How to remove live primers.

[Bodyguard]

How do you remove live primers from cases that had the bullets and powder removed? Is their a safe way or should I fire the primed cases, minus the bullet and powder in the correct firearm. Any suggestions? Thanks Bodyguard.

 

[arjay]

A resizing die works.

 

[Skip Sackett]

Wear safety glasses, go slow, make sure there are no obstructions where the primers fall out. I have deprimed cases for quite a while with no incidents at all, none.

 

[Bodyguard]

Thank you.

 

[Cdog]

I've actually reused some that I removed with the sizing or decapping die to see if it affected their reliability.

I wouldn't use them for anything more than range fodder, but I never had any issues.

 

[novalty]

I've wondered if these would work in brass cases.

 

[andyo5]

I have removed live primers on my Dillon 550 without any of them firing.
But if you have a number of them, why remove them? Are they the wrong primer?

 

[Tenn2]

I've wondered if these would work in brass cases.

I have used the rubber bullets with just primers. They work fine for in the garage practice and very little noise. It is recommended that you drill the primer hole larger but mine worked fine without doing that.

Just an alternative too removing primers as I am inclined not to take the chance of something going wrong.

 

[MichiganScott]

I've removed them using the regular decapping die while they are still live without ever having a problem, but it's safer to pop them in a gun first.

 

[Culina]

I don't like surprises so I always soak mine in hot soapy water for say 30 minutes, no problems yet, then again I don't punch out a lot of live primers.

 

[Maximumbob54]

I've wondered if these would work in brass cases.

It's my understanding they are made to fit the internal shape of their own plastic case so I would say no you can't use them in brass. But if you look up wax bullets, hot glue cast bullets, and more you will find something that will work for you.

 

[venomballistics]

I've wondered if these would work in brass cases.

they could, however you could also warm a block of wax so that you can use an empty case as a cookie cutter to make wax wad cutters to the same effect.

 

[2152hq]

I push them out with the regular decapping die/pin.
I've never had one in a metalic case go off useing the regular sizing/decaping die.
Just go easy on it so as not to temp fate. They pop right out.

I reuse any that I have to remove and have never had any problems.

The only primer I can ever remember going off while removing it was a shotshell primer.
That I was removing from a case with the impliments of the day,,the Lee HandLoader set complete w/ dad's favorite hammer.
Tapping it back out of the case gently of course(!) as a teenager would do, it fired and sent the decapping rod skyward for a ride.
Lucky for me I wasn't poised over the end of it.

I've decapped plenty of live shotshell primers w/o incident in my different Mec reloaders since that time.

Like everything else involved with reloading,,there's always a chance of something going bang,,so wear safety glasses at all times.
If you don't feel comfortable doing the operation,,then just skip it and dispose of the case after deadening the primer.,or fire it off to get rid of it..

 

[PDL]

If you were to fire primed cases you can easily jam a revolver. The primer can/will back out of the case. A loaded round of course will recoil and the primer will be pushed back into the case, so no problem.
And before someone jumps in to say they do it all the time, fine it may not happen all the time.

Anyway, why waste a perfectly good primer. Go easy with a decapping/resizing die and you can safely remove and reuse them.

 

[mtgianni]

I don't like surprises so I always soak mine in hot soapy water for say 30 minutes, no problems yet, then again I don't punch out a lot of live primers.

I had always "heard" that WD40 would deaden primers.It will as long as they are wet but once they dry they will push a lot of leaves around when fired. I would not trust spoapy water to do anything different until I had checked it.

 

[bamacisa]

I have been reloading since 1975 and use a resizing die with a deprime stem to remove live primers. Just dont go real fast. I have never had a primer go off when I did this. Yes, you can reuse the primers.

 

[BlueOvalBandit]

Even if it does fire while depriming, the force is contained by the die and will go down the primer chute. Safety glasses are all you need, which you should be wearing anytime you do anything with reloading regardless.

I don't trust anything to kill primers other than firing, relying on such things will make you complacent.

 

[jepp2]

I had always "heard" that WD40 would deaden primers.It will as long as they are wet but once they dry they will push a lot of leaves around when fired. I would not trust spoapy water to do anything different until I had checked it

Maybe years ago WD-40 would deaden primers, but more recently with the improved foil seal, primers soaked in WD-40 for weeks are still active. Soaking in soapy water might make you feel better but don't expect it to deaden the primers.

I knock out live primers in my RockChucker press using a universal decapping die. I go slowly and have a piece of plastic pipe I put over the ram in case one goes bang. But I have knocked out several hundred and never have one fire. I reuse them and they all work just fine.

 

[photobiker]

I'm kinda of wondering why you don't reload the primed cases with your preferred load instead of depriming.

 

[Berserker]

Maybe it is upside down, maybe the case is screwed up.