How to dispose of spent primers

[carnaby]

How are you supposed to dispose of your spent primers? I thought I read that they're full of lead, and I figured maybe I don't want to just chuck 'em in the garbage. Anyone know what proper disposal is?

 

[trickyasafox]

i heard you could take them to recyclers to sell as scrap when you take brass in, but i've never done it

 

[dakotasin]

i throw mine in the garbage.

 

[Mikee Loxxer]

Primers full of lead? I had never heard that before.

 

[Catbird]

Trash

 

[Jim Watson]

I trash 'em. A little reacted lead is mild beside a lot of municipal garbage.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Lead...A natural occurence in Nature. I trash my spent primers. I'm just returning to Nature what belongs to Nature.

 

[Primersinmyshoe]

Out with the regular trash.

 

[ReloaderFred]

They should be recycled, the same as cartridge brass that can't be reloaded. The last time I took brass to the scrap dealer, I had just over 300 pounds of brass and 27 pounds of spent rifle and pistol primers. At 94 cents a pound, it adds up pretty quickly. Shotgun primers are steel, so don't mix them with the rifle and pistol primers, which are pure brass.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[silicon wolverine]

Its easiest to seperate them with a magnet. I have run into some milsurp primers in rifle rounds that are steel as well as shotgun ones.

SW

 

[LeoC]

They should be recycled, the same as cartridge brass that can't be reloaded. The last time I took brass to the scrap dealer, I had just over 300 pounds of brass and 27 pounds of spent rifle and pistol primers. At 94 cents a pound, it adds up pretty quickly.

I can think of a number of things 300*$0.94 could be useful for

Do you have to clean the brass before giving it to the scrap dealer, or can they just take the brass with the powder residue and any other gunk still on it?

 

[ReloaderFred]

I made a wire mesh shaker the size of an old 8"x12" cake pan and just shake all the dirt and loose debris off the brass. The cleaner it is, the more you'll get for it. If they see a lot of junk mixed with it, they discount what they pay, but as long as it's just all brass, there's no problem. Just don't leave any steel cases mixed with it, or they will discount for sure. They usually just run a magnet through the box to make sure.

I keep the primers separate, just to show them, and let them mis it together when they weigh it. That way, there's no question about what it is mixed in with the brass cases. And they always empty your containers into their containers to make sure there isn't something hidden in there that isn't brass.

The last batch I took to the recycler paid for my fuel to go to the SHOT Show in Las Vegas in February. Almost $300 of "free" money isn't a bad way to go.

The price of brass is going up constantly. China and India are gobbling up metals at a growing rate, as well as demands for brass for the war on terrorism, so the price is going to stay up for quite awhile. It appears that lead prices are finally stabilizing after going crazy for the last couple of years, but all the increased demands for metals is going to directly affect the price of ammunition and components. Primers just took a big jump in price, and prices for brass cases are also rising.

Don't throw any brass away, since it can all be recycled. After all, reloaders were recycling long before it became a fad...........

Hope this helps.

Fred