Deactivating Rimfire Primers

[Hypnogator]

Wow! Great ideas, with quite a bit of diversity on what if anything will deactivate a primer. Never thought about heat. Reminds me of the scene in RED where Bruce Willis drops a handful of 9mm cartridges into a frying pan to create a diversion!. Anyway, got me to thinking: Why not test and find out? I picked out 10 rounds each of .22LR Winchester Wildcat (CCI Headstamp), an unusual headstamp from ammo I've had for years on my pistol belt, Super-X, and CCI Mini-Mags, and pulled the bullets. Used a washer from a roofing screw, which fit the cartridges exactly, and provided a bit of padding when using the kinetic bullet puller. Discovered the Super-X cartridges were orders of magnitude more difficult to pull, causing me to give up and mechanically pull some of them after 15 whacks of the kinetic puller, where the other 3 brands took 2 to 5 whacks on average.

20211107_104636

• Hypnogator
• Nov 7, 2021

Pulling Bullets from .22 LR

20211107_113600

• Hypnogator
• Nov 7, 2021

CCI, Super-X, Unk, and Winchester Wildcat (CCI) cases

20211107_113637

• Hypnogator
• Nov 7, 2021

Pulled bullets and powder.

Will let one of each soak for a week in Kroil, Strike-Hold, Ballistol, acetone, denatured alcohol, Hoppes #9 nitro powder solvent, water, gasoline, Sea-Foam, and vinegar. Then will dry out with compressed air, and let them dry in the sun for another week. Then will try firing them in my .22 LR revolver and see which, if any of them, are fully inert.

 

[Rule3]

2:15 PM[/GALLERY]



Will let one of each soak for a week in Kroil, Strike-Hold, Ballistol, acetone, denatured alcohol, Hoppes #9 nitro powder solvent, water, gasoline, Sea-Foam, and vinegar. Then will dry out with compressed air, and let them dry in the sun for another week. Then will try firing them in my .22 LR revolver and see which, if any of them, are fully inert.

 

[GW Staar]

Why not just used spent cases and reseat pulled bullet in them???

Because he wants to wait a week I guess..... I suggested that in post 16. A five minute job.....he already has a puller that obviously works....maybe he doesn't have any spent cases....or a gun to make them spent?

 

[FROGO207]

I offered spent cases to him already. And bullets to put in them.

 

[doubleh]

The museum isn't comfortable with leaving the primers live, but doesn't want the firing pin crush on them necessary to safely detonate them.

I t appears many didn't read the OP throughly.

 

[GW Staar]

I believe I mentioned pounding the dimple out as an easy option....I've done that before. Better than defacing them with a big hole in the side.

 

[shoobe01]

As with many things, no need to solve the problem yourself when others do it for a living. Go to a prop house. Ask them the price for the specification and number of cartridges you need. E.g.

https://www.thespecialistsltd.com/dummy-ammo

If you are going to make yourself, and they will be 100% authentic looking from the outside (no dent, no drilled) then place something small and metal inside it before reseating the bullet. Larger cartridges have a BB or similar inside so you can shake it to confirm the looks-like-a-live-round is in fact a dummy and won't kill anyone. Never seen dummy .22 but I assume the same holds.

 

[Hypnogator]

If you are going to make yourself, and they will be 100% authentic looking from the outside (no dent, no drilled) then place something small and metal inside it before reseating the bullet. Larger cartridges have a BB or similar inside so you can shake it to confirm the looks-like-a-live-round is in fact a dummy and won't kill anyone. Never seen dummy .22 but I assume the same holds.

Great idea! To the best of my knowledge, dummy rounds always have a hole drilled in the side so they're instantly identifiable as dummys. Since not all sides of the cartridges will be visible from the front of the display (e.g., some will be in a cartridge belt), that shouldn't matter. For those instances where a display might show the hole (not a major issue IMHO), putting a BB into the cartridge before re-seating the bullet would provide a sure way to identify a dummy from a live round tactilely. I still prefer the small hole in the side of the cartridge, but will have to see what the museum director wants. Appreciate the tip!

 

[ericuda]

This day and ago run dont walk away. If a mix up happens or Murphy gets involved it will be on you.

 

[vintovka]

Great idea! To the best of my knowledge, dummy rounds always have a hole drilled in the side so they're instantly identifiable as dummys. Since not all sides of the cartridges will be visible from the front of the display (e.g., some will be in a cartridge belt), that shouldn't matter. For those instances where a display might show the hole (not a major issue IMHO), putting a BB into the cartridge before re-seating the bullet would provide a sure way to identify a dummy from a live round tactilely. I still prefer the small hole in the side of the cartridge, but will have to see what the museum director wants. Appreciate the tip!

I recall a case were a number of .303 british were made into dummys by drilling a 1/8" hole in them. Unfortunately not all the cordite was removed and the primers were not disabled even after extended soaking in WD40 They served in a shop for several years until one was being used to function check and fired when trigger was pulled. Big chunk was knocked out of the wall and no one was hurt.

 

[Hypnogator]

Just completed converting a box of .22 WMRs to dummys. I pulled the bullets using a 1/4" roofing screw washer with rubber backing to hold the cartridges in my inertia puller. Then I held the cases in padded needle-nosed pliers over a propane flame on my grill's warmer burner until the primer popped. Since there was no discoloration or marking, I inserted a BB into each case, then carefully used my press to seat the bullet between the edge of a seating die and the edge of the ram.

20211111_145703

• Hypnogator
• Nov 14, 2021

Pulling .22 WMR bullets

Here is a live cartridge, one in the washer, and an empty case with pulled bullet.

20211112_112520

• Hypnogator
• Nov 14, 2021

Dummy .22 WMR

Here are three of the dummy rounds. Absolutely indistinguishable from live rounds unless you shake them, causing them to rattle.

I just finished pouring out the various liquids in the .22 LR cases I was experimenting with, dried them out with compressed air, and will let them dry in the AZ air for a week, then see which, if any, of the solvents I used reliably deactivated the primers. Will post the results.

 

[Englishmn]

Good looking job.

If the priming compound wasn't removed they will likely fire. It may take heating to set some off if the compound remains soft.

 

[Demi-human]

I agree with the Englishman. The compound may be desensitized by the various oils or solvents, but until it oxides, by flame or caustic solution, it will still want to.

I am interested greatly in your experiment @Hypnogator.
I have taken the priming compound out of a primer with acetone. I made a small linear puddle of it on the bench and let it dry, after removing the paper foil. The foil flashed in a flame instantly, the acetone evaporated quickly from the moving around the shop. Upon returning to the puddle a dry clay mark was now in its place. I touched a lighter to it and it popped, loudly. There is now a Bondo filled hole the same shape as the mark but the slightest bit larger.

Point being, dissolved and desensitized is not the same thing as inert, but oxidized is. Safe explosive are the ones already used. Cleanse them in fire.

 

[edwardware]

Does anyone here have a better solution? All serious replies appreciated!

Yes.

Any oil will only contaminate the priming compound, but a solvent like BrakeKleen will dissolve it. Spray, dump, repeat a couple times, and you'll have removed the compound.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Question: How does the museum want to display the cartridge(s)?

This is important because the best way to show that a cartridge is, in fact, powderless is with a hole in the side in the side of it. If the cartridge is to be permanently mounted in a display case such that one side is always against the back of the display, then this hole will not be visible and therefore will not detract from the display. It would also make a convenient way to more positively mount the cartridge to the display.

With the hole big enough to empty the powder, it may also be possible to safely light off the primer without the bullet separating from the cartridge. You can easily make a device to safely hold the cartridge (and bullet) while you do this. This would complete the deactivation.

If you're going to pull the bullet, then you have two additional problems:

1. Restoration of the bullet and crimp. Since rimfire isn't generally considered reloadable, I don't know of any reloading dies you can use for this.
2. Proof that the cartridge is, in fact, deactivated when presenting it to the museum. The round cannot be shown to be inactivated by the lack of a primer inserted into the base, as it's a rimfire. Nor can an obvious dummy primer be shown to be installed for the same reason.

CHEMICAL DEACTIVATION:

You need to be careful with this for two reasons:

1. You may inadvertently set off the primer by chemical reactions you weren't anticipating.
2. Your method of inactivation may not actually work.

I ran across a posting somewhere in which the OP attempted to deactivate primers with WD-40, which he had soaked 10 empty cartridges in and let sit for several months. He then chambered those empty/primed cartridges in a rifle and 8 out of 10 went off when he pulled the trigger. Of the two remaining, one went off on a second trigger pull.

Now, there was quite a bit of discussion about repeating the experiment with less time (the WD-40 "dried out"), different solvents (water, kroil, acetone, etc.) and more. It was also brought up that sealers are generally applied over the primers by the manufacturers.

BOTTOM LINE:

I don't recommend chemical deactivation of priming compounds. The safest way is to either cook it off by heating the rim until it pops, or physical extraction (and visual inspection that it's actually been removed) by some means, perhaps by ultrasonic cleaner.

 

[Hypnogator]

As I posted previously, I picked out 10 rounds each of .22LR Winchester Wildcat (CCI Headstamp), an unusual headstamp from ammo I've had for years on my pistol belt, Super-X, and CCI Mini-Mags, and pulled the bullets. I put 1 each of the empty cases in small containers of Acetone (nail polish remover) Alcohol, Break-Free CLP, Eezox, Gasoline, Kroil, Sea-Foam, Strike-Hold, Vinegar (white), and Water. I soaked them all for 1 week, then emptied the containers and cases and blew them out with compressed air as much as possible. I made sure all the cases were blown as dry as I could get them when I put them back in the containers. Then I let them air dry for another week. This morning I fired, or attempted to fire, each case in my old Hi-Standard Sentinel (Yes, I'm that old.) If the primer fired, I recorded it. If not, I turned the case 90 degrees and tried again, until I had made four attempts. Here is a picture of the last set I tested (the Break-Free cases):

20211121_115040

• Hypnogator
• Nov 21, 2021
• 2

Cartridge Cases After Testing

Here are the results:

Acetone: All 4 cases fired the first time. Noted it was difficult to load the cases, as apparently the acetone dried leaving a film on the cases.
Alcohol: All 4 cases fired the first time
Break-Free CLP None of the cases fired.
Eezox: None of the cases fired.
Gasoline: All 4 cases fired the first time.
Kroil: The CCI case sort-of fired the first time. Sounded more like snapping on an empty cylinder, rather than the dull thud of a misfire. The second CCI-primed (Wildcat) case kind-of snapped on the second strike, and I observed a bit of smoke afterwards. The Super-X and the other case did not ignite at all.
Sea-Foam: None of the cases fired.
Strike-Hold: None of the cases fired.
Vinegar: None of the cases fired.
Water: All 4 cases fired the first time.

Both the Break-Free and Strike-Hold containers had some solvent in them that I was unable to completely get rid of, so I can't swear the inside of the cases were totally dry. If I were going to chemically deactivate .22 RF cases, I would use Sea-Foam or Vinegar.

Hope this is of interest.

 

[.308 Norma]

It's not the safest thing I ever did, but when I was a kid, my buddies and I would pull the bullets out of .22 "shells" with our teeth while trying not to spill any powder. Then we would lay the case on its side on the cement, spilling out some of the powder. Next, we would touch a match to the spilled powder, which would ignite. Fire would shoot out of the case like a rocket, and when the primer popped, the case would take off.
I'm sure if Dad would have ever caught me doing that....