Removing unfired primers?

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Jnestle

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Probably a dumb question but I have never had a reason to need to do this before. Quickly - I have about 30 270WSM cartridges that are primed but sized incorrectly. My resizing die had to be modified for these to chamber in my gun. So - is there a safe way to remove these primers so I can run the cartridge back through my modified die? I hate thinking of disposing of this many once fired brass.
Thanks in advance! JN
 
Just deprime them as normal. Go slow with the press and wear safety glasses and ear plugs. I did the same thing with a batch of unfired primed brass that I got recently because the primer type/brand was unknown. I had a small bucket of water below the press for the primers to drop into so I didn't get a bunch of live primers all stacked together in the spent primer tube.

Matt
 
By your post I'm guessing the cases are not loaded, just primed. If this is in fact true, remove the depriming pin/rod and just resize the cases, you should have no problem, there is nothing touching the primer to make the primer go off. Remember the shell holder is hollow.

Even if you elect to remove the primers why toss them? Use them when you reprime the cases.
 
I would use a universal decapper die so if one does go off, the pressure has somewhere to go instead of into your die. I know dies are fairly strong, but I'm not 100% sure they're all going to be strong enough to withstand a primer going off.

I've done it a couple times, but I generally am against it and just throw the cases out if they seated wrong, especially with cheaper brass like .223 - my safety is worth more than $.10 to me. The way I see it is, even spent primers have a little bit of goo left in them, which could be all the way down the spent primer tube.. if the primer does go off into a full tube\cup\what you use to dispose of them it might set off one hell of a chain reaction.
 
I would use a universal decapper die so if one does go off, the pressure has somewhere to go instead of into your die. I know dies are fairly strong, but I'm not 100% sure they're all going to be strong enough to withstand a primer going off.
Click to expand...

Serious?

Obviously you've never reloaded with a Lee Loader and had a primer pop.

The amount of actual energy a single primer has is very limited.
 
Decap them as normal but wear safety glasses (which you should be wearing anyway) and NOMEX/Kevlar gloves if you have them. I did the same thing with a batch of 7mm-08 that I forgot to trim. Thankfully it was only 20 rounds or so. Go slow on the press. Conventional wisdom says to reuse the primers once you make the round again. Primers are cheap so I say use a new primer.
 
NOMEX/Kevlar gloves if you have them.
Click to expand...

Why? If using a press to remove the primers the case is totally enclosed on all sides and at the top by whatever method the die manufacturer uses to hold the depriming pin/rod assembly. The only direction anything can go is down thru the shell holder and continue down thru the ram and in every press I own the primer its self goes out the side or out the back. For the life of me I fail to see the danger of the primer going off which I doubt it would anyway.

I've reloaded thousands of rounds using the Lee Loader and a rubber mallet. Once in a great while I've had a primer go off, while holding the primer seating rod with my bare hands. Other than a loud pop/bang, nothing happened. No particles flying out and no burning flame.
 
Yea I had one go off like that a whole lotta years ago, it was my first and last time I used lee products.

The loader was in the trash the next morning when the trash men came, never to be seen again!!!!
 
Yea I had one go off like that a whole lotta years ago, it was my first and last time I used lee products.

The loader was in the trash the next morning when the trash men came, never to be seen again!!!!
Click to expand...

Pure foolishness.
 
Depriming not required

Jnestle, welcome to the forum and thanks for asking our advice.
Jnestle said:
Probably a dumb question but I have never had a reason to need to do this before. Quickly - I have about 30 270WSM cartridges that are primed but sized incorrectly. My resizing die had to be modified for these to chamber in my gun. So - is there a safe way to remove these primers so I can run the cartridge back through my modified die? I hate thinking of disposing of this many once fired brass.
Thanks in advance! JN
Click to expand...
jcwit said:
By your post I'm guessing the cases are not loaded, just primed. If this is in fact true, remove the depriming pin/rod and just resize the cases, you should have no problem, there is nothing touching the primer to make the primer go off. Remember the shell holder is hollow.

Even if you elect to remove the primers why toss them? Use them when you reprime the cases.
Click to expand...
All other posts seem to focus on depriming issues and lose sight of the original question, which I paraphrase here:

How can I fix 30 270WSM primed cases that are improperly sized?

By the way, what seems to be the problem with the cases? That might make a difference.

I hope this helps.

Lost Sheep
 
Yea I had one go off like that a whole lotta years ago, it was my first and last time I used lee products.

The loader was in the trash the next morning when the trash men came, never to be seen again!!!!
Click to expand...

Pure foolishness.
Click to expand...

Absolutly! I have more dangerous moments daily while driving to and from the range, and I've yet to give up driving.

I fail to understand the absolute fear of a primer, if they are this dangerous they never would be able to ship them anywhere, plus the lawers would have long since made them obsolete. Heck, the caps we played with as kids is very similar to a primer, I've used paper caps to make black powder caps for use in a caplock rifle.
 
Neither have I after I purchased a hand primer. I still use the Lee Loader to work up loads at the range or while shooting off the bench. Only wish they made them in all the calibers that I shoot & reload for which is 40 different.

Sorry for the off topic reply.

Lost sheep may have the question here "What is the problem with the cases"?
 
I've deprimed and recycled a few primers over the years without issue. That said, I have a large coffee can of mixed headstamp range brass (200+ pieces) that I sized, trimmed, primed and had heady to go for my AR. I dumped the AR and now just have my 223 bolt gun. I could just load the cases and run with them I suppose, but generally I just pick 1 headstamp and run with that for the bolt gun. If I deprimed the cases should I expect to successfully reuse 90% of the primers, or do some of them go bad (anvil fall out or something)?
 
I've deprimed and recycled a few primers over the years without issue. That said, I have a large coffee can of mixed headstamp range brass (200+ pieces) that I sized, trimmed, primed and had heady to go for my AR. I dumped the AR and now just have my 223 bolt gun. I could just load the cases and run with them I suppose, but generally I just pick 1 headstamp and run with that for the bolt gun. If I deprimed the cases should I expect to successfully reuse 90% of the primers, or do some of them go bad (anvil fall out or something)?
Click to expand...

To the best of my recollection I've yet to have a misfire for any reason reusing a primer. It may have happened in distant past as I've been reloading for 50 years.

Have never seen the anvil fall out.
 
I wouldn't deprime them at all. I'd just remove the decapping pin from the die, resize them all, and check the dimensions. If everything is good reinstall the decapping pin, raise the ram just enough to expand the case mouth to accept a bullet, and load them up. It seems like it would be about the same amount of work as trying to reuse the primers and have less chance of damaging a perfectly good primer.

But I've only been reloading for about 10 months.... what do I know. Well that method has worked for me on .223.
 
is there a safe way to remove these primers so I can run the cartridge back through my modified die?
Click to expand...
You can remove the decapping pin on some designs. If that is an option it would be the way to go. If not, just re-size normally and then re-seat the primers. No way you will set one off.
 
Pulled out a couple boxes of ammo today I loaded in 1984 (scary what's in the closet). Don't know what I was eating while loading but the cases were horribly corroded.

Decide to pull them down for the bullets and to see if the cases were still okay after cleaning up.

Pushed out 34 live primers without a problem. Some of them were pretty tight too. Used a Lee Universal de-capping die.

Cases polished up nice and all seem to be very usable. Powder still smells like new. I plan on reloading them just like they were and trying them out. 20 of these are Speer 130 grain hollow points with H335. The others are Hornady 170 grain flat nose .30-30 bullets with IMR 4350.

It's truly amazing what wet pin polishing can do for really crappy brass. They truly look like gold.



All the Best,
D. White
 

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Safety issue:

dwhite said:
Pulled out a couple boxes of ammo today I loaded in 1984 (scary what's in the closet). Don't know what I was eating while loading but the cases were horribly corroded.

Decide to pull them down for the bullets and to see if the cases were still okay after cleaning up.

Pushed out 34 live primers without a problem. Some of them were pretty tight too. Used a Lee Universal de-capping die.

Cases polished up nice and all seem to be very usable. Powder still smells like new. I plan on reloading them just like they were and trying them out. 20 of these are Speer 130 grain hollow points with H335. The others are Hornady 170 grain flat nose .30-30 bullets with IMR 4350.

It's truly amazing what wet pin polishing can do for really crappy brass. They truly look like gold.



All the Best,
D. White
Click to expand...
Is it possible there were ammonia fumes in the closet (like from a cat's litter box or a diaper pail or stored cleaning supplies?)

If so, crush the brass and sell it to a smelter. Ammonia weakens brass.

Sorry for detouring the thread. It seems prudent for safety's sake.

Lost Sheep
 
Just deprime them as normal.
Click to expand...

True statement.

If this bothers you, you can substantially reduce the chance of setting the primer off by soaking the case in water, or a quick shot of wd-40.

The primers will be fouled, and nothing is ever 100%- but its a considerable safety margin if popping them out like we all do bothers you.
 
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