Is there a safe way to remove live primers? I have some factory ammo that's too hot in my chamber and I wanted to reload with a reduced charge, but not sure how to go about it as I've never encountered this situation.
decapping live primers?
- Thread starter Winny94
- Start date
I have had to knock out a few live primers from brass.
Just used a universal decap die and went slow, no jam and ram and wear PPE.
If they are crimped in primers I'm not sure I would try pressing them out since I've never tried that on a staked primer.
Or you could reload them with a milder charge weight better suited to your particular rifle and chamber.
Just used a universal decap die and went slow, no jam and ram and wear PPE.
If they are crimped in primers I'm not sure I would try pressing them out since I've never tried that on a staked primer.
Or you could reload them with a milder charge weight better suited to your particular rifle and chamber.
I have deprimed a few live primers but not many. I just threw a towel over the press in case it blew or something. Not sure the proper way to do it or how likely or if it’s or if it’s even possible for one to blow depriming it. The few I have done I had no issue but that’s not saying that I couldn’t have. Hopefully someone knows the safest way.
Just don't slam the pin in to the primer and it will be fine. I have punched well in the hundreds of live primers and never set one off. The worst thing I have done is hit the primer with the pin too hard and bulged the primer making it unusable. Reuse the primers - they will still be good. I use a Lee depriming die but anything works.
Wear safety glasses if you are concerned, but the worst thing that will happen is it will go off and put a flame inside the die (has to travel up the case to the top of the die) and put some vibration in the press handle.
Wear safety glasses if you are concerned, but the worst thing that will happen is it will go off and put a flame inside the die (has to travel up the case to the top of the die) and put some vibration in the press handle.
You are taking a bigger risk by shooting them out the chamber - sending flash crap down the barrel that is going to come out somewhere plus if you have neighbors they may not like hearing what sounds like a 22 being shot in the yard.
Seriously, this is a non-issue. You are way overthinking it. Put the case in the press and throw a blanket over your head if you are worried about it, but then you are just going to look and feel like a moron after the primer slides out easier than a spent primer.
If all you are doing is reducing charge, why remove the primer? Pull the bullet, dump he powder, refill and reseat
Exactly!
You can kill primers with oil like rem oil or wd40 . However I have deprived live primers before just do it gently and you won’t have a problem. ALWAYS wear safety glasses. I’ve set off primers in a controlled environment before and the bang is loud but not dangerous.
If you want to be the safest possible fill the case with oil leave overnight and deprime. No danger at all at that point.
I just saw this thread and read through it.
@19Scout77 pretty much said exactly what I was thinking from the very beginning.
@19Scout77 pretty much said exactly what I was thinking from the very beginning.
I've actually deprimed a case that a had primer in backwards. Soaked the case in water for 10 minutes and it was fine. Like XLR said don't forget the PPE.
I decapped hundreds of live primers, just go slow. I assume any flash if one goes off would be shielded by the die used, but the primer is coming out of the case, that's a given. If the press ram has a groove in it for primer collection, you don't to be in that path, stand beside it. If you have coax,, where collection is through a tube into a pot, you'd want to remove the pot and send them down into a bigger container so more do not ignite.
It is not the water that kept it from going off - they need to be soaked for a very long time (weeks, possibly months or years) before they are DOA from water.
Think about all the light strike misfires that you or your buddies have had. That pin still hit the cup hard enough to dent it and it did not go off. Unless you drop the press handle fast or are fighting a stuck primer you are not going to generate enough force to set them off. At that, we are talking about a flash primer that is used to ignite gun powder. It is like setting off 5 toy caps at the same time. Nothing to write home about.
Fire a primed only case while holding your finger over the end of the barrel and get back with us on it. You'll change your opinion right quick.
I found some plastic cases and projectiles for .44Mag. Great for training and practice. Just push a primer in with your finger, no press, powder or priming tool needed. Then do the same with a projectile.
Then the cat found a good size snake in the house. By the time I figured out what was agitating the cat, the snake was in a pretty ornery mood. Normally I don't shoot non-poisonous snakes, but this one was inside my house. Besides, I had just the right tool.
Learnings.
1) Wear hearing protection, especially indoors.
2) The primer alone without powder and a very lightweight projectile is still almost enough to take a snake's head clean off.
3) Use caution with anything that goes boom.
Then the cat found a good size snake in the house. By the time I figured out what was agitating the cat, the snake was in a pretty ornery mood. Normally I don't shoot non-poisonous snakes, but this one was inside my house. Besides, I had just the right tool.
Learnings.
1) Wear hearing protection, especially indoors.
2) The primer alone without powder and a very lightweight projectile is still almost enough to take a snake's head clean off.
3) Use caution with anything that goes boom.
I've decapped plenty of live primers and had only one go off, scared the shit out of me but only made a loud noise. I use a lee universal decap die and do it with slow, steady pressure.
The lee hand loader has you prime cases with a little tool and a mallet. You’ll be fine so long as the primer has some empty space to go.
All this talk on how safe it is and not to worry about punching a live primer... the bottom line is im no EOD tech and im not risking my tools, press, dies, money, eyes or life over something stupid.
WD-40 will work.
Spray some on the inside of the primer, wait a few minutes and the primer will be inert. Wear safety glasses as an added safety precaution because it takes 1 second and could save your eyes. Reduce risk where you can.
WD-40 and safety glasses will cost you $6 if you don’t already have them.
WD-40 will work.
Spray some on the inside of the primer, wait a few minutes and the primer will be inert. Wear safety glasses as an added safety precaution because it takes 1 second and could save your eyes. Reduce risk where you can.
WD-40 and safety glasses will cost you $6 if you don’t already have them.
Yep, I'll add my support to this statement. If all you're trying to do is reduce the powder charge, why do you need to remove the primer?? Just pull the bullet, charge the case with the proper charge for your application, and reseat the bullet. Voila!
Would the neck tension be set well enough to reseat without running it through a sizer?
I'm not going to turn it, just wondering if after pulling the bullet, there is enough tension , or if it'd need to be resized.
What the heck is that supposed to mean? I clearly stated above that firing them is a bad idea. Read prior posts much?
I fired a Fed 215M in a 300WM case once in my reloading room just out of curiosity to gauge what kind of power they had.
My ears were still ringing pretty good when the wife came up to see what had happened.???
I've deprimed a few cases with live primers, (no incident, but I was going pretty slow and easy with it) but it's just not a situation that seems to present itself all too often.
The last ammo I needed to take apart in volume was a bunch of 8x57 Russian crap from the '50s, and as it was all berdan, I didn't bother trying to deprime.
The last ammo I needed to take apart in volume was a bunch of 8x57 Russian crap from the '50s, and as it was all berdan, I didn't bother trying to deprime.
There should be sufficient neck tension. We turned Ball into Mexican Match all the time and our M14s handled it just fine.
It takes quite a bit to set off a primer. With that said, I haven’t had any issues pushing out live primers. Wear some eye pro and ears and be reasonable. They push out pretty easily with a Frankford decapper.
You can’t set off a primer with a decapping rod if you be gentle. Can’t. A primer needs a sharp strike from the opposite direction and full support of the fire wall to go off.
The idea that oil or water will deactivate primers is completely and totally incorrect. It has been wrong since we started using primers that weren't based on potassium perchlorate or mercury fulminate.....in other words since before about 1943. With the current priming compounds water will slightly desensitize and oil will merely contribute another fuel for the flame. Liquids in contact with the priming compound may also act as a medium to reduce the sharpness of impact and thus reduce the possibility of setting them off but not reliably. Those who depend on oil or water will at some point find the process unreliable and hopefully not be injured in the process. Look into the chemistry of lead azide and lead styphnate. The azide isn't normally used in primers for ammunition but could have been, lead styphnate is the current most used material.
As for decapping live primers it is as the others have noted, not a big deal. Don't slam the case into the depriming pin and you're very very unlikely to set one off. I've never set one off in the last 40 years depriming but I have set one or two off when priming cases.......
Frank
As for decapping live primers it is as the others have noted, not a big deal. Don't slam the case into the depriming pin and you're very very unlikely to set one off. I've never set one off in the last 40 years depriming but I have set one or two off when priming cases.......
Frank
There is no legitimate basis for believing decapping won't ignite a primer.
That said, I have done so many hundreds of times. First comment, It's not justifiable unless it's really a screw-up, like putting pistol primers in rifle cases. I wear Eye/Ear pro, apply pressure slowly, and only reuse the primers for non-critical cartridges.
Right now, I've received 250rd of IMI 150gr 7.62x51. I'm going to Mexican Match them with Hornady 168gr HPBT-Match in an effort to closely approximate IMI 168 7.62x51 Semi-Auto Match that conforms very closely to the aiming points on the reticle of my Bushnell AR Drop Zone 308 BDC 4.5-18x scope on the Savage 11VT. The pulled bullets will find their new home in 250 Pieces of Hornady 30-06 bulk brass for M2 equivalent that is probably waiting at the local PO right now.
I really don't (yet) have a purpose for 308 150gr FMJ.
Greg
That said, I have done so many hundreds of times. First comment, It's not justifiable unless it's really a screw-up, like putting pistol primers in rifle cases. I wear Eye/Ear pro, apply pressure slowly, and only reuse the primers for non-critical cartridges.
Right now, I've received 250rd of IMI 150gr 7.62x51. I'm going to Mexican Match them with Hornady 168gr HPBT-Match in an effort to closely approximate IMI 168 7.62x51 Semi-Auto Match that conforms very closely to the aiming points on the reticle of my Bushnell AR Drop Zone 308 BDC 4.5-18x scope on the Savage 11VT. The pulled bullets will find their new home in 250 Pieces of Hornady 30-06 bulk brass for M2 equivalent that is probably waiting at the local PO right now.
I really don't (yet) have a purpose for 308 150gr FMJ.
Greg
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I honestly can't think of any. Maybe put a li'l stress on your extractor from popping over the rim of the case. As long as the gun is pointed safely away from anything that could be damaged, I would think it would be okay. I've done it with no ill effects.
I have.
probably wouldn’t use them for a critical application or competition but they always went bang and seemed to behave normal.
Yes, although they are smaller in diameter and will be loose in other brass unless it has tight primer pockets.
I just deprimed about 350-375 223 brass with live primers, It was all junk ammo, bad cases, Odds and ends ammo picked up at matches and shooting ranges over the last 12-15 years. Pulled bullets and dumped powder, then loaded up in the 650 with a lee decapping die and went to town, I did sneak up on the pressure and made sure not to strike the primer with pin, then pressed them out. no big deal. Scrapped the bad brass into the recycle bucket and the good brass, not many went to the needs cleaned bucket.
I've knocked out shitloads including many live BMG primers. Sometimes two primers would wind up getting pressed into one case and lock up the whole assembly and I'd have to go over to the vise to knock it out. I wouldn't worry about it, just wear eye pro. Only ever seen 'em go off if hit like they're supposed to, and even then it has to be spot on --otherwise it just ruins the primer. A sharpened firing pin will punch a hole in 'em without even setting 'em off. They're harder to set off than most people realize --but doesn't mean I'd go doing Fudd shit with 'em.
Yeah, you can fire primers like that but point in a safe direction, and wear ear pro (especially if you do it indoors) this is where most of the noise from a gunshot comes from.
I'd just use a kinetic puller, reweigh the charge and reseat (and recrimp if applicable) the bullet --that's the fastest/cheapest way to achieve what you're trying to do. Leave the primer --a primer is a primer, just account for magnum or not. CCI milspec primers are magnum strength too in case you didn't know.
You can use a collet puller too if you've got more than you wanna do with a kinetic puller. Just set it up so you need the bare minimum of force in order to pull it and it'll barely leave a mark, won't hurt the bullet's trajectory at all.
Save 'em up, put 'em in a bowl, add milk and munch 'em like corn pops. That's what I do. Makes the teeth strong.
Shit, just kidding --some of these fuckers on here now will try that and wind up blowing their goddamn jaw off.
But no, do not reuse damaged, removed or decapped primers.
Yeah, you can fire primers like that but point in a safe direction, and wear ear pro (especially if you do it indoors) this is where most of the noise from a gunshot comes from.
I'd just use a kinetic puller, reweigh the charge and reseat (and recrimp if applicable) the bullet --that's the fastest/cheapest way to achieve what you're trying to do. Leave the primer --a primer is a primer, just account for magnum or not. CCI milspec primers are magnum strength too in case you didn't know.
You can use a collet puller too if you've got more than you wanna do with a kinetic puller. Just set it up so you need the bare minimum of force in order to pull it and it'll barely leave a mark, won't hurt the bullet's trajectory at all.
Fuck no.
Save 'em up, put 'em in a bowl, add milk and munch 'em like corn pops. That's what I do. Makes the teeth strong.
Shit, just kidding --some of these fuckers on here now will try that and wind up blowing their goddamn jaw off.
But no, do not reuse damaged, removed or decapped primers.
Oh, and if you wanna be safe, you can always squirt 'em with WD40 first or soak 'em after --penetrating oil will kill a primer.
If you do that before decapping though, be sure to get ALL that oil out before reusing the brass.
If you do that before decapping though, be sure to get ALL that oil out before reusing the brass.
There’s a lot of stupid in this post. I hope the newer reloaders here listen to the knowledgeable people who posted earlier and not this guy; he’s about 50/50 for good/bad info.
