Removing Live Primers?

[WinJim1863]

I shot an F Class match yesterday and did quite well at 300 and 600 yards. However, blew it at 500- mainly because i had two cases rupture; I'm sure bullets went into the dirt as they never reached the target. I was fortunate that the cases came out in one piece. Hornady brass fired 11 times and I full length size so I knew I was getting close. I checked inside w/ home made coat hanger tool before loading, culled a few and thought I was okay with the rest. Anyway I was lucky and learned a good lesson.
I have ten rounds left over from that loading and will pull bullets today so I can throw cases away. Has anyone removed live primers punching them out with the pins in their sizing dies? I can probably just soak the cases in water and oil and that will kill the primer but I would feel better about getting them out first.
Will appreciate any suggestions, JimB

 

[308pirate]

I've removed live primers using a sizer/decapper.

Lightly lube the outside of the case and slowly press the primer out. Nothing happened. I think I even re-used the primers and they worked OK.

 

[918v]

Yes it’s safe

 

[mdmp5]

You can decap live primers. I’ve probably decapped several hundred. Even if one went off, it’s no biggie, but it is not easy to set one off from the inside.

Just a note, oil or water is not guaranteed to inactivate a primer

 

[Milo 2.5]

You can decap live primers. I’ve probably decapped several hundred. Even if one went off, it’s no biggie, but it is not easy to set one off from the inside.

Just a note, oil or water is not guaranteed to inactivate a primer

If you have a press like a rock chucker, big boss, etc.. and stand directly in front of it and a primer goes off while decapping, you're not going to like the outcome, it'll travel right down the groove in the ram and you will feel it, most likely inside your skin.

 

[Stpilot12]

Prolly done it over a 1000 times on the D550 with no issues... Common sense goes a long way here.

 

[OzzyO20]

I too have done a few. Universal decapping die, eye and ear pro, lower the ram slowly till you make contact and just very gently pull till it falls out. I threw mine out, but I've heard from more than one person they are re-usable.

If you mainly just want to recover the bullet and powder, why not pull the bullets and dump the powder and chuck them? For plinking, sure the primers are fine but F-class and all that you guys do to get results; I'd just pitch them and eat the pennies per primer.

 

[WinJim1863]

Milo, thanks on groove in front of ram, hadn't thought of that, will stand to the side.

Stpilot12, oh, common sense may be a problem...

mijp5, if water/oil won't kill primer what is recommended?

 

[Milo 2.5]

Milo, thanks on groove in front of ram, hadn't thought of that, will stand to the side.

Stpilot12, oh, common sense may be a problem...

mijp5, if water/oil won't kill primer what is recommended?

Just decap them slowly, be fine, or pull and fire them in your rifle. I'd probably throw the ammo in the trash myself.

 

[Grog11]

I just did it with about 50 cartridges and re-used them without incident. I did it with the de-capper on my lee collet die. Easy-peasey, just go gentle. Also, clean out your primer tray beforehand so they aren’t dropping into filth. Check them all for any small foreign matter they could have picked up after removal before you re use them .

 

[supercorndogs]

I have done it before and reused them, but only because I was saving the brass. With brass thats junk, bullets will be junk, 10 rounds worth of powder. i would toss it and move on.

 

[lightman]

I've removed several live primers with no problems. Like 100's. Just go slow and smooth. Safety glasses and work gloves are never a bad idea but I've never set one off. Nothing kills primers dependably but WD-40 probably works more than anything else. But, you don't need it. Just be gentle, like squeezing trigger.

 

[B y r o n]

If you are worried about throwing away the brass with live primers here is a simple solution and doesn't involve a press. Assuming you've removed the bullets and powder simply load the round into the chamber and pull the trigger with the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. Done in a garage with the door closed the neighbors probably won't even notice. The only thing you'll need to do afterward is swab the bore if the rifle was already cleaned.

If you're going to press them out a universal decapper die comes in handy.

 

[MtnCreek]

The stem on most FL dies can be lowered enough to de-prime without touching the case body (no lube needed).

 

[WinJim1863]

Thanks again to all. Maybe I will just fire empty cases in rifle as suggested; no worries that way.

 

[mdmp5]

I’ve set off a handful of primers in my 550, but that was from seating the primers into crimped 9mm pockets. It was loud, but my face was not in the line of fire so it’s cool