About 8 years ago, I stopped throwing away spent primers.....

[Harry O]

Just after BHO was elected. I had a 6" x 6" x 4" deep heavy duty cardboard box that I started dumping spent primers into. Was looking at it last night. It was filled to 2-1/2" deep. I don't know how many primers there is in 6" x 6" x 2-1/2", but it looks like a lot. I am glad my wife doesn't know about it. I guess I don't need to keep saving them, but it is a habit now.

[Eddie Southgate]

Just after BHO was elected. I had a 6" x 6" x 4" deep heavy duty cardboard box that I started dumping spent primers into. Was looking at it last night. It was filled to 2-1/2" deep. I don't know how many primers there is in 6" x 6" x 2-1/2", but it looks like a lot. I am glad my wife doesn't know about it. I guess I don't need to keep saving them, but it is a habit now.


It's scrap brass.Keep saving it and sell it when the box is full and use the money for more primers.

Eddie

[Scharfschuetze]

Interesting. When I was teaching my son to reload years ago, he wanted to save the spent primers. I have no idea why, but I went along with it. That was probably 20 years ago and for no particular reason, I've continued on with the practice. I now have four Folger's 8 Oz instant coffee containers full and I'm working on a fifth. Believe me, an 8 Oz jar full of spent primers weighs a good deal more than 8 Ounces. I guess that if I had saved shotgun primers, I'd have a couple more jars.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I sold 2 large pretzel jars (about 1 gallon size), both full, about a decade worth of them, swapped as #2 brass to my scrap guy...traded for lead.

[AZBronco]

A bud o mine cut the legs off an old pair of jeans...sewed up the open ends after filling with spent primers. Best shooting rest you can ask for!!!

[Calamity Jake]

I throw spent primers and scrap brass in the same bucket, sell it all to a scrap metal co.
when I get about 100 #.

[NoAngel]

Fill paper sacks and let someone with a cannon fire them.

[Electric88]

I save my spent primers, but I'm also not sure why. I have yet to find a scrapyard near me that will take them.

[Bulldogger]

Someone on here mentioned loading them into shotshells, said they whistle as the fly downrange...

BDGR

[44man]

Waste of time. Few bucks at most.
Like saving slag from a pot. My slag is dust with no lead or tin. I will send all my slag to anyone that thinks they can recover anything, pay postage. Flux it in again? What pixie dust do you use?

[Texas by God]

They would make good "Get out of my garden" fodder for a shotgun. Best, Thomas.

[Digital Dan]

Spent primers are useful if one uses a hydraulic case forming die.

[kmrra]

I keep mine in a quart mason jar

[fecmech]

I save mine and throw into a bucket along with any brass I pick up at the range. About once a year I take it to the local scrap yard and get $20-$25. Easy money!

PS. don't bother with shotshell primers as they are mostly steel.

[Plate plinker]

Yeah I save every thing just toss it all into the empty powder containers. they get heavy. Omni source I think wants us to burn it with a weed burner.

[lightman]

I saved primers back when I was shooting a lot. Then one time the scrap dealer would not buy them so I stopped. I still save old cases and even pick up the old and damaged ones at the range. A 5 gallon bucket will usually buy a box of Lapua brass.

[waltherboy4040]

I do the same thing along with bad brass, I'm hoping to trade it for lead.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

How much do they weigh?

[1Hawkeye]

I just took a powder can full of spent primers and.22 brass weighing 6 pounds to the recycling center when I took in our soda cans. Got 10 bucks for 50 pounds of cans but I got 8 bucks for the primers & brass. It's worth saving them.

[brassrat]

I have, two, screw top, metal, water bottles full. With some line and brass snaps they are my kayak anchors. Cost $4. two anchor costs, IDK maybe $40\+:-)

[BCB]

Don't remember when I started...

Good-luck...BCB

[rosewood]

I never even considered saving them, always tossed in the trash. Now I may start keeping and put in my damaged brass bucket for when I do make that trip to the scrap yard. Now I think about all the primers I tossed, bet it was valued in the double digits for sure.

[1Hawkeye]

That sounds like my dad's boat anchor. A five pound coffee can full of cement with a u bolt for the rope.

[w5pv]

I have mine saved in a qt jar maybe will save them for a later trade.The jar isn't quiet full but is pretty heavy.

[trapper9260]

I save all of my and the 22lr and for when zero was in ,for all that was going on I get into reload them in case it got to that point.But now i just keep them still.if it comes to the point it was before,I know how to do it.

[Walstr]

A bud o mine cut the legs off an old pair of jeans...sewed up the open ends after filling with spent primers. Best shooting rest you can ask for!!!

Maybe, except for the toxic "lead sulfate" dust that leaks out! Pls. don't do that.

P.S. My salvage yard's policy is NOT to accept primers, as their smelter has dealt with live ones enough to be afraid of handling them.

[dondiego]

Maybe, except for the toxic "lead sulfate" dust that leaks out! Pls. don't do that.

P.S. My salvage yard's policy is NOT to accept primers, as their smelter has dealt with live ones enough to be afraid of handling them.

I think that it is "lead styphnate" or "lead acetate" but either way, just bag them in a couple of stiff plastic bags prior to the denim. I can't see how a few live primers in a thousand pound scrap melt could possibly be an issue either. Do they take spent brass? They must have encountered a live round then.

[WHITETAIL]

[smilie=w:+1 on the recycle!
I have no problem with
recycling any of my metal.
I separate it all and they down
at the recycle yard like that.:redneck:

[Bookworm]

I've been dumping the spent primers in a half-gallon milk jug. Just started saving them this past spring. I'll try the scrap yard trade-out when it gets full.

Jug's about 1/3 full.... gotta go shoot more.

[mold maker]

I'm half full on the third 2-liter bottle, because it's tall enough for the hose from my press.
I last sold them to the scrapper for lead in 2006 and got brass price for them.

[whisler]

I save mine and trade them and any scrap brass for lead. Win, win.

[ioon44]

I have always been able to sell my scrap brass and spent primers to local scrapers.

[44man]

Things are tough at our scrap yard. I seen 55 gal drums of WW's but they don't sell to the public anymore. Hard to stop drooling when I leave. They pay 10 cents a pound for them but I can't buy any.

[lightman]

Yeah, the yards around here won't sell to the public either. They won't even let you look around while you are waiting to be unloaded. Several won't buy cartridge brass or spent primers either.

[Lloyd Smale]

I save them and spent and damaged brass and when I get a bucket full the grand kids take it to the recycler.

[Teddy (punchie)]

Waste of time. Few bucks at most.
Like saving slag from a pot. My slag is dust with no lead or tin. I will send all my slag to anyone that thinks they can recover anything, pay postage. Flux it in again? What pixie dust do you use?

I was learning to cast a few years ago and take all of the slag and reheat and your right looks like dusty dirt.

[44man]

Yeah, never see any lead but the confusing stuff is in the pot bottom that won't float. Even a stick won't bring it up. How can it be heavier then lead?

[Teddy (punchie)]

I think you have to not mix the primers, as stated shot shell are not all brass.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Yeah, never see any lead but the confusing stuff is in the pot bottom that won't float. Even a stick won't bring it up. How can it be heavier then lead?
I've wondered that same thing.

[rondog]

My scrap brass bucket sits right under my bench, and the spent primer hose from my Lee Classic Turret press goes right into the bucket. Blows my mind how many jillions of spent primers are in there. And several years ago I threw away a gallon jug full, didn't realize they had scrap value.

[Scharfschuetze]

Can you guys imagine how many tons of lead we've sent downrange? The number of primers in a jar is stagering and the pounds of powder and lead that they represent must be somewhere in the stratosphere.

[Krieger82]

As others have said, i juat mix them in with ruined/unusable brass and scrap it. 25 bucks a bucket locally.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[Bob in St. Louis]

Would it be worthwhile to cut the plastic off shotshells and save the metal, or is that just getting carried away?

[Bookworm]

Would it be worthwhile to cut the plastic off shotshells and save the metal, or is that just getting carried away?

"Dirty" brass is worth less than "clean" brass - but non-ferrous metals are always worth something to the scrappers.

[Plate plinker]

[smilie=w:+1 on the recycle!
I have no problem with
recycling any of my metal.
I separate it all and they down
at the recycle yard like that.:redneck:

Separating is a key to getting a better price, also they like pieces no larger than 3 feet in length.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks Bookworm!

[dondiego]

Would it be worthwhile to cut the plastic off shotshells and save the metal, or is that just getting carried away?

Get a magnet. A lot of that so called shotshell "brass" is steel.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Get a magnet. A lot of that so called shotshell "brass" is steel.
That's what I figured, so they're almost worthless. About as worthwhile as the primers, but now the added labor of cutting off the plastic is added in.
I assumed that all shotshells are steel now-a-days. Correct?

[Grantb]

I save spent primers and .22 shells, and sell them for scrap to help fund the hobby. When I go to the gun range I mine the backstop for lead for casting and sweep up the spent .22 brass for selling.

[skeettx]

Mine go to the dumpster

[dondiego]

That's what I figured, so they're almost worthless. About as worthwhile as the primers, but now the added labor of cutting off the plastic is added in.
I assumed that all shotshells are steel now-a-days. Correct?

Most all I have seen recently were definitely ferrous. These are the stuff on sale.

[copdills]

I have a whole cast iron kettle full of shotgun primers that I use on the back of the board my loader is on , no movement from the loader lol

[Traffer]

It's interesting that I read this post at this time. I have just been working on getting 9mm stuff ready for reloading. (right now I only reload 22rf) I priced out the per round cost earlier today, was rather dismayed by the cost of primers. The cheapest they have them here is 4 cents per. That is more than half the cost of reloading the whole round. No friggin way Hosea. Marshall has been reloading primers for a while now. The process is unfortunately pretty slow. As I had to adapt, engineer, invent or develop the process of reloading rim fire, I am now going to focus on a working out an efficient way to RELOAD PRIMERS. Perhaps someday used primers will be more useful than they are now.

[gwpercle]

And I thought I was a packrat ! You got me beat hands down ....I've never hoarded spent primers!

[psweigle]

I turn mine in for scrap. It buys me more primers.

[Finster101]

Small primers make good .177 pellets. The occasional live one against a hard backstop is fun too.

[flint45]

I give mine to an old hippie down the road he makes brass cast figures and stuff that he sells he likes how small they are they fill real good in a small crucible.

[Plate plinker]

Small primers make good .177 pellets. The occasional live one against a hard backstop is fun too.

You don't say..... Chinese side cocker might get a try.

Sparrows be ware.

[RogerDat]

Coffee can sits by the bench. Damaged brass (mouth crushed w/ pliers) primers, and those annoying .22 brass get tossed in. Also most Berdan primer brass. But I know a guy that reloads that so if there is much of the berdan stuff I set it aside for him.

Scrap yard pays me for it, they pay more than lead per pound so my spent primers and bad brass becomes more lead. What the heck I'm going there anyway.

Shotgun primers and steel case ammo are kept out of the can. I will add that primers have a lead dust in them and can be a major source of lead contamination so a little care should be exercised to not let grand kids play in them etc.

[DanishM1Garand]

"Dirty" brass is worth less than "clean" brass - but non-ferrous metals are always worth something to the scrappers.
Shotshells are steel.

[fatelk]

I give mine to an old hippie down the road he makes brass cast figures and stuff that he sells he likes how small they are they fill real good in a small crucible.

I've wondered about melting them down too, but have been concerned about the small amount of lead residue in them. I would think that a person would have to be real careful to stay out of that vapor.

[Bookworm]

I've wondered about melting them down too, but have been concerned about the small amount of lead residue in them. I would think that a person would have to be real careful to stay out of that vapor.

If he's an old hippie, his brain is likely already fried from other types of vapors.....

[Pb Burner]

I'm not sure why, but I just started putting spent primers in an old peanut butter jar. I've always saved spent brass when it's beyond use, in coffee cans. I've got a "few" cans full of old brass.
I've only checked two of the local scrap yards a few years back and one said he wouldn't take spent firearms brass. He said his buyer wouldn't take it.
Another scrap yard owner said he would take it.
I'm still saving it, it doesn't take up much room in the garage.

[bobthenailer]

Ive been saving my spent primers longer than that, mixed a 2.5 gal bucket of primers mixed with a lot of scrap brass casings, currently have a 1 gallon jug about 3/4 full of spent primers and a 2.5 gallon bucket of scrap brass casings.

Keep up the good work !

[Traffer]

Don't run into many primers more than 3 feet in length. ;-)

Separating is a key to getting a better price, also they like pieces no larger than 3 feet in length.

[FatherAbraham]

Got mine saved, if times get tough I'll load them in shot shells. If things get that bad I won't care about ballistics

[flint45]

The old hippie I give em to has been" around the block "about million times he could eat lead on his post tosties in the morning and c**p flowers the next day. he's pickled.