Please help with de-capping live primers

[Oso]

Eye Glass and EAR MUFFS... You'll ring out your ears hard if one goes off... Ask me how I know...

 

[Sandstorm]

Shoot them....

 

[divingin]

Eye Glass and EAR MUFFS... You'll ring out your ears hard if one goes off... Ask me how I know...

They're actually pretty loud even chambering and firing in a rifle.

 

[JMayo]

How do you store the primers after removal? “New” primers come in relatively small compartmented trays, what’s a safe alternative?

I just put em in an empty bullet box or 22 box. They aren't dangerous. Not going to spontaneity go off.

 

[NateHaler]

I was given some old .308 never been fired brass that has live primers in them. The person giving me the brass said I shouldn't use those primers due to their age.

Don't take advice from that person, due to his age.

Chamber one, and fire it. If it goes off, then load the brass and use it.

 

[Walt Schmidlin]

I just put em in an empty bullet box or 22 box. They aren't dangerous. Not going to spontaneity go off.

Any suggestion on quantity in a box?

 

[M-61]

Any suggestion on quantity in a box?

Yes. As many as will fit.
(and I don't mean packing them in with a hammer)

 

[Gunn]

I was given some old .308 never been fired brass that has live primers in them. The person giving me the brass said I shouldn't use those primers due to their age.

How dangerous is it to de-cap that brass? What precautions, if any, should I take? And what should I do with the old primers?

BTW, I'm new to reloading, hence the "noob" question.

Thanks guys!

Are you going to use the brass if so take 10 empty cases and fire them in your rifle if no problems load 10 and repeat ifthese are successful 100% fire rate load them and shoot them I found some Herters primers in my loading stock that I know are 50 years old and some 4064 about the same I age loaded ten they shot great so I loaded the rest and I'm shooting themwith no problems

 

[Modoc Guy]

Finally got into my reloading storage. Here’s a photo of the brass. All brand new vintage Lake City.



I’m thinking I’ll load a couple and see what happens.

I need to find some powder to push the 168gr hpbt’s I wanna shoot in my M1A.

Unfortunately, powder’s hard to come by, as is everything else

Thanks for all your thoughts on what to try/do with these!

Cheers!

 

[nilebartram]

I thought I would try a experiment with some old primers to make them safe. I soaked them in soapy water for a week, let them dry and they still went pop!

 

[muleman69]

Don't take advice from that person, due to his age.

Chamber one, and fire it. If it goes off, then load the brass and use it.

Makes great since, fire form the brass for your chamber

 

[NorCalMikie]

Push them out "real easy". Done a BUNCH with no issues. Wear muffs and glasses if you think you need them. Me? Never wore glasses or muffs. And I've even reused/loaded them with no issues. The key words are REAL EASY.
If you question them as being good or bad? Press one out and do the hammer thing. Concrete or patio block, hammer. That should answer any of your questions.

 

[Joe Maisto]

Same here, slow and easy. I too wear safety glasses and I also drape a washcloth over the die to dissipate any gas that might vent through the weep hole.

Mr. Neil Jones makes the slickest hand de-priming tool ,( as well as his dies or anything else he makes) and reasonable. I would not be without it,.

 

[rogn]

My only concern about using the aged primers would be that some could be corrosive. Especially if the specific origin is unknown. You should also certain whether the storage environment could have exposed them to ammonia. Then both case and primer are suspect.
If you're sure they are non corrosive I would use the brass for practice or plinking loads.

 

[M-61]

I thought I would try a experiment with some old primers to make them safe. I soaked them in soapy water for a week, let them dry and they still went pop!

Yes. No surprise. If I removed a primer dripping with WD-40, soapy water or anything else I would Never assume it is inert. One day when primers fall back to normalcy I'd like to give it a try.

 

[KY_Windage]

My water-soaked (recently purchased) primers go "pop" but not with full power. I also saw a guy lose an F-Class match last year because some rain-water got into his ammo box the month before. He was chewing up the X-ring but shot #15 or so went into the berm below the target. So yeah, they will go "pop," but you might not like the results.

This I know: WD-40 kills the hell out of them, in just a few days. If I put WD-40 in10 primed cases and let them sit for a couple of days, most will not go off AT ALL when fired in a rifle. One or two will make a very slight pop, nothing like normal.

This is not to encourage being careless with any primer that has not been fired.