live primer

[confederatemule]

I have a .30-30 cartridge that looks like someone squeezed it with a pair of pliers. A section, about a half inch long, just below the neck, looks like a cog or gear. I took the bullet out and poured the powder in the yard. The cartridge still has a live primer in it.
What now?
I would lie to make sure there is no possibility of the primer going off, then I would like to deprime the case.

Then I'll throw it in the trash.

How do I safely kill the primer?

Thanks for any help.

Mule

[The Duke]

Spray the inside well with WD-40....wait awhile and go for it...WD will kill the primer compound...

[mikld]

Deprime as usual. I have punched out several "live" primers using standard depriming methods; sizing/decapping die on a single stage press. I'm gentle and do not "slam" the cartridge in the press and have never had a primer fire. Wear safety glasses if you're concerned about the primer going off...

[woolleyworm]

Every primer that I have ever soaked (between 5-10min) in WD40 and tried to fire has been dead.

If it was me, I'd cut the case so that I could chamber it, give it a shot of WD and then try to pop it off in the backyard to ensure that it's dead.

De-priming on the press is ok also, just take it slow and if anything feels "off", stop and take a look. The only primers that I will not under any circumstance attempt to deprime on the press are ones that are sealed.

[Brass Tacks]

Originally Posted by The Duke

Spray the inside well with WD-40....wait awhile and go for it...WD will kill the primer compound...

+1

[confederatemule]

Well I read all of the suggestions. The case has been full of WD-40 for bout an hour. I'll put on safety glasses and remove the primer in a little while.
Thanks, to all, for the ideas.

Mule

[JLA]

I prolly woulda straightened it out with pliers and just shot it..

[confederatemule]

Oh, It looked like a deep straight cut gear, and the end of the bullet had been cut off, with maybe the same pair of pliers.
I filled the case with WD40 and let it set for bout 4 hours and throwed it in the trash. I didn't even take the primer out. I did save what was left of the bullet.

[Country101]

Just out of curiosity, what kind of force does a primer have if you are depriming? I'll show my ignorance of reloading dies, but does the die plug the end of the cartridge? If not, other than a pop that may scare you, it shouldnt have enough pressure to do anything, right?

[confederatemule]

In theory, you are correct, I think.

Mule

[JLA]

I have decapped hundreds of live primers. Never had one pop.

[The_Rifleman]

Originally Posted by JLA

I have decapped hundreds of live primers. Never had one pop.

Me too. The last 30 or so cartridges I've loaded were loaded using primers I pulled from other cartridges. Waste not whatnot!

[confederatemule]

I was going to have to take it out with a long punch and a hammer, so I felt better killing it first. But, after it's death I decided to simply throw the whole thing away.

[woolleyworm]

Originally Posted by Country101

Just out of curiosity, what kind of force does a primer have if you are depriming? I'll show my ignorance of reloading dies, but does the die plug the end of the cartridge? If not, other than a pop that may scare you, it shouldnt have enough pressure to do anything, right?

While I don't know a quantative answer to your question, I do know that a primer going off is quite enough to do severe damage. The sizing die does form a sealed cylinder and the pressure from the primer going off will force the primer out and into the spent primer chute or spent primer catch. There are plenty of documented cases of "ooops" with primers. The explosive charge of a primer is nothing to take lightly. Here's a cross section of a decapping/sizing die.

[confederatemule]

BTW....Thanks for all of the input into this subject.

Mule

[Country101]

Thanks for that picture WW. Yeah, that would cause the pressure to go up quite a bit.

[The_Rifleman]

I was going to post this test in another thread and remembered that I wanted to post it here also.

The Box O' Truth #39 - Oil Vs. Primers - Page 1

Conclusion:"There is no question that penetrating oil, (WD-40,) will "kill" a primer, if sprayed into the open end of the primer."

[Alpo]

I'm glad someone else knows that. I really got tired of telling people, 'cause no one believed me. They'd rather believe that old wive's tale.

But as for the original question. Do you happen to have a 30/30? If so, I'd have just used pliers to squeeze the case mouth round enough that it would chamber (ain't no way any damage on a brass case, no matter how bad it is, will hurt a steel rifle chamber), and just popped the primer in the gun.

[Crawdaddy]

I know this much, I'm gonna put Hoppes #9 on a whole box of my buddy's ammo that I know he won't use til next hunting season. Green brass, can't wait to see the look on his face.

[Little Rooster]

Rifleman thanks for the link, I had read that a year or so ago and it was worth reading again.

I usually like Alpo suggested just fire off any I can chamber. I have also punched them out also on the press.

[confederatemule]

Rifleman, the link was well worth reading, thanks for posting.

Next time I will simply fire the empty brass with live primer in a gun, it I have one. Or just punch it out.

[cpttango30]

Originally Posted by The_Rifleman

Me too. The last 30 or so cartridges I've loaded were loaded using primers I pulled from other cartridges. Waste not whatnot!

Now that I would never do. Every time I deprimed a live primer it cracked the priming compound. Me I prefer to pop them off then just pop them out int he normal way.