Need advice on disposal of bad primers

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spitballer

spitballer

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I'm not too proud to take advice when it comes to disposing of hazardous material, and I've got a questionable batch of primers that I bought at a gun show last year that will NEVER be used again. Can I just soak them in water for a while and then toss them?
 
I'm not too proud to take advice when it comes to disposing of hazardous material, and I've got a questionable batch of primers that I bought at a gun show last year that will NEVER be used again. Can I just soak them in water for a while and then toss them?
Click to expand...

They'll only just dry out and then be capable of firing again. So, what is so "questionable" about these primers? If you really want to dispose of them, dig a hole and bury them.

Don
 
Put on some glasses and hit them with a hammer and have fun. Styphnate of lead isn't going to degrade in any solvent off the top of my head.
 
Okay soaking in water is out, makes sense that they could dry out afterward. Will consider a thinned, penetrating oil.

These primers were bought as a last resort last year when the CCI 400's sold out and the only primers I saw were at a mom-n-pop corner table and there was only one box and it didn't look like it was in very good shape but I bought it anyway because I was flat out of primers. They are the Winchester small rifle primers and they may in fact be for smaller cartridges than the .223 that I use. When I used them they left a hard, caramel-colored crust in the primer pockets, extremely dirty cases and knocked off about 150 FPS of velocity.

I'll never use them again and I want them out of the powder bin ASAP.
 
Wait fir the next HAZ-MAT turn in day and hand them off. Might cost you a couple more dollars if there is a fee. Around here there is one about every couple months. Call city hall they will know. Or just throw them away. You never know someone else might even take them off your hands and use them.;)
 
I'd be interested in suggestions, too. I've got the better part of a case left of bad WLR primers that need to be destroyed. These are splitting at the edge, and I'm not going to foist them on someone else (even if they knowingly requested them) or risk damaging another bolt head (or myself) with them.

So, 3k+ primers that need to die- how to properly do it?
 
Cowboy2 said:
I'd be interested in suggestions, too. I've got the better part of a case left of bad WLR primers that need to be destroyed. These are splitting at the edge, and I'm not going to foist them on someone else (even if they knowingly requested them) or risk damaging another bolt head (or myself) with them.

So, 3k+ primers that need to die- how to properly do it?
Click to expand...

I have the same problem with several hundred WLR primers; I'm using them for low pressure swede loads without any issues.
 
Thanks guys. I will check with local authorities on this. I used to work at an old fashioned factory where unused chemicals were unscrupulously dumped in an adjacent lot and I am NOT gonna go through that kind of thing again! If I have to pay a fee, then so be it.
 
I don't really consider burying them an option. I'm out on a working cattle ranch, and I'd feel like I was leaving a landmine for someone to accidentally discover 20 years from now.
 
I don't really consider burying them an option. I'm out on a working cattle ranch, and I'd feel like I was leaving a landmine for someone to accidentally discover 20 years from now.
Click to expand...

Just want to be clear - we're talking about primers and not high explosives, right?:rolleyes:

Don
 
I don't really consider burying them an option. I'm out on a working cattle ranch, and I'd feel like I was leaving a landmine for someone to accidentally discover 20 years from now.
Click to expand...

The 4th of July approaches, set up a burn bucket in a 55 gal drum, get a small fire going at the bottom and throw them in a few at a time -- safety glasses for everyone watching!


Just want to be clear - we're talking about primers and not high explosives, right?
Click to expand...
Actually primming compounds qualify as high explosives and can mass detonate if packaged so the shock wave can propagate from primer to primer. That is why the packaging isolates each form the other.
If buried in the original packaging not much mass detonation risk, but popping a primer unexpectedly can cause a startle reaction that might cause injury as I discovered moving a freezer that some how accumulated a live primer under it somewhere in my 20 years of reloading nearby.
 
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Cowboy2 said:
I don't really consider burying them an option. I'm out on a working cattle ranch, and I'd feel like I was leaving a landmine for someone to accidentally discover 20 years from now.
Click to expand...
Oh come on! It's less than 1000 primers and primers will not create a nuclear explosion, or act like a land mine. Primers are extremely hard to ignite. The anvil needs to be supported against the base of the primer cup and then the opposite side struck firmly. If you think they are not difficult to ignite just do a search on this forum and see how many threads there are where reloaders are complaining of primers not firing for one reason or another. (like a light primer strike)

I for one would use them for plinking ammo. I'm cheap so I will never waste any component that can possible be used...
 
Three thousand plus. I just wouldn't feel right about it, especially with all the controlled burns we do.
 
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