I sold my 257 Roberts and found 50 cartridges that I loaded with 100G TSXs. I'm going to pull the Bullets to use in my .25-06, and plan to dump the powder, how do I deprime the "live" primers? Seems it would be dangerous to decap live primers. TIA.

It's never been a problem for me to de-prime as per usual.

A few drops of liquid in the case will disable them I was told. I've done that, and I've also just done it slowly with my face away from the top of the press. Never had one go off that way, but I have had one go off when seating them and that will get your attention.

Never had a problem removing live primers.

Just decap as usual no problem here maybe just wear safety glasses.

Yep, have decapped probably hundreds. Some even say they can be used again. I wouldn't trust it for hunting loads, and never have tried it for target loads.

you're concerned and you're talking 50 primers...

did you consider just writing off the $2 worth of primers and/or just sell the brass or give it away.. and leave the primers in there?

If your worried about your face over $2 worth of primers.. just skip depriming the brass period...its not worth the scare...

on the other hand, I've never had a primer go off while depriming it...wear safety glasses and stand back, but never was an issue...

Just deprime as usual. I've done hundreds and never had one go off. Safety glasses are not a bad idea any time you're handling primers.

Or, chamber them in the 25-06 and pop the primers off with that. Won't hurt the brass at all, and then there is no question about safely depriming them.

I just deprimed a piece of brass yesterday that got the primer in upside down. It went bang!

did you change shorts?

I put a heavy glove on and safety glasses, but I've never had a primer go off and I've taken hundreds of other people's handloads apart.

Thats one I would have disarmed/soaked in water........

although I have deprimed many many live primers in normal fashion...

safety glasses for sure...no open powder bottles on bench.......

I've deprimed thousands with no problem--along wit a few that were in upside-down. Just took those REAL slow....

Have also tried using some of the primers in handloads, and all worked fine at the range. But I still wouldn't trust them for something important.

JB, times have never been bad enuff for me, to consider recycling punched primers. Seems I've always been able to afford a sleeve of primers, if'n I needed 'em..

The anvil is pretty tough so it would be hard to deform it with just a decapper. And as long as the priming compound is between the anvil and the cup, it's going to go bang when struck. I guess the main concern is contamination from handling the primer a few extra times. But, that's not much of a risk either, if done correctly.

I have deprimed cases which I thought I had deactivated the primers by soaking with oil only to have experienced a detonation. That said I would never consider trying to deprime live primers, just not worth the risk of injury.

continue to live in your padded little room then......

As an aside, I've heard many people suggest deactivating primers beforehand, usually soaking in oil or water is suggested. I read an article about this very thing recently. The author had tested a number of different methods that supposedly would render the primer inert and for all intents and purposes, none of them did.

Good thing there are alternatives to the 215s listed in the classifieds, or we'd all be recycling.

I'd wear some plugs too, just in case. I had one go off when using an inertia puller and seem to remember it not being all that quiet.

huntsman,

I tried the recycled primers purely in the interests of science, since I normally have over 50,000 new primers on hand.

Perhaps I have too much curiosity or skepticism, since I often run shooting experiments to see if what "everybody knows" is actually true. At least half the time it isn't.

RememberBaker,

The deliberately "contaminated" primers still went bang because almost all primers have been sealed against oil and moisture for quite a while now. The warning that we should always wash our hands to avoid getting the slightest trace of skin-oil or case-lube on primers has been BS for a long time.

But one of the reasons so many things we "know" about handloading aren't true is they were true at one time. It's the same with lots of other stuff. The idea that "searing" meat keeps juices inside started in the 1850's, with a then well-known cooking writer, was proven false long before 1900. Yet we still hear the claim frequently today, even from some people who should know better.

I do it as others say, just deprime as you would anything else, though I do ensure I have the proper PPE.

That thing on your wrist is overkill.

Fire them.

Just throwing in 2 cents more in favor of carefully depriming live primers. Can't say how many I've done but recently sold 195 pieces of 6mm brass of which 96 had already been primed with Federal 210's. Didn't want to do the haz-mat thing so deprimed all of them before shipping. I know I've deprimed a bunch before that as well and never tried to kill the primers first.

IMO the main thing is just don't whack the primer with the decapping pin. Ease the case in until you feel the pin contact the primer and then gently push it out. I have a Lee universal decapper die which gets used for that since you can easily feel the pin contact the primer. Plus it has uses for other chores when I want to decap but not size.

Was tempted to recycle those 96 Federal 210's from the 6mm brass but it didn't seem worth the effort, so I scattered them in a rug I knew someone would be vacuuming soon.....

Well, it still is "true" for those that "know" that it is so, no matter what evidence there might be to the contrary. There are many people who are so gifted as to have understanding beyond reality.

A vacuum won't even set them off. Intentionally tried that once. They just make a click and get sucked up like any other debris.

They do add quite an ambiance if placed under the log rack of a fireplace. Once the coals drop down they start poppin off pretty good.

I appreciate the extra padding around the important parts.

But; WHAT, NO GLOVES?

I thought you was a loony, not a scientist....

I will as I know you will keep the snide remarks coming.

Hmmmm........I sure hope you did not vacuum up any ......say...flour, sawdust, sugar, gunpowder or other flammable dust along with those primers.

The dust containment vessel on our vacuum is about one gallon capacity. It would make for one hell of a bang if a dust explosion were to happen.

POOF!!!

Now I understand the "Steelhead" moniker.

Chances are higher with a spark from a static shock doing the same. Like I said, they don't detonate in a vac.

In my 50+ years of reloading I have never had a live primer detonate when I was depriming. I just went slow.

Nope. I have set them off several times over the years and it isn't a big deal at all as long as no powder is present.

I've deprimed 50 BMG live primers after soaking some in water and some in Kroil for about 3 weeks, none went off during the depriming, so I built a fire in a steel container and tossed them in a few at a time and all but a couple went bang. I suspect the few that did not go bang went flying from the others going bang.
Ronnie

Pure carelessness there altogether inadequate.

Seriously I can't believe some people here even get in their cars to go to work. Amazing.

Funny you would say that. Many, many years ago my loading bench was a piece of 2x12 clamped to a desk in a spare room which was carpeted. My wife had a lost primer go off in the vacuum cleaner. She was NOT impressed.

I've always just decapped them very slowly, with no problem.

I've re-used them also on "plinking" loads, and never had a single misfire.

Ok, I decapped them today without any issues. Thanks for the info guys.

I make a drinking game out of it....

Deprime....no bang?

Everyone takes a shot....in no time who cares if one goes bang

I have been doing this since 1961 and have never had an issue running them through the sizer/depriming die.