Infrequent Shooter
Gold $$ Contributor
great thread!!
Have you ever set off a primer while loading?
- Thread starter 450BM
- Start date
R.Morehouse
Gold $$ Contributor
Not Yet...........
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CaptainMal
Silver $$ Contributor
Started loading in 1958. No issues. Even decapped a few at times, crushed more by not having crimped pockets reamed properly.
Still wear full-sized glasses when I prime "just in case".
Still wear full-sized glasses when I prime "just in case".
First primer seated in 1963
Never had one go off
I will add I’m cautious
As an armorer for 6 years it includes many many electrical primers also though they are fired by electricity there is this thing called static electricity. Too long ago to be sure but they used 28volts DC I think.
And decapped a huge amount as I seemed to have folks give me a big selection of factory ammo. No problem decapping and re- using them either. ( being given ammo tells you how long ago that was)
But then again those 6 years instilled a sense of safety and caution that has never faded.
Never had one go off
I will add I’m cautious
As an armorer for 6 years it includes many many electrical primers also though they are fired by electricity there is this thing called static electricity. Too long ago to be sure but they used 28volts DC I think.
And decapped a huge amount as I seemed to have folks give me a big selection of factory ammo. No problem decapping and re- using them either. ( being given ammo tells you how long ago that was)
But then again those 6 years instilled a sense of safety and caution that has never faded.
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NorCalMikie
Gold $$ Contributor
No, NEVER!! Have popped a few with a hammer to find out if there actually was a primer problem. Only one primer problem from a round dropped in the wet grass and left out over night. FIZZZ in all I got.
NEVER had a primer problem even after "thousands of rounds" reloaded and fired. Gas guns eat LOTS of ammo.
NEVER had a primer problem even after "thousands of rounds" reloaded and fired. Gas guns eat LOTS of ammo.
Lee Whitsel
Silver $$ Contributor
Yes in I think about 1997 i was reloading and took a new primed case and was in a rush to get all cases loaded. with the case in my hand swinging my arm across the loading area where i had a thick steel plate I was going to use under my loading press to make it more solid my hand holding solid to the case the primer hit on the sharp corner of that steel plate. It hit hard enough it went of and the bad part was it was pointed to my left hand little finger and blew apart 1/2" of the end of the little finger like right now blood all over the place. A rare event but a dumb thing on my part. Been reloading since 1971 and that was only time. All my mistake. Had a hard time in the ER getting the doc to believe my story.
My dad said he set one off in the 70's. He was using my mom's nearly new Kenmore canister vacuum when it went off...She got a new vacuum!
rabradshaw
Gold $$ Contributor
Never had one while reloading but long and entertaining story….
I am career Law Enforcement. From 1990 to 2006 I worked in Metro-Atlanta GA. I was a motorcycle officer for a larger agency. At our firing range one day, on duty, qualifying with our issued firearms. We were shooting practice ammo, we got new duty carry once a year, and qualified twice yearly. Once you would shoot up your duty ammo and get new, the next time you’d unload duty ammo and shoot practice ammo.I had unloaded my duty ammo into a plastic bag and placed it in the top box, behind my seat, on my Harley Davidson Road King motorcycle. This box also contained our radio and some electronic components that were not in use and supposedly dead….. this will be important later.
We were doing some drills and training, then lunch time came. We were leaving and I only loaded up one full magazine, left the bag in the box, rode to lunch and back. Upon returning I went to unload my magazine again and the plastic bag was caught up under those electronic components, you know the dead ones. As I carefully tried to remove it the bag tore open and spilled live rounds out. I went to pick them up and saw a tiny blue spark and boom! One of the rounds went off. Luckily I was wearing glasses and leather gloves. It scared the crap out of me and the whole squad came walking over thinking I had a negligent discharge in the parking lot. As there were more live rounds still there I’m yelling at them to stay back. Now imagine this, I’m sitting there like I’m playing the old game “Operation,” trying not to make the buzzer go off and the red nose light up….except louder and with more drastic consequences. I’m trying to pick up these bullets carefully and strategically to not make them roll and hit the “dead” connection. What’s making it harder is the motorcycle is on the side stand so it has an obvious lean to one side thereby making every move a possible chain reaction situation. I’m doing pretty good for a minute, then I made a wrong move. All of a sudden they start rolling and I see the blue arc of electricity again, well I ain’t real dumb. I dive for cover and at least four more rounds go off. Here comes the range master running out yelling, it was a scene. I had to explain to him what was happening, and all the while there are still more bullets just lying there, waiting. I came up with a solution, I disconnected the battery, very carefully which removed electrical current and then picked up the remaining bullets without further incident. It was classified as a negligent discharge and reports were made. Then I walked into the bathroom to see that I was bleeding. I had small pieces of brass all in my face, I surely would’ve lost an eye without the glasses. We found one projectile about 40 feet away lying on the stairs to the control tower, but other than powder burns in the radio box there was no other damage or evidence found.
I said all that to say this. I never knew electrical current would set off a pistol primer. I’m very careful about placement of extra batteries in my range bag, they’re never near live ammo. A controlled experiment years later confirmed that a 9v battery will ignite a primer. I don’t know about AA, AAA, etc., and I don’t care to. That’s good enough for me.
I am career Law Enforcement. From 1990 to 2006 I worked in Metro-Atlanta GA. I was a motorcycle officer for a larger agency. At our firing range one day, on duty, qualifying with our issued firearms. We were shooting practice ammo, we got new duty carry once a year, and qualified twice yearly. Once you would shoot up your duty ammo and get new, the next time you’d unload duty ammo and shoot practice ammo.I had unloaded my duty ammo into a plastic bag and placed it in the top box, behind my seat, on my Harley Davidson Road King motorcycle. This box also contained our radio and some electronic components that were not in use and supposedly dead….. this will be important later.
We were doing some drills and training, then lunch time came. We were leaving and I only loaded up one full magazine, left the bag in the box, rode to lunch and back. Upon returning I went to unload my magazine again and the plastic bag was caught up under those electronic components, you know the dead ones. As I carefully tried to remove it the bag tore open and spilled live rounds out. I went to pick them up and saw a tiny blue spark and boom! One of the rounds went off. Luckily I was wearing glasses and leather gloves. It scared the crap out of me and the whole squad came walking over thinking I had a negligent discharge in the parking lot. As there were more live rounds still there I’m yelling at them to stay back. Now imagine this, I’m sitting there like I’m playing the old game “Operation,” trying not to make the buzzer go off and the red nose light up….except louder and with more drastic consequences. I’m trying to pick up these bullets carefully and strategically to not make them roll and hit the “dead” connection. What’s making it harder is the motorcycle is on the side stand so it has an obvious lean to one side thereby making every move a possible chain reaction situation. I’m doing pretty good for a minute, then I made a wrong move. All of a sudden they start rolling and I see the blue arc of electricity again, well I ain’t real dumb. I dive for cover and at least four more rounds go off. Here comes the range master running out yelling, it was a scene. I had to explain to him what was happening, and all the while there are still more bullets just lying there, waiting. I came up with a solution, I disconnected the battery, very carefully which removed electrical current and then picked up the remaining bullets without further incident. It was classified as a negligent discharge and reports were made. Then I walked into the bathroom to see that I was bleeding. I had small pieces of brass all in my face, I surely would’ve lost an eye without the glasses. We found one projectile about 40 feet away lying on the stairs to the control tower, but other than powder burns in the radio box there was no other damage or evidence found.
I said all that to say this. I never knew electrical current would set off a pistol primer. I’m very careful about placement of extra batteries in my range bag, they’re never near live ammo. A controlled experiment years later confirmed that a 9v battery will ignite a primer. I don’t know about AA, AAA, etc., and I don’t care to. That’s good enough for me.
Once while annealing. Tigger, my cat, loves to watch the Girard work. Lost his shit when a primer cooked off in the box the cases were falling into.
Funny that you mention this......I too collected a few with a vacuum
cleaner, but never popped one. Most were from already fired
cases that bounce out, but there is always one or two that are
good that inadvertently made it to the carpet.
This is what a 6ppc looks like after hand priming an otherwise loaded round. A good buddy of mine (who shall remain nameless) did exactly that and had minor injuries to two or three fingers. He went to the ER to get checked out and stitched up.
He got distracted while loading and went to the line with powder falling out of his cases. Once he saw that they were missing primers, he went back to prime them. Like many of the other commenters have said, he never saw one go off or even heard about one going off while priming, with the idea that it must have an impact like that from a firing pin, etc. Well, this one sure lit off.
I'm guilty of getting in a hurry at a match and doing the same thing a once or twice. Never again.
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