I've saved primers for years now - just routine to put them in a tub under my bench. ( see attached )
Have been considering what to do with them for a long time now.
It is possible to retool primers for re-use - remove the anvil, reshape the cup, put in a cap gun paper charge cut to size or two, replace the anvil - but I don't plan on doing that sort of thing ANY time soon.
A safety consideration is that primers are your largest single source in reloading of truly dangerous lead contamination - so there's that.
Then you have the mix of alloys - some brass - some chromed - different materials for the anvil itself - and different charge formulas - so to melt them down and cast the material into something else isn't a good idea, really.
I tried a time or two using spent primers as part of a dry tumble mix, but that never worked out well.
Is anyone out there doing anything useful with spent primers?
Have been considering what to do with them for a long time now.
It is possible to retool primers for re-use - remove the anvil, reshape the cup, put in a cap gun paper charge cut to size or two, replace the anvil - but I don't plan on doing that sort of thing ANY time soon.
A safety consideration is that primers are your largest single source in reloading of truly dangerous lead contamination - so there's that.
Then you have the mix of alloys - some brass - some chromed - different materials for the anvil itself - and different charge formulas - so to melt them down and cast the material into something else isn't a good idea, really.
I tried a time or two using spent primers as part of a dry tumble mix, but that never worked out well.
Is anyone out there doing anything useful with spent primers?