Safest Method Of Discharging Unknown Primers?

Caliber 22 Hornet - Small rifle Primer
Whilst sorting my brass (aquired through TradeMe and the Forum) I have uncovered about 50 or 60 live rounds of unknown DNA, so I've pulled the projectiles.
Variations include:
- Cartridge overall length - seating depth
- Case length, both too long and too short!
- Three different types of powder (that's going in the garden!)
- Eight different type of projectile (which I'll sort to match other stock on hand)
- Three different types of primer, including pistol primers, so I was told by one seller

I intend getting rid of the primers, but I understand it is unsafe to press them out, like you do with a fired primer.

My question is what is the safest way to discharge the primer, before going on to de-priming and FL re-sizing?

Options I'm think are:
- Chamber the primed, but empty case, then pull the trigger. My concerns are, will doing this 50 - 60 time pit or damage the breech or barrel rifling?
- or, put a piece of hardwood in the vice, drill a tight hole through, drop the primed case in the hole and whack the primer with a sharp pin or nail punch (wearing eye protection, groves and ear muffs)

What's the best method?

hi my too cents if you are worried about a discharge just drop them in water and empty them out dry them and start from scratch,size and deprime as you normally would,on a side note i gave deprime many primed cases by had never had a problem so far all the best

Press them out. Almost guarantee not a single one will go off. But in case they do, do it slowly, wear safety glasses and ear muffs.
I deprime live primers just as quickly and with as much worry as spent primers.

Many times have I decapped /deprimed cases with live primers. Only one that went off was decapped with a lee universal whackamole type. With a press I've never had it happen, but it pays to lower the pin and wear ear muffs they're loud

I have pressed out live primers with no issue.

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Originally Posted by bluecod1967

hi my too cents if you are worried about a discharge just drop them in water and empty them out dry them and start from scratch,size and deprime as you normally would,on a side note i gave deprime many primed cases by had never had a problem so far all the best

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Water won't deactivate modern primers. They're surprisingly hard to kill.

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Originally Posted by Makros

Water won't deactivate modern primers. They're surprisingly hard to kill.

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Any oil/hydrocarbon will render them deader than a dead thing ( but clean your cases thoroughly after or the deading process will be ongoing!)

But if you think about it, if one goes off all it does is blow out of the case. I dont bother killing them anymore although I would re omend safety glasses

Run the cases through your die and push them out. Wear safety gear, just in case. I've done hundreds without a single mishap. Most I keep asisde for reuse in fouling loads and evcery one has ignited.

I tried to kill a bunch of primers that were in similar handloads of unknown parentage, pulled the pills, dumped the powder and pressed the primers out. Soaked a couple in water, a couple in crc and a couple in oil. They all went off, I chucked on earmuffs and safety glasses and gave them a light tap with a hammer on a block of steel. Set off a couple of unmolested ones for a comparison, no difference in volume or pop... Conclusion is if you want to be rid of them the only safe and sure way to deactivate them is in the time honored fashion, setting them off. Even if you soak them and it does desensitize them, no guarantees that they won't dry out and get some of their mojo back. To be fair they aren't that violent even setting them off with a tap from a hammer on steel. You just end up with a flattened cup with the deformed anvil left in it.

The way I'd do it in your case is just press the primers out, collect them one at a time to minimise the numbers in the press if you do get a pop and into a primer tray before doing the next. Wear earmuffs/earplugs and safety glasses as the minimum, and you won't have any issues.

You can do two things - you can size the cases and press them out like normal - (absolutely no problem doing that, I do it all the time. Hundreds of them. (I have primers that have been pressed out of cartridges and then reloaded three times over...) then throw them in the ocean,
or
You can just fire them off. You do that in the comfort of your own home by putting the muzzle of your rifle inside the neck of a 2 litre plastic coke bottle. First drink the coke. Then shoot them off into the empty plastic bottle. All you get is a dull pop that noone will notice.

Press them out per above. If really concerned correct way to kill them deader than a dodo is with a spray of CRC or WD40 down the neck..as Dillon states to do with a primer magazine tube for the Dillon Press prrimer feed system if you get jammed primers in the tube - this so you can return to Dillon for a warranty claim. Diesel or Kero would do the same. Clean the brass well with Isopropyl alcohol, soapy water or some such after.

But in 17 years of pressing them out I've never had one go off. And if they were mine I'd stick some powder and a projectile back in and shoot them

Yea just press them out. Dunno what your thinking trying to knock them out with a lee loader by whacking them. I have removed them with a lee loader tho. Just put the decapping rod in a drill press and remove them that way basically pressing them out...

why didnt you simply fire the rounds in your rifle?

As he said, the contents are completely unknown. There is risk associated with firing them off- an overload with a fast pistol powder wouldn't be great..

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Originally Posted by No.3

I tried to kill a bunch of primers that were in similar handloads of unknown parentage, pulled the pills, dumped the powder and pressed the primers out. Soaked a couple in water, a couple in crc and a couple in oil. They all went off, I chucked on earmuffs and safety glasses and gave them a light tap with a hammer on a block of steel. Set off a couple of unmolested ones for a comparison, no difference in volume or pop... Conclusion is if you want to be rid of them the only safe and sure way to deactivate them is in the time honored fashion, setting them off. Even if you soak them and it does desensitize them, no guarantees that they won't dry out and get some of their mojo back. To be fair they aren't that violent even setting them off with a tap from a hammer on steel. You just end up with a flattened cup with the deformed anvil left in it.

The way I'd do it in your case is just press the primers out, collect them one at a time to minimise the numbers in the press if you do get a pop and into a primer tray before doing the next. Wear earmuffs/earplugs and safety glasses as the minimum, and you won't have any issues.

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I haven’t come across a primer that would survive few drop of acetone….

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Originally Posted by Fee Knicks

why didnt you simply fire the rounds in your rifle?

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https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....amples-103339/

I would pull the projectiles. Dump the powder then use the primed cases for a safe known load.

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Originally Posted by Fee Knicks

why didnt you simply fire the rounds in your rifle?

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A couple of reasons for not firing them, all based are caution and not damaging my rifle or my beautiful face!
Firstly I'm working at my work bench and want a quick, safe result. I don't want to fire 60 rounds of Hornet I my basement for fear of sparking an AO callout and being the next headline in Stuff, "REGISTERED FIREARMS OWNER LOOSES LICENCE FOR WRECKLESS DISCHARGE!" Which leaves the only option being, drive to a farm or range, fire 60 rounds, then drive home! WOFT!

Having pulled the projectiles I now know the powder charges varied from 9.2grn, which is below most recommended minimums, too 12.2 grains which is above maximum and probably a compressed load. Likely outcome of firing those would be a split case jammed in the breech, popped primer with associated pitting damage to the bolt face.

I have taken the advice of more experienced Forum members too try and kill the primer by soaking them.

Caution first with all things gun!

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Originally Posted by Fee Knicks

why didnt you simply fire the rounds in your rifle?

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Curious, what are the living conditions like on the West Coast of Northern Ireland of late?

Fire off the primers with barrel end in a suppressor and old blanket maybe.dont poke bare barrel into your good polar fleece coat....result looks like ciggy burns.the coke bottle idea sounds( or no sound?)like a goer.

My plan B - since plan A didnt seem to meet much approval - would be , decap them in your loading press. At least , being Hornet , they should all be boxer primed so no issues popping the primers out and discarding.

Not sure on dropping them in the ocean - the sea isnt a dump for all to use. Drop them in an offal hole or soak in acetone then discard in your usual rubbish disposal.

Apart from ears and eyes, the main precaution I take when decapping live primers is to put them back into a packet that is well labelled so I or anyone else knows they are unknowns.
I also try to make sure that there are lots of different types in the same packet, just in case I miss the label, the mixture of colours and sizes should be a red flag.
It isn't a good idea to store live primers together and loose as it can cause a chain reaction.

As others have said, just decapp them live, eyes and ears and gentle, if one does go off, its not much different to a cap gun. At worst your cat might decide to leave the room.

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Originally Posted by tibo

I haven’t come across a primer that would survive few drop of acetone….

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Correct, although acetone is a reactive in and of itself. I'd be a little screwy about applying a reactive chemical to something that reacts like a primer just because of the potential... Unlikely to cause an explosive reaction, but from my experience in mining ...odd - things can happen when you start mixing different reactive chemicals without care. Used to have massive fun in the emulsions plant with suppliers changing precursor specs without telling us and finding out on the first batch with the new supply. That was usually a lengthy phone call to the head chemist for a WTF just happened explanation while we tried to identify what had changed!

One thing I will point out with soaking primers is we have absolutely no idea what environmental protection the manufacturer applied to the surface of the primer inside the cup. I suspect the reason I had no success when I tried soaking them is that I didn't disturb the surface of the priming compound inside the primer cup and that the liquids I applied to the primers just sat on top of a coating on the priming compound in the cup.

It's really not that big a deal. Just shoot them with muzzle in a plastic bottle. Or press the muzzle into some polystyrene and shoot them. Very uncomplicated thing to solve.

Or just press them out and reuse them.

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Originally Posted by JohnDuxbury

It's really not that big a deal. Just shoot them with muzzle in a plastic bottle. Or press the muzzle into some polystyrene and shoot them. Very uncomplicated thing to solve.

Or just press them out and reuse them.

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Have to agree with you about the uncomplicated thing to solve.
A classic example of why it takes so long to get things done in NZ.

REPORTING BACK - PROCESS - OUTCOMES

Thanks Team for your opinions and advice which varied from:
- Kill the primers by drowning them
- Just run the primed case through the press - no worries
- Pull the projectiles and reuse the primed cases (with known load, but unknown primer)
- Fire the live rounds
- Fire or hammer discharge the primers
- KISS and don't over think it

I have only been reloading for 8 - 10 months and am enjoying the learning. I operate on the basis that, "The only dumb question is the one you didn't ask!" I'm not that risk averse, but do adopt a safe, precautionary approach to unfamiliar things.

Thanks everyone for your advice. After consideration I adopted the, "kill them by drowning method;"
- First submerged them over night in 15w40 engine oil
- In the morning I drained the engine oil off and soaked them in white spirits to remove the oil
- Then I soaked the them in acetone
- Then I flushed them with HOT tap water, and soaked them in hot soapy water
("Over kill is under rated!)

After they had drained and dried in the sun (and patented yellow shell holder), I fired 10 cases on my Weihrauch and got ZERO ignitions. Then I ran them through the depriming press, again with ZERO ignitions out of 70 cases. Then tumbled them and finally sorted them by brand.

Interesting to notice that, despite the number of times I cleaned them to remove the oil, the walnut still attracted and accumulated in trace oil inside the cases and primer pocket, forming a gluggy lump, which was easily removed with a scribe, but still another task....

I'm happy with both my anal retentive process and the outcomes.

I'm especially pleased that I didn't fire the live rounds because, on inspection, eight cases were split for the mouth to the shoulder. This highlights the pitfall of buying "Once Fired" brass through TradeMe. Based on the variations of powder charge, projectiles and inked hierographics on the outsides of the cases, I would say some of the these cases had been loader several times, some to maximum or compressed loads, in the quest for the highest possible velocity. I don't really understand the obsession some shooters have with "Maximum velocity!!??? I tend to load minimal powder charges to achieve efficient, accurate, killing rounds, so as to prolong brass life/usage, minimise noise, recoil, wear and tear. After all, "Dead is dead," and the target species doesn't know or care whether the projectile is doing 2400 ftps or 3100 ftps......

Thanks all for advice, I'm moving on to sizing next.Attachment 247015Attachment 247016Attachment 247017

Ok, if you've oiled the inside of the cases you need to double damn make sure there isn't any oil residue left and I mean double damn make sure. Reason for that is oil traces can do funny things to the coating chemicals used on the powders to retard the burn and slow the rate at which the pressure increases when you pull the trigger, by soaking into the coatings and altering the retardant affect. Also the oil can act as a fuel source in a really hot burn. If the walnut was sticking into the cases in a glug, that's way too much oil residue for my comfort factor...

I definately would have pushed the live primers out in the press using a decaping die, I have done it with no issues and they push out easy. Once done its just the easy normal routine without worring about having to remove all that oily stuff you put in your cases to kill the primers.

I guess you did it your way for your own safety and piece of mind so congrats for thinking about your safety, I just hope all that oily stuff is 100% out of your shells so you don't have trouble with your powder going all gluggy etc.

Anyway glad you got the job done :thumbsup:

I haven't looked at second hand brass on TM for a few years now, but when I used to, for some reason, everytime you see brass advertised on TM, it is almost always 'once fired' even on multiple different listings from different sellers where the photos show three different types of primers. Partly why I stopped shopping in that particular category.
@Hugh Shields, I am happy to put your brass through my ultrasonic cleaner if you think that would be helpful with the oil. Unless someone in Wellington chimes in with a similar offer, feel free to PM me and we can figure out a way to get the brass here.

The pitfalls of trying to save money... If I didnt reload it, i don't fire it.
For the amount of firings u can get out of it, buy qaulity new brass. You'll save it in 2 firings, knowing u can trust your brass.

BTW look up YouTube*·*314299 Shooting Channel8.1K+ views · 3 years agoIncipient Case Head Failure - YouTube
https://www.google.com/url?q=https:/...t92ayW6MPVwzkA
And check all the necks inside with a bend paperclip, bend a small hook , push I to neck run around shoulder, u can feel any small cracks. U probably know this but 2 semi serious issues with unknown brass

[QUOTE=JohnDuxbury;1560271]You can do two things - you can size the cases and press them out like normal - (absolutely no problem doing that, I do it all the time. Hundreds of them. (I have primers that have been pressed out of cartridges and then reloaded three times over...) then throw them in the ocean,

But what about the dolphins....:o

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Originally Posted by No.3

Ok, if you've oiled the inside of the cases you need to double damn make sure there isn't any oil residue left and I mean double damn make sure. Reason for that is oil traces can do funny things to the coating chemicals used on the powders to retard the burn and slow the rate at which the pressure increases when you pull the trigger, by soaking into the coatings and altering the retardant affect. Also the oil can act as a fuel source in a really hot burn. If the walnut was sticking into the cases in a glug, that's way too much oil residue for my comfort factor...

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Good advice, thanks.

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Originally Posted by Sharki

The pitfalls of trying to save money... If I didnt reload it, i don't fire it.
For the amount of firings u can get out of it, buy qaulity new brass. You'll save it in 2 firings, knowing u can trust your brass.

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Yes, agreed. Once I get them cleaned and rezized to factory specs, and loading low powder charges, I hope to get 10 - 15 reloads out of each case. Acknowledging that split cases will still happen and those with defects will be culled.

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Originally Posted by longshot

I haven't looked at second hand brass on TM for a few years now, but when I used to, for some reason, everytime you see brass advertised on TM, it is almost always 'once fired' even on multiple different listings from different sellers where the photos show three different types of primers. Partly why I stopped shopping in that particular category.
@Hugh Shields, I am happy to put your brass through my ultrasonic cleaner if you think that would be helpful with the oil. Unless someone in Wellington chimes in with a similar offer, feel free to PM me and we can figure out a way to get the brass here.

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Thanks @longshot for the offer of sonic cleaning, I may take you up on that but first I'll ask the question, "Does anyone living locally around greater Wellington have a sonic cleaner which I can run the through?

In the mean time I'll soak these again in acetone and scrub the inside with a bore brush. Thanks for the collective warnings re oil inside cases. Point noted!!!!

You pull and keep projectile; powder (if known), and punch the primer out to keep the brass, or not. The iffy but still live primer goes in a plastic container labelled as such, and you chuck them in bin fires for entertainment. You can even pea-shoot them out of a bit of tube, or shoot them out of air rifles :thumbsup:

A boring person would soak them in oil and then bin em.

Shooting em in front of air rifle pellet stuck on with a bit of bullet lube wax got me a major dust off by dad- chose the only white painted plastered outside wall, made u beaut black burns where the plaster came of brick, hr of fun, blue belt marks on ass for weeks. Well worth it @Tommy