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There has been a lot of discussion on what happens to a primer when oil is allowed to get on the primer of a loaded round. The consensus seems to be that the primer will fail.
I decided to try a series of experiments to see if this is really true. I used all WLP primers and .44 Mag cases. The cases probably don't matter, but different brands of primers (or a different gun with a lighter hitting FP) might give different results.
1) A small drop of gun oil (Hoppes) was dropped directly on a primer and then the primer was seated in the case.
2) Same as #1, but using WD40.
3) A clean primer was seated in a casing and WD40 was applied liberally (a puddle of oil on the primer) to the primer area. The case was set mouth down to allow the oil to migrate down.
4) Same as #3 but using Kroil penetrating oil since there is a high probability that that is the type of oil mixed with a cleaning solvent that might touch a primer.
I feel the amount of oils allowed to contact or even penetrate the primers is far greater in my experiments than in normal ammo handling.
All of the casings were left for 2 days and then fired in a Ruger SRH.
The results:
1) The primer did go off, but the output was very greatly reduced. I doubt that it would be enough to ignite powder, but who knows.
2) The primer went off at about 1/4 strength.
3) The primer fired normally.
4) The primer fired normally.
These experiments were in no way exhaustive or quantitative. But they did show me that the caution about not allowing any oil to touch the primer of a loaded round is probably an old wives tale.
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