Scrap value in spent primers?

[dancingbear41]

Is there any scrap value in spent primers?

It never ceases to amaze me how they pile up over the years and there always seems to be far more than I shoot. I have a very friendly scrap dealer near me who has always happily relieved me of my scrap cartridge cases. Although many of my scrap cases still have the spent primer in situ I have never added spent primers to the batch.

Dipping a magnet into a heap of primers showed there was nothing magnetic in them. Apart from many looking like brass, what are they actually made of?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Simon.

[dragon813gt]

I get brass price for them. I always take them in with scrap oil nozzles so I'm not sure if this is why.

[RayinNH]

They're brass.

[fecmech]

My scrapyard classes them as "yellow brass" and pays $1.70/lb.

[bhn22]

Throw them in your brass bucket, along with the shavings from your case trimmer, and any little scrap you find. It all adds up.

[45bpcr]

You could try selling them on Gunbroker as "once fired primers"
Ya never know who might bite these days.

45bpcr

[bangerjim]

I shoot them in my .17 and .22 air rifles!

The fit perfectly and shoot relatively accurately at normal distances.

At scrap prices (very low, not worth the trouble) they are worth a lot more as ammo in air guns.

If you want some fun, use live primers against a steel plate or brick wall!

banger

[w5pv]

I threw them away for years but now have about 1/2 of a 2 liter bottle filled.May have to use them as once fired primers.There are several post on how to reuse them, from making your own compunds or using caps and/or strike anywhere matches.

[khmer6]

I have hear different stories. Call around. Some will take as dirty brass others will not go near it

[merlin101]

You could try selling them on Gunbroker as "once fired primers45bpcr

LOL! large lot of vintage once fired primers, gently used in hi cap tacticool assault rifle. Starting bid is only____. [smilie=l:

I to save them and just dump them in my junk brass bucket, I also pick up a lot of scrap brass at the range.

[472x1B/A]

I have hear different stories. Call around. Some will take as dirty brass others will not go near it
Each time I take them in I'm asked if there are any live ones in the bunch. I always have to say, "No, they are too expansive to throw away, besides I don't want anybody blowing up." Some people just don't understand.

[GRUMPA]

Strange this came up when I just took 135Lbs to the scrap yard. I got $2Lb and they called it yellow brass.

[Hardcast416taylor]

For many years I had an 5 gal. pail sitting by my loading bench. I would toss bad cases in the pail as well as the knocked out fired primers. When the pail finally was 2" from the top of being full I took it to the salvage yard. I had 57 lbs. of cases and primers in the pail that brought me $2 a lb. which I traded for some plumbers lead. No questions were asked about the primers since the magnet they passed over the dumped out pail failed to pick up anything else metallic. Just throwing spent primers in the trash is like throwing away money, if you are so wealthy you can afford to do that - go ahead!Robert

[Beerd]

Strange this came up when I just took 135Lbs to the scrap yard.

Thats a lot of shootin' :holysheep

[dancingbear41]

Thanks for all the comments. I will add them to my scrap brass and weight them in.

[Down South]

Thats a lot of shootin' :holysheep
GRUMPA does a lot more than just shootin.

[GRUMPA]

Thats a lot of shootin' :holysheep

For the curious: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?117-Grumpa

That's how I got so many of them in a years time.

[Thundermaker]

I had a 5 gallon bucket half full of them. Got $1.46/lb.

[ruizhernandeztrust]

Where I live, not worth the trouble to sell any type of brass. The scrap yard owner only offer $0.40 or less per lb.

[trapper9260]

I reload them when needed

[klausg]

Not sure what brass is bringing around here; I spread mine on the ice. They work just as well as gravel & don't get caught in the soles of your Xtra Tuff's nearly as bad :smile:

[Buzzard II]

Thanks for the info guys, I'll be saving mine for scrap too. Almost no effort to save them in a gallon jug.

[Blacksmith]

I used to save them as scrap now I save them by size in case I ever need to have a stash of re-loadable primers. Once I get a container full of each size I will go back to scrapping. I am also "hoarding" Super Bang cap pistol caps after I proved to myself they will work for re-manufacturing primers. If you don't have a primer all the cases powder and boolits don't do much good. Real primers will work better but for very little cost I can easily increase the potential number of reloads I could make and they can always be scrapped in the future.

[WRideout]

I have been collecting my dead primers with a view to taking them to the scrap yard. One day I realized that every now and then, there would be a live one I had to punch out for various reasons. I tried to separate them, but it was very tedious. Now I collect the stuff I dump out of the primer catcher, and oil them before they go in the scrap, to kill the live primers.
Wayne