Reusing pulled primers

[Dudemeister]

Yesterday, I had to resize some 30-30 brass that I had previously primed.

I used a RCB Universal decapping die to remove the primers, which came out smoothly, then I resized each shell.

I carefully looked at all the primers I removed, and they all looked in perfect condition, indistinguishable from a new one, so I decide to go cheap and reuse them.

Should I be concerned about these? Will they ignite OK, or fail?

Edit: Forgot to mention, these are CCI #200 primers

 

[Deinhardt]

I have re-used mine in the same manner your talking about except with Pistol Brass. Just some that got dinked when I was seating the bullet. I have used them and they ignited just like a new one

 

[beex215]

i wouldnt worry. i usually pull the primer out when the case gets mangled in some way.

 

[Sam1911]

Should work just fine.

 

[243winxb]

Dangerous Primer Failure................

".the cause of the misfire was determined to be from the primer mix being knocked out of the primer when the round was cycled through the firearm multiple times".

http://benchrest.com/showthread.php?81357-Dangerous-Primer-Failure& Your primers should be fine. I have reused a few. Best for target shooting or practice. Dont bet your life on them, or have a misfire when that trophy animal appears.

 

[longdayjake]

Next time leave the primer in the pocket and just remove the decapping pin from your sizing die. Then you won't have to put the primer back in.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I have done the same thing with good results.
longdayjake makes a good suggestion though. That would remove any doubt as to primer reliability.

 

[GLOOB]

Next time leave the primer in the pocket and just remove the decapping pin from your sizing die. Then you won't have to put the primer back in.

Bottleneck cartridge?

 

[jcwit]

Yup, a 30/30 is a bottleneck case.

Just reseat the primers and reload, I've done it hundreds of times with no problems.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

on some bottleneck dies you can remove the decapping pin from the rod and leave the expander ball in the die. new RCBS dies are made this way. the expander ball screws off, the decapping pin can be removed, then the expander ball can be screwed back on.

 

[Ehtereon11B]

I have knocked out primers from .35 cases because I forgot to trim them to length before priming them. It was only about 12 rounds so I contemplated reusing them after trimming the cases. I decided not too because of how picky primers can be and how cheap they are per 1000. So I ended up tossing them, better to be safe than sorry I guess. I will try the trick of removing the decapper pin next time though.

 

[918v]

If you use a kinetic bullet puller, sometimes the shock of the impact will turn the priming mix into dust and it will fall out of the cup and contaminate the powder column. Those primers are useless. So is the powder.

 

[warnerwh]

I have used them many times. No problems with misfires.

 

[Dudemeister]

Next time leave the primer in the pocket and just remove the decapping pin from your sizing die. Then you won't have to put the primer back in.

I had previously done this to my .45LC die so that I can use the universal die and decap before cleaning, then resize the cleaned brass.

But on the 30/30 die it was impossible to remove the decapping pin. I tried, and short of using some huge pry bar, I couldn't even budge the retaining nut, so I gave up on that idea.

In retrospect, I think it was the right way to do it, because in order to resize these shells I had to spray some lubricant on them, and inside the neck. That would probably have contaminated the primers.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I've also done it more times that I care to admit and all have gone bang just fine...

 

[Krogen]

If you use a kinetic bullet puller, sometimes the shock of the impact will turn the priming mix into dust and it will fall out of the cup and contaminate the powder column. Those primers are useless. So is the powder.

First time I've heard of this! How do you know it to be true? Any industry sources that support the position?

 

[jcwit]

If you use a kinetic bullet puller, sometimes the shock of the impact will turn the priming mix into dust and it will fall out of the cup and contaminate the powder column. Those primers are useless. So is the powder.

Has not happened in my experience with any of the hundreds of rounds I've pulled over the years.

Now thats not saying it's not possible, seems plausible anyhow.

 

[918v]

It happened to me with some FC-150 primers. I dunno if I had a bad batch, but it's worth paying attention to if you want to reuse the powder.

 

[x_wrench]

i have done it many times, never ever had any problems. BUT, if i were going to use those rounds in a WET environment, i would apply a coating of sealer to them.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I did it for years and got away with it, but recently I have had some miss-fires in batches that I know were primed with re-cycled primers.

Maybe I'm getting to rough with them or maybe it's my new depriming die with a spring loaded push pin.

Either way, I quit using them.

It's a crap shoot depending on how gentle you are.

 

[gamestalker]

I'm sure they are just fine, however, in more than 30 yrs. of reloading I have yet to experience even one single mis-fire. So it's not a procedure I would personally endorse, and as already said, especially if it comes down to one mis-fire meaning the difference between life and death.

GS

 

[BYJO4]

You should have no problems using them.