Primer Removal?

[Mainehunter]

I was given a couple boxes of 308 brass most of them have primers in them. What's a safe way on removing them? I was thinking of spraying some oil based product (WD-40, Mystery Oil, etc.etc...) let them sit for a day or so and decap.

Thanks,
Mainehunter

[iceman]

A couple of options.
1) load them up and shoot them off.
2) place empty case in a 308 rifle and fire off just the primer.
3) resize as usual. This method is in need of caution. When raising into the die do so slowly the decap pin will push out the primer and it can be reused. Wear safety glasses and gloves just in case.

[Mainehunter]

A couple of options.
1) load them up and shoot them off.
2) place empty case in a 308 rifle and fire off just the primer.
3) resize as usual. This method is in need of caution. When raising into the die do so slowly the decap pin will push out the primer and it can be reused. Wear safety glasses and gloves just in case.

The first two options I don't have and the guy the gave them to me sold his. I have done the third a long time ago and one of them went off scaring the @&%$ out of me.

Mainehunter

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I have decapped lots and lots of live primers with a regular sizing/decapping die. You just have to do it slowly. It certainly would not hurt to deactivate the primers by soaking them in WD-40 or something, but I have never done that. I have usually wanted to reseat the primer after I have driven it out.

[J Miller]

Decapping live primers is no big deal. They are not C4, they won't blow up your press.

Just like iceman said, go slow and push the primer out of the case. It can then be reused. A primer needs IMPACT to detonate.

And soaking them in WD40 will only temporarily deactivate them. As soon as they dry out they're live again. Primers are very hard to kill.
The only 100% sure way is to detonate them by firing, or throwing them in a fire.

I've got a number of boxes of ammo in my shelves loaded with reused primers. No problem at all.

Joe

[Chas.]

Over the past 40+ years, I've deprimed a bunch and have never had one go off. Slow and easy is the key.

[AJMD429]

And soaking them in WD40 will only temporarily deactivate them. As soon as they dry out they're live again. Primers are very hard to kill.
The only 100% sure way is to detonate them by firing, or throwing them in a fire.

Yep. Amazing little things they are!

[stretch]

The slow and easy method has always worked for me.

So far.
-Stretch

[Cast Bullet Hunter]

Why do you want to de-cap them? If you don't have a rifle, aren't going to load them, what is so urgent about this?

Primed cases are not hazardous in any way. Obviously you aren't going to load them, why not give them to someone who can use them?

The only reason I can see why you want to de-cap them is so they can be sold as scrap for a few cents. They are worth a lot more to someone who reloads, let him worry about the primers.

Seems to me WHY is a lot more important than HOW!

[Mainehunter]

Thanks for the feedback gentlemen!

Why do you want to de-cap them? If you don't have a rifle, aren't going to load them, what is so urgent about
this?

Primed cases are not hazardous in any way. Obviously you aren't going to load them, why not give them to someone who can use them?

The only reason I can see why you want to de-cap them is so they can be sold as scrap for a few cents. They are worth a lot more to someone who reloads, let him worry about the primers.

Seems to me WHY is a lot more important than HOW!

You do have a point there. I wasn't planning on cashing them in just to resize them up to 358 Winchester. The more I think about it, maybe I should size them up and load some plinking loads.

Mainehunter

[Malamute]

You don't have a 308 rifle, but you do have a 358? They should chamber and fire just fine if the shoulder length is the same. I believe the only difference between 308 and 358 is the neck diameter.


I've also removed live primers without incident, but if you took the decapping pin out of your size die, or just adjusted it so it didnt decap, you can use them for plinking loads after necking them up like you mentioned. I prefer new primers for hunting loads rather than recycled ones.

[93marshooter]

Years ago I bought a bunch maybe 1000 pulled down 308 from Israel. Most still had primers. I deprimed most with standard full length RCBS die with no problem. I got a wild idea to see if the primers still functions so I got another decapper expander and broke the decapper rod off and went on to size many of the brass with primer intact with no problems. Saved me several hundred primers. Of course these are Nato military ammo so are heavier than normal commercial brass. Handloading much take that into account. I never experiment with max loads but always use mid range loads. They are accurate and capable to taking all game.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

Thanks for the feedback gentlemen!

Why do you want to de-cap them? If you don't have a rifle, aren't going to load them, what is so urgent about
this?

Primed cases are not hazardous in any way. Obviously you aren't going to load them, why not give them to someone who can use them?

The only reason I can see why you want to de-cap them is so they can be sold as scrap for a few cents. They are worth a lot more to someone who reloads, let him worry about the primers.

Seems to me WHY is a lot more important than HOW!

You do have a point there. I wasn't planning on cashing them in just to resize them up to 358 Winchester. The more I think about it, maybe I should size them up and load some plinking loads.

Mainehunter

Since they're already primed, I'd take the easy road to .358 and just fire-form them making use of the existing primer. I'll let others speak to a load as I've only fire-formed larger stuff with Unique, cream of wheat, and a wax plug.

[Rusty]

Why not remove the decapping pin from your die and size as you normally would. Then when you're done replace the pin.

[Hobie]

I just decap slowly... Never had one set off.

[Griff]

I just decap slowly... Never had one set off.

+1.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Same as Hobie,Griff and others said, Just slowly poke em out in the press.

[Cast Bullet Hunter]

Mainhunter,

Load 15 gr. Unique, fill with cornmeal tamped down, finish with a wax wad. Bullet lube works well. Fireform holding the rifle muzzle vertical. Should fill out very well. Simply size and load after checking case length and trimming if necessary. Just that simple.

[gundownunder]

I've de-primed a number of live ones over the years and like almost everybody else here did it slow and had no issues. Usually the ones I've had to punch out are the ones that I've crushed in there upside down or on their sides (you don't get much feel with a press mounted priming tool), some of them have been pretty badly mangled on the way in and still haven't gone off.
If one did go off inside the die, apart from scaring the pants off you it shouldn't do any damage as it will be fully encased in steel.

[Jeff H]

Decapping live primers is no big deal........I've got a number of boxes of ammo in my shelves loaded with reused primers. No problem at all.

Joe

I did just that just this week. Loaded up a bunch of .357s and came up a primer short. Scrounged around and found a split case I discovered after seating the bullet a few weeks ago, pulled the bullet, dumped the charge and eased the primer out. Went back in to the next case just fine. With what primers go for these days, I don't let any good ones get away.

[Ysabel Kid]

I've done this on brass from bags I've purchased at gun shows and such, only to find live primers in the mix. No big deal. I also wear eye protection when reloading. Follow that basic safety rule, and you should be fine.

[Mainehunter]

Mainhunter,

Load 15 gr. Unique, fill with cornmeal tamped down, finish with a wax wad. Bullet lube works well. Fireform holding the rifle muzzle vertical. Should fill out very well. Simply size and load after checking case length and trimming if necessary. Just that simple.

Don't have any Unique but what about Red Dot or Bullseye? Is that the way you fire form brass? Never heard it done that way before.

Mainehunter

[Rimfire McNutjob]

Mainhunter,

Load 15 gr. Unique, fill with cornmeal tamped down, finish with a wax wad. Bullet lube works well. Fireform holding the rifle muzzle vertical. Should fill out very well. Simply size and load after checking case length and trimming if necessary. Just that simple.

Don't have any Unique but what about Red Dot or Bullseye? Is that the way you fire form brass? Never heard it done that way before.

Mainehunter

I use less Unique in mine and I use Cream of Wheat, but otherwise that's how I fireform .348 WCF into .450 Alaskan. Works out perfectly in my gun. Very loud though ... it's not like letting off a cap gun.

I load 10 grains of Unique in a .348 case, cut a small circle from paper towel and place over it to keep the Cream of Wheat from mixing with the power. Then I fill with Cream of Wheat up to about the bottom of the neck and then stick the case into the bottom of one of my wife's big candles. I work if back and forth a time or two and it comes out with a perfect wax plug broken off to seal the neck. Luckily, my wife has never picked up one of the big candles that adorn several nooks in our house and looked at the bottom.

I suspect that Bullseye or Red Dot would work but at a lighter load level due to their speed.

[Cast Bullet Hunter]

Mainhunter,

Load 15 gr. Unique, fill with cornmeal tamped down, finish with a wax wad. Bullet lube works well. Fireform holding the rifle muzzle vertical. Should fill out very well. Simply size and load after checking case length and trimming if necessary. Just that simple.

Don't have any Unique but what about Red Dot or Bullseye? Is that the way you fire form brass? Never heard it done that way before.

Mainehunter

If you have any Universal, WSF, AA5 I would suggest them in about the same charge as Unique. Between Bullseye and Red Dot I would select Red Dot if those are all you have. Reduce these to 10-12 grains, but only load a couple, increasing the charge until the case fills out well.

You don't need anything to separate the powder and filler, they won't mix if the case is full. Cornmeal if preferable to Cream of Wheat, it forms a virtually solid plug under pressure and does a better job of opening the neck.

Please note the comment about firing the gun vertically, this is important. I realize this is counter-intuitive, but the cases will fill out more dependably this way. I have no explanation why, just, literally, experience fire-forming probably better than 2000 cases this way to neck them up. All the way from .270 Win and .280 Rem to .35 Whelen, to .7mm Rem Mag and similar to .458 Winchester, and 8mm Lebel to 11.4mm Italian Vetterli.

There have been several others too! In all cases after annealing the neck of the case. My loss rate overall has been well under 10%, and probably less than 5%. Not surprisingly the highest losses were 7mm Rem mag to .458 Winchester, but even that extreme still was less than 20% in about 40 cases.

The 7mm Mag to .458 would be impossible to do by necking up with an expander, but works well, and with acceptable losses, by fire-forming.

As Rimfire McNutjob said, these are not mild or cap-gun loads. They are dangerous to people and property and all usual precautions must be adhered to. The first I tried, about 25 years ago, were .30-40 Krag to a wildcat .35 Krag. I thought I would fire them in the basement using a bucket of rags as a silencer, you know, like a pillow in the movies?!!! The first shot blew the bottom out of a 3 gallon steel bucket, it was about 1/3 full of rags. Decided that wasn't going to work real quick!