sideways jammed primer

Get the case out of the priming tool, get your universal decamped out and just ease it out slowly. Primer is probably useless now though.

Last time this happened, I removed the case/shell holder. Placed the shell in a vice with the shell holder/primer upright.

Use a hammer with a lot of force.

Something will give

Wear glasses.

For the faint of heart, don't do this...

Just run it through your deprimer like it is a spent primer, not a big deal - if you already crushed it and it didn't go off, pushing it out will be no big deal

I don't think he can... the shell holder should be stuck on the base and held in place by a sideways primer.

I could be wrong though...

Put it back together and finish crushing it into the primer pocket until you can get the case out of the shell holder.

Then put it in your press and deprime it normally.

rc

Spray a liberal amount of WD40 on the primer to ensure that it is liberally soaked....so as to prevent the primer from detonation. Then proceed with whatever physical process you feel is the best.

I've done this, takes brute force. Be careful. Sometimes i've been able to crush it into the case more with the primer tool by rotating and crushing over and over. Other times i had to take hammer and pliers to it.

nooooobie said:

stacked the autoprime shellholder on top of a standard shellholder in my press. Decapped without detonation. My sizing/decap die ended up with the cartridge stuck inside, but then I just drove the decap pin and cartridge out of the die with a hammer. Now the decap pin is stuck in the mouth of the cartridge. Had this problem before,used vise grips to pull it out. Other suggestions welcome.:banghead:

Click to expand...

Too late now, but you did ALMOST the right thing. You want to stack the shellholders like you did, but use a universal decapping die (they cost less than $10). The case won't stick in those as it doesn't contact the die walls.

At this point if you can get the autoprime shellholder off I'd slide the cartridge back into a standard shellholder, raise the ram, and then retighten the decapping rod into the die, then pull the ram back down.

gacajun said:

Spray a liberal amount of WD40 on the primer to ensure that it is liberally soaked....so as to prevent the primer from detonation.

Click to expand...

See this -

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=592579&highlight=primer+kill

The consensus seems to be that it might work. If you wait long enough for it to soak in and affect the compound. But deactivation is not guaranteed.

So, the safest approach is eye and ear protection and assume it is going to go off during a mechanical removal process. (Crushing or universal decapping.) If it does, you are protected. If it doesn't, you can be pleasantly surprised.

I hate i when this happens! If you have a decapping die, disassemble the priming tool, take the case with the cocked primer, and the priming tool shellholder, on over to your press, and set them on the ram. Gently raise the ram until the decapping rod protrudes through the flash hole. Gently press the cocked primer out.

I have never had one detonate doing this, but there is always that risk, so plan accordingly and use appropriate safety gear including safety glasses.

ETA: Not a dig at Lee. I love the feel their hand priming tool delivers. But I got tired of cocked primers, and upside down primers, and the lid popping off, so I bought the RCBS APS hand primer tool, and I must say I have had none of these issues since. I did have some issues initially, but once the bugs were worked out, I have been very happy with that tool. You might consider getting one of them.

decap pin is stuck in the mouth of the cartridge

Click to expand...

Screw clamp style rotating pipe cutter. May be cheaper to order a new rod if you don't own one. If you're going to order a new rod anyway you can try placing the case in a shell holder and running it up through the die hole and grabbing with vice grips and lowering the ram. Lots of lube. Depends on what tools you have on hand.

I've done this many times with Lee's "improved" priming tool. (What was wrong with the old one?) In every instance I've been able to pluck it out with the point of a sharp needle file or a pair of small needle-nose pliers. Oil the primer if it makes you feel better, but it takes percussion to detonate a primer.

35W

35 Whelen said:

Oil the primer if it makes you feel better, but it takes percussion to detonate a primer.
35W

Click to expand...

You can detonate a primer without percussion. Don't ask me how I know....

Possibly accidentally....

Remove your standard shell holder from the ram. Turn your die/stuck case into the press and run the shell holer back into the ram and the case at the same time. Pull the expander out normally.

As usual, RC has the usual forthright solution.

Crush it until you can pry the casing from the shell holder.

Wear safety glasses.

I've done a hundred of these.

None ever went off.

Yep my Lee hand primer tended to seat the SP or SR primers sideways every so often. So now that primers are so scarce I just peek at the primer each time before inserting the brass to make sure it is not tipped. When I did it the method RC used is what worked for me.

i am glad you got it out safely. i have had to do this several times. but not in the last year and a half or so. the quick and simple way to stop this before this happens, is to bring the primer flush to the bottom of the shell holder, BEFORE inserting the cartridge case. if the primer comes up sideways, you can straighten it out before it becomes a problem.