Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles What happens if you hit a primer with a hammer?

Just wondering....
Come on, I know some of y'all have tried it.

It will go off and little pieces of metal go everywhere with enough force to stick in things....don't ask!

Not enough information! Weight of hammer, type of hammer, what is the surface of the anvil composed of?
Let's see. Cup has a compound that is sensitive to shock and is hit with a hammer. This ain't rocket science!
My advice is for you to stay away from handloading tools of any kind and sharp objects.

You validate the assumptions of your IQ.

Why don't YOU try it & report back? Enquiring minds would like to know.
Bear in Fairbanks

My then 18 year old stepson had to try it.His Mon wanted to blame me for having something that dangerous in the house,then he fessed up. I knew what he had done....

I used to have great fun putting a large primer in a .22 pellet rifle and shooting it against a stone wall. It would make a very satisfying explosion that delighted my 14 year-old mind enormously.

This is not a suggestion that you should do this. Please be safe with things that can hurt you. I lived through such foolishness with all body parts intact, but you may not.

+100 LOL

If you put a little wire loop over a candle, you can place a primer over a lit primer and get the same result as with the hammer. The upside is you can enjoy the fun at a safe distance.

We were all teenagers once.

Ask Spank....

I stuck a .30-06 military blank into a hole in a fence post. The hole only went part way through the fence post.

I stood about 30 feet away and shot the primer with a pellet gun.

Luckily, I had the foresight to stand behind a nearby 55 gallon steel barrel. The brass case came backwards out of the hole in the fence post fast enough to penetrate one side of the barrel.

Another way to set it one off is the microwave. Was at a friends house when somebody decided to microwave a shotgun round "to see what happened". It took about two seconds before it went BOOM. The pellets(buckshot) were left sitting on the tray in the microwave, and the brass base of the shell punched through the first skin of the microwave, and halfway out the second.

Anybody that's used a Lee Loader a bit knows the answer to this question.....

Gosh damn Men, guess Ill never get the horns, cause I dont fool w/ the bull on this deal.

Gunner

Search for exploding airgun pellets on YouTube

Some of the guys will even show you how to super glue the primers to the peellets.

Neat penetration - might have to watch one of Jeff O's over penetration threads on them some time in the future.

Certainly not going to get all high and mighty, rather I'll say it's loud and [bleep] hits you. If you try it wear a face shield so you don't get it in your eyes.

Did it (shotgun primer) as a kid. Got a pretty good blowback on a 2 lb. sledge and by the grace of God no obvious permanent damage.

Red Neck Firecrackers

Kids in the neighborhood did it on the Fourth of July. They put the primer, open side down, on the sidewalk and struck it with a claw hammer. It went bang. They wore ear muffs and eye goggles.

Safe, but not sane.

Along those same lines......a single grain of stick powder (IMR4350 etc) will pop when whacked with a hammer.


As a kid, I figured that a "dud" black cat firecracker was just a big cap......hit it with a 4 pound sledge to find out and BOOM!!

If you try this (and I KNOW some of you will), be sure you: 1)wear ear plugs and that 2) you are quick enough to avoid the hammer as it is blown back towards your forehead!!!

Why didn't you guys learn to drink beer like normal people?