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- All Reviews -
How To Safely Remove A Live Primer
From A Brass
Casing
|
Reloading Instruction & Reviews Reloading, Precision Shooting, and Components |
Firing A Primed 9mm Case With No Bullet
There are two suggested methods for safely removing a live
primer from a case. The first it to use your reloading press and
simply "de-prime" the case using your reloading press and die.
If you do this be, sure to wear eye protection and do it slowly
using great care as you don't want the primer to go off with a
sudden impact. Another method is simply to load it into your gun
and shoot it. Out of curiosity I decided to try it both ways.
Removing a live primer in a case with a reloading press
I have
read about people removing primers using their reloading presses
and the primer goes off with a bang. Most times it doesn't. I
tried it with several disassembled factory rounds of 9mm Luger.
I placed the empty case with primer into the reloading press die
and while wearing eye protection, gloves and long clothing
slowly and cautiously moved the press arm (while standing as far
back as possible) to de-prime the case. The primer came out
nicely. I tried a few more with no problems. I believe the key
here is to move the arm of the press slowly with even pressure
as not to cause an impact on the live primer. I could now reuse
the primers or discard them in the trash after soaking them for
a few days in oil or WD40 to supposedly make them safe.
 |
| Removing a live primer from a brass
case has it's risks but can be done safely. |
Firing a Primed 9mm
Case with No Bullet?
Is it safe to fire a 9mm case with a live primer but no powder
or bullet in your Glock 19?
When you reload you are bound to end up
with some bad rounds that you want to take apart with a bullet
puller. When you do you are left with a live primer in a case.
Now what do you do with that? How do you safely remove and
dispose of the primer?
Removing a live primer from a case by firing it in a gun
"Just
put in your gun and fire it. It's the easiest way to make it
safe". That's what some people say for safely disposing of a
live primer in a shell that has no bullet or powder. This got me
curious, so I made up three "rounds" of 9mm cases with primers
(no bullet or gun powder) and took them to the range to shoot.
When I got there I showed them to the
rangemaster and asked him
if it was permitted to fire these at the range and if it was
safe to do so. He indicated that it would be safe and it was
permitted as long as I followed all of the range rules just as
if I was firing live ammunition.
I loaded
the first one into my Glock 19. I had to load it through the top
of the gun with the slide back as of course it would not load
properly using the magazine.
I extended my arms and fired my gun. With my hearing
protection all I could hear was a tiny "pop" as the gun
discharged. My friend standing next to me said he saw a small
spark and a little bit of smoke come from the muzzle of the gun.
It was no big deal at all and less than I expected.
I tried
to load the next primer and case into my Glock but I noticed
that the slide would not pull back. I tried four times to pull
the slide back but it was stuck. Somehow firing the dummy round
off in my gun caused the slide to stick. I had to field strip it
to remove the spent case. Even after the gun was apart it took
quite a bit of force to dislodge the case and barrel from the
housing. Apparently the discharge from the primer tried to push
the slide backward but did not have enough force so instead it
just expanded enough to get stuck. Later examination of the case
showed that the primer moved slightly within the primer pocket
and now protruded slightly from the case bottom. I was pretty
sure it did not start out that way. Needless to say I did not
fire the next two dummy rounds in this fashion.
The
Safest Way To Remove A Live Primer From A "Bullet" (Empty
Case/Cartridge)
The
safest way to remove a live primer from a case would be to first
soak the primer in penetrating oil/WD40 for a few days then
de-prime it using your reloading press while wearing protective
clothing (face shield/eye protection, gloves and heavy
clothing). Stand as far back as possible while de-priming the
case and keep your head as far away from the case as you can. If
you are super cautious you can hold some kind of shield in front
of you while you move the reloading press arm. While this method
may be considered too cautious, most reloaders simply remove the
liver primer from the case using their reloading press while
wearing eye protection.
Feedback Messages
February 2, 2012
You NEVER hand feed a round/case into a chamber from the ejector
port. The reason you had trouble is because when you did that,
your Glock was not in full battery because the case rim was
between the extractor claw and chamber, not behind the extractor
claw as it is when fed properly through the magazine. I reload
and when the odd primed case needs to be de-primed, I load the
round or rounds into the magazines of my Sigs - P220 for .45 ACP
and P226 for 9mm - load and fire them and hand cycle until the
primers are all fired so I can safely de-prime them in my press.
Steve