Scrap shotgun primers

[upnorthwis]

Couple months ago while at the scrap yard I inquired about spent shotgun primers. The person there said they were stainless steel. So today I gathered up about a hundred pounds of them and off to the scrap yard I go. They were a mix of copper washed and plated Fiocchi and if I had to guess the number of them it would be in the tens of thousands. The guy in the weigh building told me I would have to separate them by color. Not going to happen. They have been turned in to road gravel for the driveway. So does anyone get money for their spent shotgun primers? Maybe I should have ask for a second opinion from a different employee.

[Lakehouse2012]

Couple months ago while at the scrap yard I inquired about spent shotgun primers. The person there said they were stainless steel. So today I gathered up about a hundred pounds of them and off to the scrap yard I go. They were a mix of copper washed and plated Fiocchi and if I had to guess the number of them it would be in the tens of thousands. The guy in the weigh building told me I would have to separate them by color. Not going to happen. They have been turned in to road gravel for the driveway. So does anyone get money for their spent shotgun primers? Maybe I should have ask for a second opinion from a different employee.Everyone of those is brass! Those should net you 2 to 2.50 per pound... that is some expensive gravel you laid...

The nickel is a plating on them to look silver, but base metal is brass.

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[dondiego]

A lot of them are brass but I had some Winchester's that stuck to a magnet. The actual primer part is brass for sure.

[rancher1913]

I save them for zombie attacks, plan is to replace lead shot with used primers

[higgins]

Many of them attract a magnet because the battery cup is steel, and the primer cup is brass. Primers in even current AA factory loads have a steel battery cup.

[upnorthwis]

About a year ago, I broke one down to its component parts and they were all magnetic. The best I was hoping for was stainless.

[megasupermagnum]

You will never get brass price, which in reality is closer to $1.25 per pound where I am, from 209 primers. If there is any brass to a 209 primer, it isn't much, as they are strongly magnetic. They also rust. My best guess is they are nickel plated steel. I toss mine in with the plain steel bin. They don't count for much. With steel around $60 a ton, it's just not worth anything. It's probably cheaper than dirt, no kidding.

[jimb16]

I just toss mine into the scrap steel bucket.

[Rcmaveric]

I dump mine in the bottom of the scrap brass bucket and turn it all in together. Gets me a 1.00 a pound.

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[Minerat]

Don't know what they are made of but if you shoot them out of a pea shooter sling shot they whistle.

[ThomR]

There was a thread years ago about making 223 jackets out of them.

[tomme boy]

Pretty sure all shotgun primers are steel now. Here they will reject any brass if they see the shotgun primers. Regular rifle and pistol do go into the brass scrap pile.

[Lakehouse2012]

Guess i should revise my comment from this morning.... i thought it read "primers" somehow i missed the shotgun part..... all my pistol and rifle primers are brass, but shotgun primers must not be. Sorry about that.

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[Drm50]

How many primers in a pound? I never thought about saving shotgun primers for scrap. I have a junk brass can under the bench. I sell junk about twice a year, brass, bronze and copper only. The place I sell mine doest want brass with primers in them. It gives little grandson something to do and he gets the junk money.

[8mmFan]

I save them for zombie attacks, plan is to replace lead shot with used primers

So odd: this came up this evening at a client event. One of the guys mentioned that spent primers would make a great home defense load. He and some of his buds have tried them out in place of shot, and then shot cardboard boxes at about 20 yards. He said that the spent primer loads absolutely shread the boxes. I have a hard time thinking of spent primers as buckshot, as they just don’t seem to have the same mass as lead.

It’s just a funny coincidence that something that I’ve never thought of came up twice tonight—here, and at an event with my clients.

8mmFan

[MrWolf]

I thought they were brass also till I took a few pounds to the scrap yard. They are steel and stuck to the magnet the yard used.

[Burnt Fingers]

So odd: this came up this evening at a client event. One of the guys mentioned that spent primers would make a great home defense load. He and some of his buds have tried them out in place of shot, and then shot cardboard boxes at about 20 yards. He said that the spent primer loads absolutely shread the boxes. I have a hard time thinking of spent primers as buckshot, as they just don’t seem to have the same mass as lead.

It’s just a funny coincidence that something that I’ve never thought of came up twice tonight—here, and at an event with my clients.

8mmFan

There are all kinds of stupid ideas out there. This is one of them. Bird shot is for birds.

[mdi]

I've only been reloading shotshells for a short time, but all the Winchester and CCI 209 primers I have used are steel cups with a large rifle (or maybe a large pistol) primer inserted in the cup. I use a magnet to get used primers out of my press and have yet to find any (even from once fired shells) that would not stick to a magnet.

FWIW; I'm a curious guy and I looked at a spent 209 primer. I punched the primer out of the battery and measured it. Same size as a CCI large pistol primer. I carefully inserted a new primer in the battery cup and primed a shell. Yep it worked fine, did two more and both fired fine. I don't intend to use any "reloaded" primers, I was just curious...

[megasupermagnum]

I've only been reloading shotshells for a short time, but all the Winchester and CCI 209 primers I have used are steel cups with a large rifle (or maybe a large pistol) primer inserted in the cup. I use a nagnet to get used primers out of my press and have yet to find ny (even from once fired shells) that would not stick to a magnet.

FWIW; I'm a curious guy and I looked at a spent 209 primer. I punched the primer out of the battery and measured it. Same size as a CCI large pistol primer. I carefully inserted a new primer in the battery cup and primed a shell. Yep it worked fine, did two more and both fired fine. I don't intend to use any "reloaded" primers, I was just curious...

A 209 primer is not a large pistol/rifle primer in a shell. It is it's own primer. How you got a large pistol primer into a 209 primer, and got it to fire is beyond me. You need a solid surface for the anvil to rest on, something you won't get in a 209 primer.

[mdi]

A 209 primer is not a large pistol/rifle primer in a shell. It is it's own primer. How you got a large pistol primer into a 209 primer, and got it to fire is beyond me. You need a solid surface for the anvil to rest on, something you won't get in a 209 primer.
Have you taken a 209 apart? If so you would see how it's constructed and answer your own question. Try it...

[trapper9260]

There is a anvil in the shotgun primer. I wrote how to reload them, if you like in another post.