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what is the safe way to remove live primers

Re: safe way to remove live primers

Decommission with a little wd-40 and carefully press out with sizing die or universal decapper.
 
Slow steady pressure... never used any oil. Wouldn't hurt if you put a towel around the press in front of you. Wear glasses
 
rmist said:
Slow steady pressure... never used any oil. Wouldn't hurt if you put a towel around the press in front of you. Wear glasses

Yeah ive always just decapped them slow and steady while wearing safety glasses. Never tried deactivating with any substance. Removed a lot that way over the years. Never had one go off. Dont expect i will either since a primer requires a fast hard strike to ignite.
 
I, too, have pressed them out slowly but if you are worried about it put the cases in a rifle and fire them off. Hurts nothing.
 
Push them out with your decapper moderately slow. Just don't slam it as fast as you can and imitate a firing pin. I've bought a bunch of primed brass and pushed them all out. I'm talking thousands not a few. No problems.
 
There have been many tales about making a primer inert. There is no way, other than firing. Especially, don't add anything to a primer that is flammable.

Deprime, slowly, with constant pressure, or fire the empty cases at the range.
 
I have deprimed em live a few times. Otherwise I just pull the bullet, dump the powder and and place the primed brass in the appropriate fire arm and place the muzzle against and old piece of carpet. Pull the trigger and move on
 
I've done lots of cases using the slow.steady pressure method, never a problem. I think I'd have second thoughts about doing crimped in primers though.
 
I too have removed hundreds as described and no bangs. What about using these primers in another cartridge? Granted, if seated properly, the anvil is in contact with the cup. I have used such primers and if they seat snugly, all goes well. Some seat loosely and are discarded. Any issues here?
 
lpreddick said:
I too have removed hundreds as described and no bangs. What about using these primers in another cartridge? Granted, if seated properly, the anvil is in contact with the cup. I have used such primers and if they seat snugly, all goes well. Some seat loosely and are discarded. Any issues here?

Not sure on that. I have always discarded all live primers that i removed. Im sure some, if not all, of them would still work, but my gut tells me to just put a new primer in so thats what ive always done.
 
Safety glasses along with the slow and steady method and you won't have any problems. If you want extra insurance, wrap a towel around it like mentioned above.
 
lpreddick said:
I too have removed hundreds as described and no bangs. What about using these primers in another cartridge? Granted, if seated properly, the anvil is in contact with the cup. I have used such primers and if they seat snugly, all goes well. Some seat loosely and are discarded. Any issues here?

The price of a used primer can't really be worth it.
Unless I was completely up against a wall, I would scrap them and put in new ones.

Once you consider your bbl life, bullets, powder, and brass cycles, that cheap primer isn't worth the possible frustration. Can using a once removed primer be done, yes. Is the reliability as good as new ones..... maybe isn't worth my time.
 
I have punched a few out slowly, over the years without having any pop.

One thought that I have on this and I don't know if it's right is: It seems that it would be somewhat safer to use a dedicated decapping die which does not tightly fit the case as opposed to using a sizing die. In the event that a primer should pop, I would think the decap die would allow the pressure to vent off better than a sizing die.
 
/VH said:
I have punched a few out slowly, over the years without having any pop.

One thought that I have on this and I don't know if it's right is: It seems that it would be somewhat safer to use a dedicated decapping die which does not tightly fit the case as opposed to using a sizing die. In the event that a primer should pop, I would think the decap die would allow the pressure to vent off better than a sizing die.

I agree and Ive always thought that same exact thing. I have used a LEE universal decapping die for years. It is very tough and leaves plenty of room around all the case bodies i use it on
 

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