Has anyone decapped live primers?

[mugsie]

I load on a Dillon 550. I have several live primers to decap. Has anyone decapped live primers and if so what has been the result? Please don't ask why or get into a discussion as to the benefits of decapping on Dillon vs. Lee, the price of brass, or any one of ten thousand other things this forum gets side tracked on. A simple quesiton - deacpped live primers? Results? Precautions? Thanks for the info guys.

 

[Dr. Dickie]

I have not only de-capped live ones on a Dillion 550, I have crushed the heck out of a new one going in crooked (Winchester large pistol primers) and then de-capped them--I just toss them out now, not worth the danger.
So far, no detonations. If you are not quite so adventerous (and I do suggest that you are not), then spritz some water into the case to wet the primer and then de-cap. That should prevent explosions.

 

[griz]

I've done it. Wear safety glasses and push it slowly, don't "hit" it. I've never had one go off. I also am careful to retrieve the live primer and not let it get in the pile of fired ones.

 

[Doug b]

A simple answer

Yes I have decapped live primers, with no problems just go slow and easy and ware safety glasses.Why not just put them in the gun and snap them?

 

[USSR]

+1. What griz said. I use a universal decapping die.

Don

 

[JDGray]

I've even decapped inverted primers, and turnend them arround the right way. Slow & easy

 

[mugsie]

Thanks folks

Thanks for the information. I'll start removing them this evening. I was fairly confident if I went slow I would be able to remove them with little effort but just wanted to make sure. I always defer to people with more knowledge and experience than myself, so thanks again.

 

[Clark]

My brother went out with a girl in the 1970s that had facial scars from decapping live primers for her father.

The cup that collected the primers ignited and sprayed her face.
When she would get a zit, she would say, "An anvil is working it's way to the surface."

 

[abearir]

I have decaped live ones for years with no problems. Thats not to say there is zero danger. Go slow, wear eye protection, and keep powders away all should be ok. If in doubt, fire them or fill the cases with a penetrating oil for a day or so to deactivate them.

 

[Third_Rail]

Just last night while loading .303 British, I put a primer in upside down; decapped it no problem.

 

[carnaby]

Yup, decapped inverted primers. Just go really slow. I recommend ear protection in addition to eye protection.

 

[WayneConrad]

Primers take a good impact to set them off.

Don eyes and ears, and smash one in a vise. You can make it quite flat without it going off.

Pick a piece of concrete that you don't mind having a divot in. Keep pets and kids away (there will be flying bits of concrete), and don eyes and ears again. Now put a primer on the concrete and tap it lightly with the hammer. If you don't tap sharply, you can make it quite flat without it going off. It can take a surprisingly sharp rap with the hammer to make it go.

It's good to be respectful of primers, as with any primerary explosive. But you do have to do a bit more than look at them to make them go "pop."

 

[Grump]

The most important thing is to NOT let a bunch of primers congregate together. They *are* a high explosive, after all.

 

[oldschool]

Live primers

don eyes and ears
chamber the primer only case
point at bottom of metal garbage can
press the booger hook
extract then deprime the case
Large pistol primers aren't all that loud, rifle & shotgun primers might be
I do this in the garage and it doesn't even wake the baby upstairs

 

[redneck2]

Any time I de-primed live ones I wear eye and ear protection along with leather gloves, and also wrap a rag around the case. Never have had one go off.

It's amazing how much beating a primer can take.

 

[HSMITH]

For a penny and a half each de-priming live primers is a dip-schnit thing to do. Yeah, don't feel bad because I do it too. No, nothing bad ever happened. Yes, something bad will likely happen doing it and I should be prepared for that time unless I have cranial-rectal inversion........

 

[flutedchamber]

I have decapped live primers in the past, and agree with a rag around the case, plus eye and ear protection. Never had one go off doing it. I have had a tray full of large pistol primers go off in a Lee pro 1000. A kernal of powder stopped the primer from advancing all the way, and when the primer seater came up, it dented the primer, causing it, and the rest of the tray to go off. It blew the top of the tray off, and stuck about a dozen or more of the anvils in a sheetrock ceiling. I never felt anything different in the operation of the press to know that a primer was being crushed.

 

[Geeko]

Have decapped live ones too, just not hard or fast. Light press, or taps. Done it in the press and with the Lee depriming tool (seperate base cup and rod that you hammer with). No bangs, No problems.

 

[rbwillnj]

I have decapped many live primers, one went off. I was lucky, no injuries.

 

[v65magnafan]

Crushed Primers

I guess I'm lucky. I've had crushed primers in my Lee Pro 1000.

I've also had crushed primers inserted in the case.

None have gone off---yet.

I remove live primers slowly and carefully, while wearing ear protection, eye protection and gloves. The rag idea is a good one.

However, since I've been absolutely careful to keep the primer loading area and chute very clean, I've had very few faulty primer loads.

 

[Barr]

So far I have been blessed and not had one go off in the press by being crushed or while depriming a backwards primer. When I use my Lee Pro 1000 though I do not try to hurry and and set a record loading a preset number of shells in an hour though. Just glad I am not doing them one by one on a single stage press.

 

[Sport45]

Pick a piece of concrete that you don't mind having a divot in. Keep pets and kids away (there will be flying bits of concrete), and don eyes and ears again. Now put a primer on the concrete and tap it lightly with the hammer. If you don't tap sharply, you can make it quite flat without it going off. It can take a surprisingly sharp rap with the hammer to make it go.

If you do this wear good sturdy shoes too. (No sandals) Kneeling on the concrete to tap on that primer is going to put at least one of your feet "in the line of fire".

 

[WayneConrad]

If you do this wear good sturdy shoes too. (No sandals) Kneeling on the concrete to tap on that primer is going to put at least one of your feet "in the line of fire".

The flying bits don't have much velocity, and are very small -- mostly sand sized. Or at least they were when I tried this. No chance of them breaking skin. I only know they were there because I felt them impacting my forearm. They are mostly an eye hazard, I think.

But hey, maybe other concrete floors are different. Maybe I was just lucky. Maybe my sense of danger is just broken.

I really don't want someone to hurt themselves. But I can't see why a single primer should be such a fearful thing.

 

[Lupara]

No problems so far. I spray some WD-40 into the case, let it soak into the primer and get on my bike to do some errands. When I return, I leave helmet (w/ vizor closed), leather jacket and gloves on and move down the lever very carefully.

 

[Bottom Gun]

Wayne,

That concrete floor procedure can cause injury. When I was in my teens, I tried to deactivate a piece of 9MM brass that way and wound up with shrapnel in my hand because the brass case fragmented. I have the scars in my hand to prove that it was a bad idea.
The case mouth apparently sealed well enough against the concrete to build up explosive pressure.
It's much safer to decap using your press.