Decapped live primers

[AlHunt]

I had 200 cases I primed and then realized some had a little residue in them. Probably case lube. I wrestled with what to do because I'm intending to put these rounds away against future needs.

But I remembered a thread here a while back about decapping live primers and one member saying he had done thousands over the years. I've also recently seen primers from pulled down ammo for sale.

So, I decided to try decapping the 38 SPL. I used a 44 caliber die and 38 shell holder. I
t took a little care to hold the case tight in the shell holder. A few required some finesse to get centered but they all decapped with little effort and look no worse for the wear.

The point of this is that with primers being precious these days, it is possible to salvage mistakes. I have a couple hundred 357Sig cases I'm going to recover the primers from next.

 

[SMSgt]

Should have used a .38 die.

Carefully.

 

[kbm6893]

Either use the resizing decapping die again, or spend a few bucks and get a universal de-capping die for those emergencies. I might have been the one to make the post you’re referring to. I decapped 2 yesterday. No problems. They come out effortlessly if your using a Depriming die.

 

[__steve__]

If it was me, for what it’s worth, I would try to carefully remove the residue and salvage the primed case.

 

[tlawler]

Does anyone have any ignition issues with decapped live primers? I went through my container of cases damaged while reloading when I was running short of primers and recovered about 50 live primers. In the catch bottle on my Lee APP I noticed there was some yellowing from priming compound around the recovered primers, I reused them with no issues, but haven’t shot them yet. But the yellow tint in the bottle leads me to believe that some of the priming compound was lost, though visually, the primers seemed normal.

 

[oysterer]

case lube on cases? That's where that should be...

 

[Just another 22 shooter]

I have decapped and reused well over 100 primers with no ignition issues in the finished rounds.

 

[Warren Sear]

I would not use salvaged and possibly contaminated primers like for anything other than range ammo, and even then I would watch carefully for duds and squibs.

 

[growr]

Have fired decapped primers without issue...they all went bang. Yours will too.

Randy

 

[tlawler]

I would not use salvaged and possibly contaminated primers like for anything other than range ammo, and even then I would watch carefully for duds and squibs.

That’s all I plan on using them for. I just hated throwing them away...they’re like gold!

 

[Golphin]

I have done it many times with no problem. If you set off one primer it is just going to make you jump not blow up the press or dies. Of course don't set 100 other primers beside the case you are depriming.

 

[Funflyer]

For future reference, a Q-Tip with acetone will remove any residue from the inside of the cases, and acetone will not harm the priming compound.

 

[mikld]

I'd have to think about buying "pulled primers" but I too have reused many primers from my handloads with zero problems/misfires. There is no reason to relegate these primers to "range only plinking loads" and I have reseated some in my "Just in Case" ammo. The best tool is a plain old sizing die, especially if you plan on using the brass again...

 

[Roofuss]

Have never had any issues removing them .

 

[CH4]

I’ve done it many times for various reasons and never had a kaboom or a recycled primer fail to fire.

 

[bigggbbruce]

That’s all I plan on using them for. I just hated throwing them away...they’re like gold!

Then why not just load those cases.

 

[Green Frog]

I would not use salvaged and possibly contaminated primers like for anything other than range ammo, and even then I would watch carefully for duds and squibs.

This sums up what I was thinking... I’ve done it, but for practice ammo only, not for match or self defense ammo. With the prices of primers going through the roof, salvaging them and using them in practice ammo just makes good sense to me... YMMV!

Froggie

 

[Green Frog]

Not quite the same as OP, but some of my friends who shot high power rifle competition used to economize by reloading what they called “Mexican Match.” They would carefully pull the bullets from military ammo of dubious quality and dump the suspect powder. They would then put a carefully measured charge of “good” powder in the primed case, replace the bullet and go win matches. Economy is where you find it.

Froggie

 

[Narragansett]

If I used a salvaged primer, it would be single action only

 

[growr]

mexican match

Not quite the same as OP, but some of my friends who shot high power rifle competition used to economize by reloading what they called “Mexican Match.” They would carefully pull the bullets from military ammo of dubious quality and dump the suspect powder. They would then put a carefully measured charge of “good” powder in the primed case, replace the bullet and go win matches. Economy is where you find it.

Froggie

I just replaced the bullets with 150 gr.Sierra Match Kings in M80 Ball ammo ,
and 168 SMK's in M118. Primers were good as was the powder and the charge.

Used it to make Master....

Randy

 

[tlawler]

Then why not just load those cases.

I don’t have a lot of them, but every now and then, I’ll get a case crunched in the press or split a neck.

 

[growr]

You certainly do a bang up job on your mess ups!!!

Randy

 

[max503]

I have done it many times with no problem. If you set off one primer it is just going to make you jump not blow up the press or dies. Of course don't set 100 other primers beside the case you are depriming.

Yes. You don't want a bunch of loose primers sitting together. They ship them in trays for a reason.

 

[AlHunt]

Should have used a .38 die.

Carefully.

The 38 die was creating friction. The 44 made it easier to deal with only the flash hole.

 

[AlHunt]

If it was me, for what it’s worth, I would try to carefully remove the residue and salvage the primed case.

I thought of that, played with some Q-Tips but short of a liquid solvent of some kind I just didn't feel like I could avoid getting whatever I used into the primer I was trying to save.

 

[AlHunt]

For future reference, a Q-Tip with acetone will remove any residue from the inside of the cases, and acetone will not harm the priming compound.

That's good to know. I considered that route.

 

[crankyoldlady]

Does anyone have any ignition issues with decapped live primers?

No. Every round goes bang.

 

[HorizontalMike]

A while back, I found the need to de-cap ~30rd of 5.56, and ended up using the whack-a-mole to start the process. Then I used my press to do the de-capping. Out of ~30rd, I think I had 3-4 of the primers lose their anvil insert. Other than that, they looked fine.

I was able to actually put the anvils back in position, but openly wonder if I should trust the final primer assembly on this "less-than-a-handful"...

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

My suggestion. Run "em" through the tumbler till the lube is gone. Load a few and see what happens.

 

[Baltimoreed11754]

I roll my rifle brass on a lube pad before resizing and then roll it on a towel on my leg, how do you get lube where it will interfere with a primer or powder? I use carbide dies on my pistol reloads and never lube them.