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Old 08-04-2011, 02:02 PM
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Default Deactivating Live Primers

I have a few live primers that I have removed from cases. One thing or the other has made them unusable for loading. I'd like to deactivate them, but I've heard that soaking them in penetrating oil or water doesn't deactivate them. Anyone have an answer?
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Old 08-04-2011, 02:26 PM
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Default primers

oil will, that is what i do just put a drop of oil.
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Old 08-04-2011, 02:39 PM
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Put them into a junk empty case with an enlarged flash hole and fire them.
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Old 08-04-2011, 03:09 PM
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I don't remove live primers from cases, I toss both. When I do have to toss a charged case, I just put in a drop of oil. Never had a problem yet, but to be fair, never tested them after dropping in the oil.
If I really wanted the case, I'd fire it with a range gun after shooting, so I had to clean the gun anyway. I would guess that's the only 100% sure way.
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Old 08-04-2011, 05:05 PM
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If it's just a few, I have been know to put them on my vice anvil and smash them with a hammer. Eye/ear protection of course.

Yes, I blew things up as a kid.
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Old 08-04-2011, 05:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Rule3 View Post
If it's just a few, I have been know to put them on my vice anvil and smash them with a hammer. Eye/ear protection of course.

Yes, I blew things up as a kid.
All day I have been trying not to say this.
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Old 08-04-2011, 05:33 PM
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I've done the same thing in putting them into a vise (but not so tight as to ruin the case) and then use a punch and hammer. no different than a firecracker type noise and flame out the open end of the case
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Old 08-04-2011, 05:53 PM
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I do not understand what you are meaning to do. You have already removed them from the cases???

Then just toss them. BTW Primers are nothing to be risking your 100% health and vitality with---hammers---vises---wellll----that is asking for something you will regret

IMHO
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Old 08-04-2011, 07:08 PM
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Originally Posted by eyegots2no View Post
I do not understand what you are meaning to do. You have already removed them from the cases???

Then just toss them. BTW Primers are nothing to be risking your 100% health and vitality with---hammers---vises---wellll----that is asking for something you will regret

IMHO
Yes this is true, it is not a smart thing to do and I do not recommend it.Kids, don't try this at home!
But this is from someone as a kid that held real cherry bombs and M-80's in their hands lit them and tossed them. And that was tame.
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Old 08-04-2011, 08:49 PM
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A drop of any kind of gun oil, I use WD40.
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Old 08-04-2011, 09:16 PM
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Quote:
but I've heard that soaking them in penetrating oil or water doesn't deactivate them.
I used to put some WD-40 on them because I heard that would deactivate them. But I never tested them to check.

When this topic has come up before about using oil or a penetrating oil to deaden, I always ask if anyone checked to see if it really did work. And to date, I have never gotten a reply that confirmed it worked.

So for all the folks that responded that they did this, did you ever check them?
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Old 08-04-2011, 09:27 PM
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I soaked some .50 BMG primers in WD40 to kill them. To my great and everlasting surprise, it had no effect.
Did I mention that one of these popping in my basement sounded like a .357 magnum?
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Old 08-04-2011, 09:34 PM
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Primers are not to be fooled with; particularly 50 BMG primers. My father, an Ordnance officer in WW II, told me of seeing someone put a cal 50 case, empty except for the primer, in a vise and tapping the primer with a punch. The crimped-in primer came out with enough force to bounce off a pipe in the ceiling and go one inch into a pine board. Those things have a lot of energy.

The sensitivity of primer sealing compunds to WD-40 has received a lot of publicity. As a result, I wouldn't be surprised if primer sealants now have been changed to be resistant to WD-40. If anyone has any practical experience in de-activating primers, I, for one, would like to hear it.

Last edited by Cyrano; 08-04-2011 at 09:44 PM. Reason: Second thoughts
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Old 08-04-2011, 09:35 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jepp2 View Post
And to date, I have never gotten a reply that confirmed it worked.
And if you did, it would only confirm that it worked that time. I've done it, and it didn't. That's good enough for me. I will NEVER count on oil or WD-40 killing primers, but, as pointed out above, you don't really need to.
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Old 08-04-2011, 09:45 PM
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I keep a screw capped plastic jug with about 1" of old motor oil in it in my shop. I just drop any primers I want to dispose in it. Should last me the rest of my life .
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Old 08-04-2011, 10:34 PM
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A drop of oil will not always deactivate a primer. I have tested it. Had some primers that I took out of some primed cases that I thought had been sitting out for too long. I squirted WD-40 into them and forgot about them. Days later I saw them and put one on the vise anvil and smacked it with a hammer, not expecting anything but the thing went off anyway. Surprised me quite a bit and no I didn't try any more and yes I am sure there was WD-40 in the one I hit.
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Old 08-04-2011, 10:45 PM
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I glue them into the hollowpoint cavity of a 185 gr. SWC HP. Shooting at a 'retired' railroad tieplate, some go bang, some don't

You can also glue them to a piece of paper and see how good you really are with a handgun from two hand offhand.

When I was young and dumb, I lay them on the concrete floor and hit them with a 4 pound shop hammer. Usually they went off. If my grandmother was around, she would try to beat me with a riding crop or fly swatter. I could always outrun her.
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Old 08-04-2011, 11:22 PM
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I am not certain that this is the answer wanted, but-------

I have about 200 old primers removed from various, mostly rifle rounds, some because they may be corrosive.
They have been soaking in a mix of paint thinner, WD-40, and motor oil for months, some for years. I recently removed 10, folded them into a cardboard box which I put on very small fire in the burn barrel.
I think they all popped, I am not sure because some of the pops were close together. Certainly most are still "hot".
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Old 08-04-2011, 11:26 PM
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I'm a reloader, so I'm cheap. Therefore I don't throw them away, I reuse them in my plinking ammo.
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Old 08-05-2011, 08:03 AM
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Bury them in an out-of-the-way spot.
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Old 08-05-2011, 10:01 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jepp2 View Post
I used to put some WD-40 on them because I heard that would deactivate them. But I never tested them to check.

When this topic has come up before about using oil or a penetrating oil to deaden, I always ask if anyone checked to see if it really did work. And to date, I have never gotten a reply that confirmed it worked.

So for all the folks that responded that they did this, did you ever check them?
Yep, one week later 50% fired with a pzzf and 50% went Bang. I don't trust WD40 as a deactivator of primers.
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Old 08-05-2011, 10:53 AM
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These are removed from the brass. They cannot be used again. So far, it looks like the best answer is to bury them.
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Old 08-05-2011, 11:29 AM
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These are removed from the brass. They cannot be used again. So far, it looks like the best answer is to bury them.
No, why bury them? Wrap them up put them in a old sealed container and put them in the trash. At least they will end up in a landfill.

The correct thing to do with them, if your County has one is take them to the Haz Mat disposal.

Ours takes any haz mat material, paint, ammo, light bulbs, TVs etc etc.
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Old 08-05-2011, 02:50 PM
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Heck, just throw them in the garbage since they are already out of the case. If not bury them under a few inches of dirt. The moisture will surely ruin them in short order. (I would just throw them away...)
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Old 08-05-2011, 03:28 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rule3 View Post
No, why bury them? Wrap them up put them in a old sealed container and put them in the trash. At least they will end up in a landfill.

The correct thing to do with them, if your County has one is take them to the Haz Mat disposal.

Ours takes any haz mat material, paint, ammo, light bulbs, TVs etc etc.
Our community has an annual haz mat day where one can drive to a collection point but it specifically excludes ammo. I doubt they would even know what a primer is, much less know what to do with it.

I also vote for tossing them in the trash (which is where the spent ones already go).
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Old 08-05-2011, 04:33 PM
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The crazy thing about the Haz Mat centers like ours. It's well organized and divided up into each type of material, guys wearing haz mat suits and everything gets sealed in 55 gal drums.

And where do these drums go?? The landfill So just pitch them in the trash. Anything buried can get dug up or leach into the water system. I guess some of the motor oil gets burned.
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Old 08-05-2011, 07:41 PM
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According to the following Cal Tech posting (DARPA/MTO/MEMS Digital Micro-Propulsion Project) lead styphnate can be neutralized by a sodium carbonate solution, which is soda ash.

"Lead styphnate does not react with metals and is less sensitive to shock and friction than mercury fulminate or lead azide. Lead styphnate is only slightly soluble in water and methyl alcohol and may be neutralized by a sodium carbonate solution."
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Old 08-06-2011, 12:11 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jbrown13 View Post
According to the following Cal Tech posting (DARPA/MTO/MEMS Digital Micro-Propulsion Project) lead styphnate can be neutralized by a sodium carbonate solution, which is soda ash.

"Lead styphnate does not react with metals and is less sensitive to shock and friction than mercury fulminate or lead azide. Lead styphnate is only slightly soluble in water and methyl alcohol and may be neutralized by a sodium carbonate solution."
Thanks for that link.

Also, sodium carbonate is also know as washing soda. You can make your own by baking regular baking soda in the oven on a flat baking sheet for 1 hr at 350*. This drives off the CO2 and water. ( I used a lot of it in keeping saltwater reef tanks)
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Old 08-07-2011, 11:08 PM
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Since I don't trust WD-40 anymore I did away with the balance from my WD-40 experiment by putting them in my vice flat ways and crushing them. They come out sealed up pretty good and then into the trash. Yea, technically it is hazmat but it is so little I am not going to worry.

Had a thought. I bet that Kroil will do the job. Next time I have some primers to get rid of I will try spraying some into the cup and letting it sit a while. That stuff penetrates like crazy.

Last edited by elundgren; 08-07-2011 at 11:12 PM.
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