Re-priming primers

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robertrwalsh

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I just picked up a kit to re-prime primers. I am not really that hard up for primers just yet but I thought I would check it out some day if I get bored. I did find that disassembling primers is a little bit of fun if you don't want to lose the anvil. I started doing it in a pink plastic barf basin, that works pretty good.

Theoretically it is simple. They give you the chemicals and a small double-ended plastic scoop. You dry-mix the chemicals thoroughly, add solvent (acetone or alcohol), scoop a bit into the primer, tamp it down with something like a small wooden dowel, reassemble the anvil to the primer and let dry approx 24 hours.

I hope to actually try it next week and see if it works. I will report here and let you know.
 
Re-Prime primers?

robertrwalsh said:
I just picked up a kit to re-prime primers. I am not really that hard up for primers just yet but I thought I would check it out some day if I get bored. I did find that disassembling primers is a little bit of fun if you don't want to lose the anvil. I started doing it in a pink plastic barf basin, that works pretty good.
Click to expand...

Where, oh where did you locate this "Kit" to re-prime primers?
Is this kit for all primers? After removing the anvil, I would think it necessary to use some sort of punch to remove the existing firing pin indentation before attempting to re-prime the primer.
Sounds interesting, but possibly setting the user up for a spectacular pyrotechnic display! Just say'in. :D

WYT-P
Skyhunter
 
Sounds like a fun project. But perhaps only once. Who knows?
 
Well, I googled it and watched a youtube video and all I can say is “no way” I will be making primers…
 
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robertrwalsh said:
I just picked up a kit to re-prime primers. I am not really that hard up for primers just yet but I thought I would check it out some day if I get bored. I did find that disassembling primers is a little bit of fun if you don't want to lose the anvil. I started doing it in a pink plastic barf basin, that works pretty good.

Theoretically it is simple. They give you the chemicals and a small double-ended plastic scoop. You dry-mix the chemicals thoroughly, add solvent (acetone or alcohol), scoop a bit into the primer, tamp it down with something like a small wooden dowel, reassemble the anvil to the primer and let dry approx 24 hours.

I hope to actually try it next week and see if it works. I will report here and let you know.
Click to expand...

I did it and have the kit(s) to do a few thousand if it ever comes to it. They work fine. Work in very small amounts and wear eye protection.

One thing I found was that once-seated primers don't always seat tightly in a different case. I used a dab of super glue on a few just to be sure.

Also - and this is important - they're corrosive.
Be sure to clean your test gun well.

Have fun with it.
 
In my early teens we rebuilt used primers for use in our reloaded shotshells. We knocked the old primer assemblies out of the hulls with a punch and punched out the actual primer cups with a nail, removed the anvils and flattened them with a flat punch.

Then we took a cap gun cap and tore out the black center with our thumbnails and put them in the primer cups, inserted the anvil and reassembled it all. Pushed the assembly into the hull and viola. It was done!

We also made our own powder and shot, recycled used wads and used the ammo in an old single-barrel shotgun.
 
This must be an early April fool’s joke…or a really dangerous stupid idea.
 
Dziadzi#1 said:
In my early teens we rebuilt used primers for use in our reloaded shotshells. We knocked the old primer assemblies out of the hulls with a punch and punched out the actual primer cups with a nail, removed the anvils and flattened them with a flat punch.

Then we took a cap gun cap and tore out the black center with our thumbnails and put them in the primer cups, inserted the anvil and reassembled it all. Pushed the assembly into the hull and viola. It was done!

We also made our own powder and shot, recycled used wads and used the ammo in an old single-barrel shotgun.
Click to expand...

I did the same thing but with large rifle primers. But that was back in the 1950s. They worked. Sort of a last resort when there is no other option.
 
At least you bought the kit, which I'm assuming the priming part is like what is included in the 22LR reloading kits that have been around for as long as I can remember (I'm 51yo.)

If you want to watch some interesting stuff, there are quite a few videos on YouTube from the last 2 years with people re-priming primers with caps, and by caps I mean the stuff we used to get as kids in that long roll of red paper with the part that goes bang every half inch or so :)
 
Breaker said:
This must be an early April fool’s joke…or a really dangerous stupid idea.
Click to expand...

It is not a "stupid idea" and not dangerous. When the compound is wet it will not ignite. After it dries its no more dangerous than store bought primers as long as you use original primer trays to store them.
 
I thought MacGyver was off the air.On a serious note is it really worth the effort?
 
Dave from Pa said:
I thought MacGyver was off the air.On a serious note is it really worth the effort?
Click to expand...

Dave,

At the moment, I am drawing the line at making my own percussion caps with roll caps. Personally, while recharging spent primers is possible, I don't think I have the patience to separate large and small rifle and pistol primers, and disassembling them while keeping all of the components segregated. Easier to accumulate empty soda cans and roll caps (when you can find them). It also attracts less attention!
 
No, I don't really think it will be worth the effort. I bought the kit and will take the time just to see how hard or easy it really is to do, and how effective it is. I admit I did not KNOW the compound is corrosive, but I was intending to treat it as though it were. I still have a few cans of the old GI bore cleaner around. You never know when it will come in handy.
 
I'm closely watching the prices for once fired primers on the auction sites. I stand to make a killing if I clean my reloading room!
 
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