Anyone have a method of making primers?

I'd be interested to hear some ideas on this too.

The method in Army TM 31-210 is to punch out used primers, flatten the cups, and put a small amount of strike-anywhere match tip stuff in it.

There is a video on YouTube that shows you exactly how to do it. It''s the method that TurtlePhish was referring to.

There are actually a few videos on it, but it seems like a large pain in the butt to me

Might be easier to place an on line order and wait a few weeks - supplies are starting to come into the online inventories - then buy in bulk

This is the best thread on the subject I have come across.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?182089-can-you-make-priming-compound

I would think that even if there was an easy way to do it, would you trust a non-factory primer? I sure wouldn't want a magazine full of ammo that may or may not detonate on it's own!

In a SHTF senario, desperate times call for desperate methods!

In a SHTF senario, desperate times call for desperate methods!

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True enough - but if that's the case flintlock or matchlock might be the better option!

I used to have a "Tap-A-Cap" device for punching blackpowder primers out of strips cut from aluminum cans, and using capgun caps as the inserts. It wasn't overly reliable with the paper caps as an ignition source, but it would fire most of the time. Paper caps are hard to find around here anymore, too, as capguns seem to be obsolescent compared to battery powered blasters with electronic sound effects.

Spent primers could easily be resized and reshaped for re-use, just like spent brass.

There are plenty of manuals out there that demonstrate how to make explosives that would be suitable for use as primer material. The tricky part is making the stuff up without blowing yourself up in the process, and not running afoul of the law.

BTW, match heads are very corrosive.

Well, here is another similar question: does everyone keep their spent primers?

I dump mine in a bag (lee classic turret, has a tube that collects primers). I have thousands... if not tens of thousands. I mean to collect them till I'm about 70, and then count them and see how much stuff I shot over the years.

Or, repack them and use them when the world order breaks down.

In the US Army survival book I have, it shows how to make a reusable primer using match heads...like TurtleFish said.

but it seems like a large pain in the butt to me

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Might be a pain, but if you're out ....

Strange, I was just reading about this on castboolits yesterday.

Great, there go the paper caps!

If I remember correctly, lead styphnate is what is in center fire primers. It would be really helpful if a chemist would post how to make this and what cautions there are.

It would seem that if we shot some berdan primed ammo, depriming and replacing the compound would be the easiest thing to do.

Clutch

You said that you cast your own boolits.
I'm sure there is somebody out there that is sitting on a boatload of primers but has no bullets.
Go on as many forums as you can looking for somebody who wants to trade you bullets for primers.
You can also try your local Craigslist or whatever other local online forums.
If I wasn't in Canada I'd help you out myself.
I have 10,000 SPP and 5,000 SRP but I can't find any bulk 55gr FMJ for .223.
I'm down to my last thousand or so.

I have a large box with about 50,000+ spent primers in it from emptying out the press over the past two years. Sounds like I may be sitting on a gold mine. I just need to get the box of them posted on GunBroker! Should be able to trade them for a gun or two.

If I remember correctly, lead styphnate is what is in center fire primers. It would be really helpful if a chemist would post how to make this and what cautions there are.

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Here you go, right from MIT.

http://web.mit.edu/semenko/Public/Military Manuals/RogueSci-Mirror/explo/leadstyphnate.html

I wait until I get about a gallon jug full and take them to the recyclers. I usually do this a couple times a year or so. Never had the want to bother count how many actually in that there jug!

Has anyone looked at developing an electrically fired system that could be adapted to existing firearms?

Has anyone looked at developing an electrically fired system that could be adapted to existing firearms?

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Remington tried something like that, it was pretty expensive and not very popular.

The Remington rifles used a special primer, thumbs down because they were expensive and hard to find even when standard primers were everywhere, cheap.

The ones that were imported by Beeman worked on standard primers, only a hand full centerfire rifles were imported most were rimfire but not many of them either. They ran off of a 9v battery. I contacted the original manufacture a few years back in Germany IIRC and he said he tried to sell the idea to Walther and Remington with no success.

Again relying on my memory but I think there was a wright up about the Beeman .22 electronic ignition rifle in the Guns and Ammo annual back in 1984 or 1985.

Don't shoot up your ammo, you'll need at least a couple of hundred rounds to slow down the herd that is coming to take your stuff. You won't stop them, even with thousands of rounds. Just slow them down; you're outnumbered...