Re-priming primers

[robertrwalsh]

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.

[max]

I am not that hard up for primers and hope I never am. It sounds a bit dangerous to me.

[Skyhunter]

Originally Posted by robertrwalsh

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.

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.

WYT-P
Skyhunter

[jschmidt]

Sounds like a fun project. But perhaps only once. Who knows?

[ken158]

Well, I googled it and watched a youtube video and all I can say is “no way” I will be making primers…

[Nevada Ed]

Originally Posted by max

I am not that hard up for primers and hope I never am. It sounds a bit dangerous to me.

The mix is stable as long as it is wet................
and it needs 24 hours to dry, then, look out !!

[vonn]

Sounds like this may be an interesting thread

[AlHunt]

Originally Posted by robertrwalsh

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.

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.

[Dziadzi#1]

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.

[Breaker]

This must be an early April fool’s joke…or a really dangerous stupid idea.

[DWalt]

Originally Posted by Dziadzi#1

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.

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.

[AlHunt]

Originally Posted by Breaker

This must be an early April fool’s joke…or a really dangerous stupid idea.

Prime-All Repriming Compound – Sharpshooter 22LR Reloader

No joke. Lots of us can do it and I can assure you, we're not stoopid.

Admitedly, it's a last resort.

[nicky4968]

Hang onto your Berdan cases. You won’t have to bother with removing and replacing anvils.

[Heinz]

Wow! So you think a mix of priming compound and acetone is stable? Only if there are no sparks, ignition source, or high pressure events Take a quarter teaspoon full out to back yard, stick a wick in it, and stand back. It is about as stable as gasoline and nitromethane.

[Tu_S]

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

[ArchAngelCD]

Originally Posted by Breaker

This must be an early April fool’s joke…or a really dangerous stupid idea.

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.

[Dave from Pa]

I thought MacGyver was off the air.On a serious note is it really worth the effort?

[lrrifleman]

Originally Posted by Dave from Pa

I thought MacGyver was off the air.On a serious note is it really worth the effort?

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!

[robertrwalsh]

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.

[walnutred]

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!

[Jdavis]

Some time ago, I experimented with reloading a few primers using cap pistol roll caps. It is a tedious and time consuming task that I would only want to do on a larger scale as a last resort. I will say that the ones that I made did produce satisfactory results. In an emergency situation where no factory primers are available, it’s a viable option.

[ACORN]

Originally Posted by Dziadzi#1

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.

Yeah, and I bet you had to walk 10 miles to school and back up hill both ways in the snow with no shoes.
My buddy and I used to go to a local trap range and scrounge used wads and unbroken clay pigeons after the had a league shoot.
We had more time than money.

[David Sinko]

I have the kit with the powders but I haven't gotten around to trying it. I was going to start with Berdan primed 7.62X39, since I reloaded Berdan primed cases back when the Tula KV24N primer was available. This seems like the easiest route since there is no fumbling with the anvils. My biggest concern is reusing the dimpled primer cups, as I'm worried that they will pierce on the second firing. Pierced primers cause all sorts of problems. Does anybody know of a source for new primer cups or how to make them without a lathe and mill?

[gwpercle]

Originally Posted by robertrwalsh

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.

With reloading supplies (primers) getting so sketchy and expensive ... I never threw away a gal. zip-lok bag of spent primers . My Lee Hand Press collected them in a cavity and required dumping and I would put them in the bag .
Reloading them with caps seemed "sketchy" but I knew someone would market better priming compound if a demand existed .
Following your thread with much interest , tell us what works and doesn't work ... please post name of co. that sells workable priming compound ... since I have the spent primers I want to get a kit ...just in case the elections go South again .
Thanks for posting ,
Gary

[PALADIN85020]

During WWII in the Philippines, people who handloaded cartridges to fight the Japanese occupiers cut paper caps out of rolls of toy gun caps and used them in spent primers. I suppose this worked, but ignition must have been very erratic.

John

[Heinz]

There is a good article with appropriate cautions here https://aardvarkreloading.com/resour...imercourse.pdf

The author notes that most homemade priming compounds are corrosive. Also that purchase is likely you put you on a Federal watch list.

I prefer my solution:

[TXBryan]

Originally Posted by Heinz

Wow! So you think a mix of priming compound and acetone is stable? Only if there are no sparks, ignition source, or high pressure events Take a quarter teaspoon full out to back yard, stick a wick in it, and stand back. It is about as stable as gasoline and nitromethane.

Did anyone read Heinz's post? Joke, or no joke, anyone who thinks alcohol or acetone aren't flammable probably didn't do well in high school chemistry. Saying that anything is "safe" while in solution with either alcohol or acetone is just wrong. And it hardly matters what kind of alcohol - they all burn. Static discharge is a very adequate ignition source for either alcohol or acetone.

[BillBro]

These kits, and even guys making their own compounds, have been all over toutube for about the past two years or so. The reprime kit did pique my interest. Looks like it would be worth trying at least.

Messing with those little anvils looks like a job for younger eyes than mine though.

Keep posting and educate us all. What was the name of your kit again?

[DR505]

As a retired bomb tech who managed to keep all 10 fingers, I personally would never monkey with primary explosives. You can do as you please. Priming compounds often use azides, fulminates, and the like. No thank you.