Reuse Deprimed Live Primers?

375supermag said:

After doing some research, I decided to go ahead and punch the primers out.

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"Punching" is not the best term to use when depriming live primers regardless of the exact process you use. If you punch a live primer too hard, it will go off.

I have on several occasions, reused unseated live primers with great satisfaction.

One think that will help those questioning the removal/reuse of live primers, maybe; When I first started reloading I took apart a primer (CCI small pistol IIRC). I determined for a primer to work the anvil needs to be solid, not movable. The firing pin must strike the cup with enough force to crush the compound between the cup and the anvil. If the anvil moves when the cup is struck, no bang. If there isn't enough striking force (not a push, but a quick sharp blow) no bang. So, I figgered if I pushed on the anvil from the inside, there is no sharp blow, no compound crush, no bang... When I remove a live primer I don't slam the depriming stem into the anvil so there is no cup-compound-anvil crush, no bang...

Of course there are exceptions (rare) but in 40 years of reloading I have crushed primers in the pocket sideways, upside down, crooked and never had one pop. I have dropped a sleeve of primers, had primers roll off the bench and land on the concrete floor, tumbled live cases and never had one pop. I have deprimed some HXP surplus cases w/crimped primer pockets and reused the primers successfully (1960s mfg.?). Just K.I.S.S. and Think...

And I thought I was tight.
I have never reused a primer before..

Every once in a while a .380 case or a 9x18 makarov will sneak into my 9mm case stock and end up getting a primer. I have removed, carefully, these primers and used them in 9mm cases. I keep them seperate just because, and I have had all work fine, i.e. go bang at the appropriate time.

Caplock said:

And I thought I was tight. I have never reused a primer before..

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Not everything is about money. I don't think I'm tight but I do reuse those nasty fired cases my guns throw out on the ground...

i use the primers i remove from a reloading mistake i.e bullet seated too deep or case mouth smashed during belling and use them. it's all range ammo and i have never had issues with it. i just carefully deprime and once out reuse it.
i am more worried when i have to discard a smashed live primer( as in going in lopsided in a crimped case). i carefully deprime those and put it in a discarded nitrile glove with gun oil in one of the fingers . i tie off the glove and throw in the trash

^^ I won't claim that it's the best thing to do, but I have "fired" smashed primers between a block of steel and a hammer (with eye and ear protection) rather than throw away a "live" primer.

SqueakyGreens said:

So my question is two fold: even if not the best practice, if I clean my press of any debris or residue, is it a big deal to bell/seat/crimp a primed case?

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Not a big deal, it's actually totally expected. Powder through expander dies are common, so belling after priming is a thing. I don't know how you would seat and crimp a functioning round without a primer in place first.

If I should avoid this, is it possible to save the extremely valuable primers by carefully depriming all of the newly primed brass? Because of the design and composition of modern primers, I suspect the depriming process has a pretty low chance of fouling a primer if done competently, but I'm still new to all of this.

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Yes. I've accidentally primed cases before sizing, so I used a universal die to remove the primer, then used the sizing die without messing with the neck exapander position, then stuck the same primer back in after. Only done it a couple of times, but it didn't go bang at the bench while it did at the range.

I use all my de-primed live primers over again. They don't grow on trees.
I will throw away spilled powder, I will throw away a piece of brass that doesn't look or feel right, but I will not throw away a good, live primer.
You should see what I go through finding a live primer when I drop one on the floor.
I know it's only .03 cents for what I paid for them, but I can't reproduce them, or cast them, or find them laying on the floor at the range.

tightgroup tiger said:

I use all my de-primed live primers over again. They don't grow on trees.
I will throw away spilled powder, I will throw away a piece of brass that doesn't look or feel right, but I will not throw away a good, live primer.
You should see what I go through finding a live primer when I drop one on the floor.
I know it's only .03 cents for what I paid for them, but I can't reproduce them, or cast them, or find them laying on the floor at the range.

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i do it not so much of the cost(spending 10-15 minutes looking for something worth 6 cents is not worth it) but my worry is setting off these lost primers accidentally. my pet peeve is ending up with 97-99 rounds of ammo instead of 100. sometimes you can easily find them but i have a lot of spent primers that roll to the back of the bench and there's a small crevice in the cement where I have to try fish them out only to find what i got were spent primers instead. there must be at least 10 live primers in the general area i have never been able to recover over several years.