There is a guy that is making primers over at Cast Bollits with 2 toy caps used as the priming compound. He has shown single digit ES as compared to the same load with factory primers. However he says that there is a a 3/10s second longer lock time and has shown it with acoustic devices. I am sure there will be problems if trying to do this but it isn't rocket science. I am sure the gunsmiths at Kyber Pass do it all the time. Third worsd companies do it every day.
Making primers
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benchrest
Silver $$ Contributor
maybe its time for someone to re-visit the remington etronX idea from 20 years ago. eliminate all the chemical in the primers & go all electric. it would have to be adaptable to our current rifles...
just dreaming.
if consistent, i could see some benefits. no haz-mat, no govt regulations.
just dreaming.
if consistent, i could see some benefits. no haz-mat, no govt regulations.
I was thinking the same thing, though mainly for competition rifles. All they'd have to do is show it produced lower ES and didn't need sorting, and a lot of competition shooters would switch.
jonbearman
I live in new york state,how unfortunate !
I am surprised they havent made a robotic set up to make primers. I know it could be done and they never get tired and if a flash explosion happened no one would be injured. Normally I do not support robotic manufacturing but when it comes to explosives it would be paramount to go this way.
Yes, probably that will be the first attempt but the long term solution may be to revalue the dollar, i.e. issue new currency, something like 20 cents on the dollar. This is the way Germany got out from under massive inflation of the German Mark after WWI. Of course no one knows for sure but massive deficit spending can't go on forever.
There's been a few books written about this issue. The most recent that I'm aware of is "After Shock."
Usually primer manufacturing is done with flooded work benches, tables, floor with constantly flowing water everything is done wet. In my youth I made a lot of dangerous things in chemistry class and at home alone that today as an older man of 47 I would not do unless my life depended on it. Just like making TNT is not that hard it is very dangerous. Likewise RDX crystals not hard to make just very very dangerous to make. I do not think we have crossed that road yet were people need to be attempting this. It would be like heat treating with cyanide in your back yard or tanning hides with chromium compounds in your back yard if you do not have too!!!
divingin
Gold $$ Contributor
A tad dated, but explains some of the more risky process:
www.kcur.org
I thought there was another instance more recently, but a quick search didn't turn anything up.
After Deadly Explosion At Lake City Munitions Plant, The Business Of War Proves Costly
Two years after an explosion at a crucial Army factory that is the country’s largest producer of small-caliber ammunition, the underlying cause of…
www.kcur.org
I thought there was another instance more recently, but a quick search didn't turn anything up.
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Ah, maybe because primer plants blow up with some regularity?
A good friend of mine and quail hunting buddy is a multi-time World skeet champion. He used to be sponsored by Remington when they sponsored shooters with ammo.
I'm not sure of the circumstances, but he was given a tour of the Lone Oak ammo factory. Toward the end of the tour, he asked his Remington host "what's that little house way down there" and was told that is where they make primers....and its like the third little house down there because the blew up the first two!!!
If you have seen it, there is a constant water mist keeping the explosives wet and of course static electrical charge is a big issue.
I imagine that just the insurance costs alone would cause some manufacturers to demur.
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Lots of former primer operators-makers are now called lefty or stumpy, but seriously I wouldn't want to mess with that compound.
Old Navy
Gold $$ Contributor
Like I mentioned I worked for ATK for many years at the Promontory plant in Northern Utah. We built rocket motors, flares etc. We also developed new propellants all the time. Our 600 gallon mixer buildings and lab building were spaced far enough from other buildings, people and roads to minimize the effects of a mishap. All the buildings had blow out panels to prevent loosing the whole building. I understand everything in that article. I also know that safety was absolutely, positively the number one concern. Our operators had very detailed planning to follow and inspectors to make sure it was followed. We also had safety engineers to look at anything that the operators were uncomfortable with. Yes, we blew up building and there was loss of life in the 30 years I was there. I could go on and on about this but I am no means an expert on the subject. But I will say that mixing propellants is rocket science.
The compound mix for these electronic primers is identical with fine carbon (lampblack) in the mix to provide conductivity. So the hazardous materials are still in the mix.
I read the article about the Lake City plant explosion. And i could not believe it, real time readings on the moisture content of the primer mix were not available to the operator? How can big business not provide what is needed in the work place especially when dealing with explosives? A moisture meter that tells me the content of lumber I am working with is way less than $100.
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My father worked for the Tennessee Eastman Company after his stint in WW2. He told of taking off all his clothes and wearing a jump suit with no metal or buttons and special boots. He would take a sample of some thing he called composition B, carry it to the lab and weigh it then explode it in some device that contained the explosion and record the strength of the explosion. My point is this kind of thing happens every day. And if some corporation that is not more concerned with money than peoples lives is careful with the safety procedures it can be done. Dad was no rocket scientist but he did as he was told and was careful and lived to 96 years old. NO I never intended this to be a diy project at home. As many of these forums as there are on the world wide web, and of all the members and shooters that belong to them got together and formed a corporation this could done by all of us. With a rocket scientist on staff to find out if the primer compound we use now could be replaced with some thing that is safer and maybe even green. A corporation owned by us could be geared towards better products that don't use lead in the priming compound.
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