Maybe everyone new to reloading should do this

JockStalk

Well-Known Member
I had a factory round fail to go bang. Pulled the bullet, emptied the case and had the primed case (with a nice firing pin strike dent in it) lying around for a wee while. I had tried to fire the primer in the empty case in my rifle a couple of times but no go.

So I deprimed and sized my old brass last night and, oh so gently popped the unfired primer out of the case.

Retrieved the primer, placed it on the garage floor, safety specs on, and whacked it with a hammer.

It did indeed go bang.

Taught me a bit more respect for primers!

(PS ear defenders would also have been a good idea)
 
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Very good point of safety, if a primer does not go bang it should always be treated as LIVE as it will go BANG when you hit it with enough force

Ray
 
Another point to remember with primers is that they are made in two parts. The outer cup and the inner anvil. If you were to lay one on a bench, open end up, and play a gas torch over it, it would ignite with quite a pop after a few seconds - the cup would stay where it is, but the tiny anvil would be ejected, easily fast enough to penetrate the skin or take an eye out.
 
I learnt to treat primers with respect many years ago. I must have been about 15 when I decided to find out what made a shotgun cartridge tick. After taking the shot out and 'genie-ing' the powder I set up the shotgun case and primer on a piece of string to hang over a birthday cake candle stuck to my mother's stainless steel draining board next to the sink. I lit the candle and stood back. The resulting detonation shattered the candle and punched a 5mm deep dent into the draining board. My mother was not amused:)
 
I set one off as a kid trying to punch it out with a nail
ears rang for quite a bit!


interestingly I have experienced firing primed cases with no powder
the bullet did not even move
 
Primers carry an extraordinary amount of energy for such a tiny amount of priming compound. Combined with the fact that they are an impact detonated explosive I definitely give them a lot of respect!
 
A friend of mine recently dropped a bollock on one of his home loads and seated a bullet on an uncharged but primed 308 case.
There was enough power in the primer to send the 150grn bullet half way up the barrel where it lodged. This resulted in a seemingly fired and ejected case. Fortunately he realised his mistake without chambering another round :scared:

ATB Lee
 
Like, Duh. What did you think might happen when you hit the primer with the hammer???:lol:
Remember, the "HAZMAT" fee for UPS here in the US began in the early eighties after one of their drivers tossed a case of rifle primers onto the steel deck of the delivery truck. All they found was a boot next to the bare chassis. I was recently on another shooting site and one of their top guys showed a picture of his reloading bench and his vast primer supplies. On the shelf above the bench were teetering stacks of 1000 lot primer boxes. I asked if he really kept his primers in such a dangerous manner and got no response. All mine at kept in steel, 50 BMG water proof ammo cans marked "DANGER! PRIMERS! DO NOT DROP!" on each can They are nothing to trifle with.~Muir
 
A friend of mine recently dropped a bollock on one of his home loads and seated a bullet on an uncharged but primed 308 case.
There was enough power in the primer to send the 150grn bullet half way up the barrel where it lodged. This resulted in a seemingly fired and ejected case. Fortunately he realised his mistake without chambering another round :scared:

ATB Lee


interesting
I have now done this on .222 and .270 (two dropped ********!)
neither one budged (.222 is using magnum primers too)

wonder what the neck tension on your "friend's" :)D) ammo is like ?
must be weaker than mine by some margin
 
Retrieved the primer, placed it on the garage floor, safety specs on, and whacked it with a hammer.

It did indeed go bang.

Taught me a bit more respect for primers!

(PS ear defenders would also have been a good idea)

My father did exactly this about 30 years ago and where he had his left hand on the floor to steady himself, a piece of the primer case embedded in the bone of his index finger. Lesson learnt for me.
 
interesting
I have now done this on .222 and .270 (two dropped ********!)
neither one budged (.222 is using magnum primers too)

wonder what the neck tension on your "friend's" :)D) ammo is like ?
must be weaker than mine by some margin

I also wonder about how lose that bore is! To send a bullet half way down the bore there cannot be much interference fit tween bullet and bore.
 
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