Thread: Decapping live primers

Forty odd years ago I was curious as to how much power a LR primer has. After FL resizing and priming a
22-250 case I seated a 55 grain jacketed projectile with no powder at all. Aiming at the ground out in the paddock I fired the round and was amazed that the projectile lodged about 18" up the 24" barrel. Having a suitable brass rod I tapped the projectile out the muzzle of the rifle. Anyone that has slugged a barrel even with a cast lead projectile knows it takes a lot of energy to start the projectile into the lands.

The above info has been enough for me to decide never to try and decap live primers. If it goes wrong all that energy has to go somewhere and it will either send the primer out of the primer pocket at great speed or send the decapping rod out the top of what ever is holding it. IMO chambering the primed cases and firing them seems like a much safer option.