:23 PM | #19 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 25, 1999
Location: Too close to Houston
Posts: 4,196
|
Quote:
Me, I just decap them as usual and carry on. I'll even save the live primers to use in practice ammo.
__________________
Proud member of the NRA and Texas State Rifle Association. Registered and active voter. |
|
June 10, 2012, 11:43 PM | #20 |
Senior Member
Join Date: August 31, 2009
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 1,033
|
This. ^^^^^^ Don't worry about an itty-bitty little primer blowing your hand off. Won't happen.
|
June 11, 2012, 10:37 AM | #21 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: April 3, 2011
Posts: 2,088
|
Quote:
http://www.predatormastersforums.com/killprimers.shtml |
|
June 11, 2012, 01:35 PM | #22 |
Senior Member
Join Date: February 7, 2009
Location: Southern Oregon!
Posts: 2,891
|
Most primers are not as delicate as some think. I too have been just punching out "live" primers for several years (pre-web reloading forums, there was nobody to tell me they might "pop", so I punched them out). I've never tried to "kill" a primer but I have accidently dropped a few in coffee and when allowed to dry, they worked...
__________________
My Anchor is holding fast! I've learned how to stand on my own two knees... |
June 11, 2012, 01:43 PM | #23 | |
Junior member
Join Date: April 18, 2008
Location: N. Central Florida
Posts: 8,518
|
Quote:
I prefer to reuse them or let the kids bang them with a hammer like the good old cap gun days - they make a nice pop sound |
|
June 11, 2012, 08:49 PM | #24 |
Senior Member
Join Date: October 28, 2007
Location: Upper Indiana
Posts: 609
|
One more time. Primers detonate from IMPACT not from slow pressure. Furthermore they are a primer not a bomb.
Water will NOT disarm a primer. I have dropped them into the pets water dish, let them dry out a couple of days and used them. Same will go for WD-40. |
June 11, 2012, 09:40 PM | #25 |
Senior Member
Join Date: August 23, 2011
Location: Trinity, Texas
Posts: 636
|
"Not even CLOSE to being true"
Can you say BOLOGNA? Test Results: After 4 days: "Water - Dead. I could not hear it. No trace of smoke visible inside case." After 5 days: "Water - Dead. I could not hear it. No trace of smoke visible inside case." Conclusion: "Water wins, for WLR primers, but it still took 3 days, 4 to completely deactivate." Looks pretty close to the truth to me.
__________________
David Bachelder Trinity, Texas I load, 9mm Luger, 38 and 40 S&W, 38 Special, 357Magnum, 45ACP, 45 Colt, 223, 300 AAC, 243 and 30-06 |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
|