Removing unspent primers

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kalielkslayer

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I know I’ve done this before but I have 35 .338 pieces of brass I need to remove the live primers out of.

Can I just remove them like a spent primer, either in my decapping die or resizing die?

I put some mixed brass (7-08, .280 and .338). in my wet tumbler about 6 months. They were all in plastic cases, neck up. I assumed they were empties but apparently I had resized and primed the .338. I didn’t notice it until I took them outta the tumbler.
 
I've never done that like 35 at a time, but I have deprimed a case here and there and never had a bang, using a Lee universal deprimer........but I went really slow and easy....no sudden moves......try one or two to see for yourself. Be safety-minded, wear ear and eye protection. Be smart.....warn your wife anytime there a chance for a little noise.....;) I bet there won't be unless you bang it. (pun intended)
 
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I have removed many a spent primer, and reused them, with no mis fires, hundreds of times using the decapping die, slow and steady, not sharp impact, and of course eye protection. When i started initially, i even put a blanket over the press. After 100 no explosions, i removed the blanket and felt silly. The brain kicked in and said primers go off by sharp, sudden impacts; not slow steady pressure.
 
Thanks guys!

I think I have also, better safe than sorry.

My other option is to chamber and try to fire them.

I’m actually wondering how many would go off after being in the tumbler for 2 hours.
 
I would let the sit for a little while longer, lard a few and shoot them. If they go bang load the rest up for plinking loads.

If you pull them go slow & steady.

I,ve done lots of live primer removal on reloaded ammo that I aquired.
I knocked the cartridges apart, dumped the powder,
Knocked the live primers out.
Saved all of the live primers to reuse.
Tumbled the brass.
Resized the brass.
Trimmed & reloaded with the old primers and old bullets.
New powder, I tossed the old powder.
 
Highland Lofts said:
I would let the sit for a little while longer, lard a few and shoot them. If they go bang load the rest up for plinking loads.

If you pull them go slow & steady.

I,ve done lots of live primer removal on reloaded ammo that I aquired.
I knocked the cartridges apart, dumped the powder,
Knocked the live primers out.
Saved all of the live primers to reuse.
Tumbled the brass.
Resized the brass.
Trimmed & reloaded with the old primers and old bullets.
New powder, I tossed the old powder.
Click to expand...


I don’t do plinking rounds for .338. All the bullets I have for that caliber are nearly $1 a round.

I didn’t get into reloading to save money, just to build custom ammo.

But “plinking” with a .338 Win Mag isn’t something I can afford.
 
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I have done it on several rare occasions and not only did they come out without indecent I reused them and all went bang. Of course I didn't put them in hunting ammo but nothing wrong with using them in range ammo.
 
I have deprimed 225 cases in an afternoon of 357 rounds I was given that had brass corrosion on them. Scrapped the brass and powder, but salvaged the bullets and primers. I used the Lee decapper and base. That sucker has deprimed tens of thousands of pieces of brass and is still going.
7950F545-5EB2-427F-B065-22106C28C42C.jpeg
 
kalielkslayer said:
Can I just remove them like a spent primer, either in my decapping die or resizing die?
Click to expand...
Yes.

And while you're there, might I suggest you don gloves, glasses, and earpro, and do your best to detonate a primer by seating or unseating it on the press. Really give it the beans, the old college try, slap it hard to see if it yelps!

You will find that you have failed to appreciate just how thoughtfully designed a primer is. It's nearly impossible, short of a hammer or ignition temperature, to set one off.

They are dangerous (explosives after all), but they are not nearly so sensitive to ignition as you might think. It's far more likely that you'll ruin a primer by fracturing the charge (rendering it useless), than that you'll detonate one.
 
I have removed many a primer when needed. I wear hearing protection and let my wife know what I am doing so I don't scare here half to death. In over 30 years of reloading, never had one go off. Ever.
 
I ran about a dozen .38 special primed cases through my ultrasonic with much stronger citric acid than you are using, and Dawn dishwashing detergent.
When I discovered this I set them up on a shelf for 3 weeks and left them dry out.
I loaded them as an experiment, they all fired and I couldn't tell the difference between them and new primers.
 
This would be a good experiment,

Completely process say twenty -223 cases.
Resize, trim, and prime.

Tumble ten of the cases for an hour.
Mark the ten cases that you tumbled.
Let dry out for a month.

Load each group of ten identical.

Go to the pit, set up a table and shoot each group from a rifle cradle and compare grouping.

I think I will start that today. I'll prep the cases and tumble half of them.
Let the dry.
Load the.
Then compare then.
Then do a write up about them.

I yesterday I started an experiment.

I resized eight trash 223 cases.
Today I will trim them.
Prime them.
Load them.
And then shoot these eight pieces of trash 223 cases against eight good cases I loaded yesterday.

Reload the both sets after firing them and compare them again and again until they fail and see which cases fail first.


The cases before resizing.
20220316_202124.jpg


The cases after resizing.
20220316_202532.jpg
 
That's too funny! I hope the world doesn't come to having to scrounge that hard for a little shooting pleasure! Hope you show another picture of them "reformed" to your barrel" hope you are shooting light loads.....your volume on some are considerably less than a good case. ;)
 
I did a batch of 600 one time. I bought the brass from a buddy and he had primed them with a different brand of primer than I use.
I still have the primers in a plastic pan and use a few once in a while for non-critical rounds.
 
Deliberate and gentle until you get the hang of how enthusiastic one can be.
Along with others, I recommend hearing protection. Setting one off in either press or bench top application will not appreciably cause damage, but is quite startling. And the wife or any other person in house will hear it and possibly fear the worst.
 
I've done it multiple times, slowly, carefully, and re-used the primers without an issue. I use an old RockChuker as my de-prime station with an added primer catcher that sends the spent primers down a tube to an old powder jug. When de-priming the live primers I just move the tube to an empty clean jug.

I'm about to do 80 new primed 7mm Rem Mag cases that I plan on turning into 350RM cases, so I've got to de-prime prior to annealing. The primers will get used in some practice rounds.
 
tightgroup tiger said:
I ran about a dozen .38 special primed cases through my ultrasonic with much stronger citric acid than you are using, and Dawn dishwashing detergent.
When I discovered this I set them up on a shelf for 3 weeks and left them dry out.
I loaded them as an experiment, they all fired and I couldn't tell the difference between them and new primers.
Click to expand...
Wow. I clean my brass with citrate and Tide. I'd have bet the primers wouldn't like it. Thanks for reporting your result to the contrary!
 
Primers are very hard to kill. I'm betting they all go off. If your loading ultra high accuracy long range rounds use them for foulers. I dought you will see any difference between new and washed.

Like said use a univeral deprimer if you have one. They can vent the gases easier than a std sizing/depring die. Go slow like previously said, it's the impact that sets them off. By chance do you know what brand/mfg they are? Federal's are know to be more sensitive.
 
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