oil or water?

Ranger22

Well-Known Member
Following on from another post about how to get rid of unwanted primers, I decided to do a wee experiment. I put 5 primers in tap water and 5 in AC 90 oil. Only for 24 hours. The water killed them, all of them. The oil affected them but they still went phut. So water does kill them, maybe oil would if I left them soaking for longer or a different oil
 
Now leave the ones in water to dry out fully and try again, I suspect they may go bang where as the oil will hang around longer.
 
Now leave the ones in water to dry out fully and try again, I suspect they may go bang where as the oil will hang around longer.

A few years ago, the sons of several pioneer bow hunters went to the cabin in Alaska built by their fathers ( Fred Bear, Earl Hoyt, etc ). One of them found a box of primers which had been set on the porch roof and forgotten. After years of snow, rain, and sun, they still would set off a cartridge.
 
That cabin in Alaska, like a lot of such cabins, was built by hunters and used by many other hunters. You might go to one, use it, and leave some canned food or blankets, shotgun shells, or something for the next hunters who might come there, looking for shelter.

And a lot of bow hunters hunt with firearms, too. When Fred Bear killed his Kodiak bear, he carried a .44 Magnum revolver on his hip for backup.
 
Been and tried again, soaked in oil and water for 30 hours. Put on a shelf to dry, half right way up half upside down. Left for a couple of hours and every primer fired. So water doesn't kill them after all and either does oil.
 
Been and tried again, soaked in oil and water for 30 hours. Put on a shelf to dry, half right way up half upside down. Left for a couple of hours and every primer fired. So water doesn't kill them after all and either does oil.

Bonfire ???



OK, I'll shut up. :rolleyes:
 
I am interested in this thread as I gained hundreds if not thousands of various primers (mainly pistol) when I bought a load of reloading gear off a guy who was leaving the country. I have no need of them and am not sure of their provinance.

After reading the inconclusiveness of the above posts I think I may just dig a hole in the garden and empty them into that, they will be rot away over a few years.
 
George if the pistol primers can be identified and are still in the original packing I am sure that a local gallery rifle shooter will take them off your hands. Primers if stored correctly will last for years.
Rather than bury them if I had more than a few to dispose of I would hand them in at the local police station and they will then dispose of them along with all the other collected ammunition and flares that are regularly handed in for destruction.

The problem here has arisen because the poster of the original thread stored primers loosely in non original packing, which is something not recommended and is usually strongly warned against in all reloading manuals. Primers certainly can be fiddly to handle if you are loading primers one at a time and seating them with the press, that's another reason to purchase something like a Lee auto-prime tool.
 
Last edited:
Know someone who quite often would accidentally throw an odd 22lr bullets on the fire when emptying crud out of his van/game bag/pocket and u just get a phut and a hot brass case spitting out of the fire.
 
Yes and I came close to loosing an eye some years back when a small pistol primer went off. I tell you for certain that a small primer has a fair amount of energy when it explodes and the cup has very sharp jagged edges which easily penetrate the skin to quite a depth and would certainly have no difficulty whatsoever in penetrating an eye ball.
 
Had primers sat in water and oil since 21/5, brought them out today and sat them for a couple of hours to dry. They all fired. Blows the water and oil theory out of the water.
 
Back
Top