Deactivating primers

If you wind up with a good number, put them in a steel coffee can and light a half dozen bricks of charcoal. Cover the can with a couple bricks, leaving some air space and step away.sit down and wait until they are all popped.

Make sure that you count them as they go off, or you might shoot your eye out when you take the bricks off the next day.

If you wind up with a large amount of ammo to dump, find a guy who has a really big smoker, heavy gauge steel, and find out when he works. Sneak into the back yard, fire up a huge pile of fuel in his burn chamber, add the bag of old ammo, and wire it shut. Post that video online, make sure that you get clear shots of your face.
 
The problem with deactivating them is that the pellets are plasticized to preserve them. A polymer is used to bind the powder into a pellet. This binder resists water and oil.

If anything would work, it might be acetone, paint stripper, some product that is actually antagonistic to plastic.
 
With the price of a primer hovering around tho cents, I'm going to say that reusing them is an absolutely unnecessary way to deal with pulled primers. Even if the possibility of something going wrong is thousands against one, I'd rather be slapped in the face by a 400 pound sums wrestler than reuse a primer that was installed and compressed in that pocket, then pushed other with a pin.

I've mentioned before that the universe hates me. Whatever the worst possible case scenario is, front a hang fire to a possible fire on my bench if it hang fires after extraction, whatever the worst possible thing could be,it will happen. After going through an EF5 tornado, lighting striking my house once and my trees four separate times, going through brain surgery because of a "million to one" brain abscess, I'm even unsure every time I pull a trigger.

There is not a chance in the world that I'd reuse a primer, fire somebody's reloads, or run a round that I found on the ground through something that I'm holding. I've been hit by another driver about every 15,000 miles with four of them rear lenders while stopped (maybe, I've lost count). one time it was even a deputy sheriff when at a stop light. I put up a lightning rod, replaced three bumpers and replaced a totalled car.

Buying new primers is the last of my worries.
 
Two weeks ago I did a little experiment regarding this.
I put 5 primed cases in my wet tumbler with the other cases I had to clean.
They went trough the whole process (in this case 2 hr wet tumbling and 1 hr drying on a cookie sheet at 220 F in the oven)
After that I tried to fire them - none of them went bang.
So I thought, they're may be killed.
Out of curiosity I took the Primer apart and lit up the compound.
It was still active and exploded when it was exposed to a flame.

My point of view is, the only way to kill a primer is to pop them, or to burn them.
 
I heard soaking them in WD-40 is the thing to do so that's what I do . Now I'm not so sure . I do have at least 20 primers soaking in WD-40 right now , some of them for months if not a year . I've been a little under the weather the last couple days but I'll see if they will fire when I get a chance .
 
A 'Large/Long' Universal decapping die will allow you to remove the primer with relative safety.
Since no seal is made between case & die,
In the unlikely event the primer detonated, it would be a bang/flash directed down at the shell holder by the die.

The primers can then be destroyed by burning or crushing.

The ONLY primer detonations I've ever had in a universal decapping die were China manufacture, and other than creating a wet spot in my underwear, did no damage what so ever to the equipment.

I do use a metal paint can (quart) for discarded live primers to fall into.
Can lid on, about 1-1/2" hole drilled in the lid for primer eject tube to enter the can.
Semi-Closed lid VENTS & REDIRECTS any possible ignition.
I DO NOT let potentially live primers build up in the can, I don't want a chain reaction...

Disposal can be as easy as burying the primers, solvents like MEK will eat the primer material up in short order... MEK will eat a metal can up, so change containers before soaking.
 
Here's the result of an experiment. As I said, I have a number of .270 cases with loose primer pockets discovered upon seating the primers. Last night I poured a small amount of "The Oil that creeps" - Kroil -into 2 of these cases. I did the same thing with a WW case that had a normal primer seating. I put them on a piece of tablet paper. I just looked at them to find one of the loose pockets had Kroil that leaked completely out of the case.
The other 2 cases - one loose, one not, contained all of the Kroil. I poured all remaining Kroil out of the cases.

I popped them off in the rifle. The case that leaked all of the Kroil fired as usual. The other two were dead.

Apparently overnight was long enough for Kroil to "creep"in and deactivate the primers; it could not do so if it didn't stay in contact, at least overnight.

I'll try it again with 3 more - all loose. It's now 11 Am - I'll repeat the test at11 Am or so tomorrow.
 
briandg wrote:
If anything would work, it might be acetone, paint stripper, some product that is actually antagonistic to plastic.
Click to expand...

Denatured alcohol will be antagonistic to the plasticizer and the lead styphnate is actually soluble in it. Lead styphante is NOT soluble in acetone or mineral spirits.
 
Marco B wrote:
My point of view is, the only way to kill a primer is to pop them, or to burn them.
Click to expand...

...or soak them in something that the lead styphnate is actually soluble in; like denatured alcohol.

But, I want to thank you for reporting on your experiment. This is significant in regard to the OP's question. Something in the tumbling process and subsequent drying was sufficient to mitigate the shock of the striker thus preventing the primer from firing, but did not actually "deactivate" the primer compound and it was able to be set off with exposure to flame.
 
This experiment was taken with CCI Large Magnum Rifle Primers.
Tumbled with Palmolive dish detergent and Lemishine.
I've some Federal Magnum Primers Large Pistol and Rifle left, which I don't use anyway.

If it would be helpful, I can do some more tests.

It will not hurt me, to prime some cases and add it to my cleaning process.
 
Just cycle the brass thru your rifle and shoot'em off in a safe direction. Won't hurt the rifle 1iota. Doing so is a whole lot safer than discarding live primers in the house trash. Some community's have Laws in regards to disposing of explosive materials in the house trash.
 
Over the years I have collected a large number of assorted caliber cartridges. Several hundred of them are corroded and unusable. Some to the extent that they have holes in the side of the cases. I have soaked all of them in WD 40, pulled the bullets and destroyed the powder. I now have all these cases with live primers. They have been soaking (fully submerged) in WD 40 and I need to remove the primers to destroy them. These various cases range from 218 Bee through 458 with a lot of European calibers. Any suggestions on how to go about doing this? Also I've accumulated a few hundred rim fire that also are corroded. How should I handle these?

Thanks for any suggestions.
 
I've deprimed hundreds of live cases over the past . Using a standard depriming die in a press just slowly push the primer out. none ever went off...but do it slowly.
Wear ear and eye protection and don't lean over the die and keep fingers away from die top just in case one pops. I've even reused the primers. Not as dangerous as it sounds...primers need a sharp blow from the exterior to work (fire) , the decapping pin from inside presses on the anvil and the anvil legs press on the primer cup, spaced around the cup edge , not on the priming compound. A Lee Universal decapping die would be ideal but I have just used the standard decapping die that came in the set .
I didn't soak the primers in anything, just deprimed them . I reused the primers in plinking loads and they all worked just fine.
Gary
 
gwpercle thanks for the indo I'll give it a try. What the heck the worse that can happen is a little noise and excitement!

Any ideas on how to pull the bullets on rim fire loads? I really don't dare try an inertia puller as the pressure on the rim could (I think) cause them to go off and in an inertia puller than would be dangerous.

Thanks again.
 
Please do not dump live or deactivated primers in the trash and I would not burn them. Several years ago I stupidly torched off a primer in my vice. It is still imbedded in the sheetrock in my garage. Trash goes to a land fill where it is burned. Primers can put out an eye. Pop them off in a gun or reuse them with practice ammo.
 
A lot of testing has been done and nobody that I know of has ever found any product that will kill primers reliably. This compound is in plastic, it resists ordinary solvents.

Throwing them in the trash seems harmless, but a primer going off has a high likelihood of being in contact with paper or possibly volatile gases. I don't think that it is likely, however, that it will ignite whatever it fires into. I believe that it is really improbable.

Otoh, a case of matches accidentally tossed into a compactor set it on fire, I was there, I saw the fire, and could confirm the information.

I agree that they should be carefully, gently pressed out. Use precautions such as glasses, clean desk, no flammable things nearby. It would be great to do it outside. I did a big batch in my shop with my drill press once, didn't want the stink in my home.
 
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