I'm sure nobody's done THIS before

ras_oscar · Mar 27, 2015

Doing my first production batch of 45ACP. All is humming along smoothly, auto disk is dropping consistent charges, life is good.

Every once in a while a small pocket case comes along, so I'm de-priming and setting them aside to run a batch of small pocket.

One primer seating didn't feel right. Brass wouldn't come of the shell holder, so I removed the shell holder from the press instead. You guessed it, a small pocket got past me. Tried wiggling the case about in the shell plate, no love. What is the safest way to save the shell plate? At this point I assume the case and primer are both toast. Just don't want to loose my fingers in the deal. Can I safely press a finish nail through the flash hole?

jimbobborg · Mar 27, 2015

Run it through the decapping die again. SLOWLY.

lx1x · Mar 27, 2015

ras_oscar said:
Doing my first production batch of 45ACP. All is humming along smoothly, auto disk is dropping consistent charges, life is good.

Every once in a while a small pocket case comes along, so I'm de-priming and setting them aside to run a batch of small pocket.

One primer seating didn't feel right. Brass wouldn't come of the shell holder, so I removed the shell holder from the press instead. You guessed it, a small pocket got past me. Tried wiggling the case about in the shell plate, no love. What is the safest way to save the shell plate? At this point I assume the case and primer are both toast. Just don't want to loose my fingers in the deal. Can I safely press a finish nail through the flash hole?

Drop some oil first in the hole.. Wait few minutes to soak the primer. then use the decaping pin from the decal/sizer.

ras_oscar · Mar 27, 2015

Is the oil to neutralize the priming compound?

ken792 · Mar 27, 2015

ras_oscar said:
Is the oil to neutralize the priming compound?

Yes

ras_oscar · Mar 27, 2015

Dropped in a drop of mineral oil, waited a few minutes, pressed it back out with the decapping pin in what must be the world's longest press stroke. Plink. took it outside with a pair of pliers and buried it. Chucked the case, took a fresh case, put in a bit of paper towel and ran the decapping pin through it to take off the oil. Thanks for the advice.

j8064 · Mar 27, 2015

Glad you got the deformed primer out.

Sooner or later all reloaders run into situations where live primers need to be decapped from cases. If the primer cannot be reused, about any petroleum based liquid product will neutralize the compounds in the primer.

Sometimes the primer is worth saving. In those situations a slow firm pressure with a decapping die will drop the primer without issues. In 25 years of reloading I have yet to inadvertently set off a primer when decapping a live one. Even if it's set off, what you'll have is a loud bang on the press. That's where the value of ear and eye protection enters into the practice of common sense.

BigDaddy · Mar 27, 2015

j8064 said:
In 25 years of reloading I have yet to inadvertently set off a primer when decapping a live one. Even if it's set off, what you'll have is a loud bang on the press. That's where the value of ear and eye protection enters into the practice of common sense.

I had one go off the very first time I tried it.

It's not that loud but you definitely want eye protection. You only get two and they don't grow back like a starfish leg. When I posted that it was unsafe to do so, someone set me straight.

Since them I had a couple hundred rounds of 22-250 that was too hot in West Texas weather. I deprimed all of them without incident and reused all those primers. Subsequently one or two of those did not go off. That's OK for prairie dogs, but not for self defense or Cape buffalo.

guthook · Mar 27, 2015

j8064 said:
Glad you got the deformed primer out.

Sooner or later all reloaders run into situations where live primers need to be decapped from cases. If the primer cannot be reused, about any petroleum based liquid product will neutralize the compounds in the primer.

Sometimes the primer is worth saving. In those situations a slow firm pressure with a decapping die will drop the primer without issues. In 25 years of reloading I have yet to inadvertently set off a primer when decapping a live one. Even if it's set off, what you'll have is a loud bang on the press. That's where the value of ear and eye protection enters into the practice of common sense.

I'm not quite that lucky.

I tried it once......once. Though I could reclaim that precious $.04 primer.

Live primer. Slow, cautious stroke, BANG!

Had the wherewithal to be wearing eyes, ears and gloves. Saved me from the shrapnel that lodged itself in the drywall above my head and the reloading bench. Wish I had slow-motion video of the event to see how it managed that. Wife thought I fired a gun in the garage. It was LOUD.

Needless to say, I don't do that anymore.

.

j8064 · Mar 27, 2015

guthook said:
I'm not quite that lucky.

I tried it once......once. Though I could reclaim that precious $.04 primer.

Live primer. Slow, cautious stroke, BANG!

Had the wherewithal to be wearing eyes, ears and gloves. Saved me from the shrapnel that lodged itself in the drywall above my head and the reloading bench. Wish I had slow-motion video of the event to see how it managed that. Wife thought I fired a gun in the garage. It was LOUD.

Needless to say, I don't do that anymore.

.

Geez, guthook, I thought you new better than to use a hammer and 10 penny nail!

Seriously tho, I always decap any live primers I deal with on a single stage press. I wrap the ram below the shell holder with a shop towel to catch the primer when it drops. In that config even if the primer detonates it's mostly contained by the shell holder. If it goes off I figure I was going to do that at some point anyway.

Why bother to try to save and reuse primers in the first place? That's a judgement call. Sure, primers are still cheap even at 4 cents. But I remember times when primers couldn't be found anywhere. And if one primer in a batch of a couple hundred rounds makes me open another brick to get only one...that's a pisser. Waste not, want not...

guthook · Mar 27, 2015

j8064 said:
Geez, guthook, I thought you new better than to use a hammer and 10 penny nail!

Seriously tho, I always decap any live primers I deal with on a single stage press. I wrap the ram below the shell holder with a shop towel to catch the primer when it drops. In that config even if the primer detonates it's mostly contained by the shell holder. If it goes off I figure I was going to do that at some point anyway.

Why bother to try to save and reuse primers in the first place? That's a judgement call. Sure, primers are still cheap even at 4 cents. But I remember times when primers couldn't be found anywhere. And if one primer in a batch of a couple hundred rounds makes me open another brick to get only one...that's a pisser. Waste not, want not...

In my defense, it was a 16 penny duplex nail. It's a manly nail that looks like an AR firing pin, therefore, more betterer.

I tried to reclaim it due to my intense OCD. :sad20:

I was doing a run of 600 rounds for use on stripper clips and couldn't stand to see a clip with only 9 rounds on it or only 599 rounds. Perish the thought of me having to use 1 primer from a new box! Lunacy, I say...lunacy! :whack:

Yes....I had to open a new box anyway. This has upset the balance of the world and sent a ripple effect through my reloading room. Nothing will ever be the same. I'll always regret the loss of that one, stinky primer.

.

Sticky · Mar 27, 2015

jimbobborg said:
Run it through the decapping die again. SLOWLY.

This has worked for me in the past, though... I have only LPP 45 brass.. for a reason! LOL

Melnic · Mar 27, 2015

I drop water into the shell, then pry out from the bottom with an xacto blade that had the tip broken off. This is when the shell does not go in because the pocket needed to be swaged. Maybe I should not do it that way but an old timer reloader told me that. I think he said his name was "lefty"

Jmorrismetal · Mar 28, 2015

I used to have that problem but made a solution.

Works like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V7vSEAqkZw

I'm sure nobody's done THIS before

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

ras_oscar

Ultimate Member

jimbobborg

Oddball caliber fan

lx1x

Peanut Gallery

ras_oscar

Ultimate Member

ken792

Ultimate Member

ras_oscar

Ultimate Member

j8064

Garrett Co Hooligan #1

BigDaddy

Ultimate Member

guthook

Grrr.

j8064

Garrett Co Hooligan #1

guthook

Grrr.

Sticky

Beware of Dog

Melnic

Ultimate Member

Jmorrismetal

Active Member

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Latest threads

Forum statistics

Share this page