"Killing" a primer

[homatok]

For what it is worth----


When I started reloading in the nineteen sixties, the “common” knowledge was; don’t touch the primers with your bare hand---you will “kill” the primer! During that time (and for some time thereafter) if I had to remove a primer from a damaged case etc. I dropped it into a small (airline liquor) bottle along with some really light weight oil. Later I learned I could have reused most of those primers and the little bottle got shoved to the back corner of a shelf. This subject appears from time to time on one or another of the sites I visit and I remembered that little bottle. SO----I went and found it. I dumped out the 20+ oil soaked primers and washed them in white gas (Coleman fuel). I let them dry for a day and then set them into some old 303 brass. The freshest primer in that bottle was at least 20 years old. Every one of those primers fired (to some degree)! Some only lightly “popped” but others gave quite an authoritative “bang”. I don’t know if they had enough power to set off a powder charge BUT I do know I will never believe you can “kill” a primer by soaking it in anything.

 

[hdwhit]

homatok wrote:
I will never believe you can “kill” a primer by soaking it in anything.

Conventional non-corrosive primers use an explosive compound called lead styphnate. It is a very stable chemical from the standpoint of solubility which makes it hard to "deactivate" a primer by immersing it in something, but it is soluble in denatured alcohol.

 

[Slamfire]

That is very interesting. Primer cake is supposed to have a sealant, like shellac, over it. That would take a plastic solvent, like mineral spirits to remove. Primer cake is mixed wet, and I think that is water wet. Water should dissolve the primer, but, once the water evaporates, it ought to go bang again.

 

[witchhunter]

WD-40 killed some for me a long time ago.

 

[Walkalong]

Primers are hard to kill, which is a good thing.

 

[dh1633pm]

You can claim almost anything will kill a primer if it makes you feel good. But in order to be pronounced as killed, someone has to test to make sure it doesn't go bang.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Years ago I would have been shocked because I heard all the same stories but today I'm not surprised at all they went bang. Thanks for the post.

 

[Rule3]

You can claim almost anything will kill a primer if it makes you feel good. But in order to be pronounced as killed, someone has to test to make sure it doesn't go bang.

There was a recent test (on the internet) that proved that certain products will kill a primer of certain brands, sometimes, over the duration of the time allocated for the testing and the viability of the specific product and primer compound When tested in a firearm some subjected primers did and did not ignite properly with a first strike pressure relative to the exerted force applied.

The conclusion was that sometime a definite maybe said primers did or di not ignite.

 

[Jenrick]

If you soak a modern primer in water, you will get some very interesting colored water. I give it a swish or two every now and then to stir it around for a day or so. After that I pour it out on the driveway weeds, and toss the basically empty primer shell into the trash.

-Jenrick

 

[rskent]

But in order to be pronounced as killed, someone has to test to make sure it doesn't go bang.

Which is, I think, the only way to reliably kill a primer.


Make it go bang.

 

[Toprudder]

I found a document once that detailed how to safely ship lead styphnate. Basically, immerse it in water, ship, drain off the water at the other end.

 

[hdwhit]

Toprudder wrote:
...safely ship lead styphnate. Basically, immerse it in water, ship, drain off the water at the other end.

Correct. That's because the water cushions it against the kinds of shocks necessary to cause it to explode. The water does not deactivate the lead styphnate.

 

[hdwhit]

Slamfire wrtoe:
Primer cake is supposed to have a sealant, like shellac, over it. That would take a plastic solvent, like mineral spirits to remove...

Shellac, which is a resin secreted by the Lac insect, is soluble in ethanol which is the principal ingredient in denatured alcohol.

This is why I said denatured alcohol, which will dissolve the shellac (or similar) sealant as well as dissolve the lead styphnate itself should be tried for deactivating primers.

 

[Klint Beastwood]

that and wet lead azide doesnt explode. More resistant to heat and friction.

 

[Jim Watson]

Geoff Beneze did primer wetting trials with a wide variety of liquids. None were permanent, the primers would pop when dry.

 

[mdi]

I had read somewhere that the compound when mixed, water is used to make a paste. So I believe the compound is water soluble and since I rarely have to "de-activate" a primer I only tried soaking a couple primers in regular water. Wasn't interested in whether the water "killed" it so I just tossed the whole jar, primer and water. (I do know WD40 didn't work for me)...

 

[dh1633pm]

Just hit it with a big hammer. Once it goes bang, it is safe. Kidding.... I worry about the water combining with the chemicals in the primer. I just toss them in the trash and call it a day. The number that I did that with was so small as to not matter. I have set a few off in a rifle in the basement. I cover the muzzle with a couple old tee shirts wrapped into balls. It tears holes in them, but works. Oh, important safety note: Remove the bullet and powder first.