Dumb Primer Question

[whtsmoke]

Oh there's no such thing as a dumb question, well wait till you hear this one. Now mind you I have been reloading ammo of all kinds since around 1968 and have never given this any thought in the past but it came to my mind while I was working in my cave. I have been taking loaded rounds apart that I got from a wife of a friend of mine that had past away and he was a novice reloader of about a year so the loaded rounds had to be broken down. So here is the big dumb question if you decap the cases and do it with extra light pressure to push them out could they be reused to load other rounds? I think because of the primer shortage it entered my mind.

[Muddydogs]

Sure can. If I know what the primer is I'll reload it in any appropriate round. If I don't know for sure what the primer is like CCI or CCI mag then I will use the primer in lighter plinking rounds.

[wolfwing]

I don't like doing it because of the possibility of a BANG, but yes I have done it and it can be done.

[Moleman-]

Been depriming live primers on damaged cases since the 80's and reusing them. I've had 1 federal large rifle primer go off when pushing it out. Didn't do any damage to anything, but was louder than I'd of thought. Although I haven't noticed a difference in performance they do get marked with a sharpie and used for plinking or sighting in.

[fredj338]

Generally yes. Sometimes the primer anvil will be damaged & the primer wont fire but pretty rare.

[Texas by God]

I'm not a penny pincher, but primers are worth reusing. Like said above, decap them carefully and if the brand is known, great. If not, use for plinking and target practice loads. I just pulled down some .35 Remington factory ammo last week- and the primers went directly to my 30-30 cast bullet reloads. Ive never had one go off in the process, and I've never had one misfire in its new home.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[atr]

yes I have done it with LRP and SPP and never had a mis-fire (CCI brand). BUT I would not use them if my life depended on it. So I just use them for practice loads.
Don't handle them too much and make sure when you do that your hands/fingers are free of oil etc.
atr

[rancher1913]

why not just reuse the primed cases, they were not fired so no need to resize.

[mdi]

Can't say I've ever had a dud with re-use of a primer (but I don't make mistakes so I don't have to pull any of my handloads.;)). Most of the primers I poked out and re seated were name brands, CCI, Fed. Winchester, and a very few Wolf large pistol primers, all fired. As long as you don't slam the case up into your sizing/decapping die you'll be safe...

[farmbif]

like rancher1913 said. if ammo your breaking down is a caliber that you use.
I remember first time I was recapping live primers, put on safety glass, long sleeves, clean all and any powder or other primers from reloading area and go at it easy. using a decaping die rather than resizing die it is much easier to feel resistance and pressure needed, the effort is minimized.

[Taterhead]

why not just reuse the primed cases, they were not fired so no need to resize.

This is is ideal. However, I recommend removing the de-cap assembly and then resizing the case, then proceding with the subsequent reloading steps. The process of expanding, seating, crimping and pulling bullets will leave a neck with less neck tension. That should be reset back to square one.

[whtsmoke]

thanks guys, i would just reload the cases but i don't shoot a 30 30 , figured i would use them in my 6.5 Grendel for coyotes, they are winchester primers. I wouldnt normally do it but with the shortage you resort to many things.

[The Dar]

I collect brass from the range I shoot at. I find a lot of loaded rounds. I wait till I get a couple hundred, pull the bullets (for casting), dump the powder and decap with a universal depriming die. I use the small pistol primers in 357 mag with a lighter load than I normally use of BE86. I use them for informal target plinking only. Haven't had a problem yet.

[44Blam]

thanks guys, i would just reload the cases but i don't shoot a 30 30 , figured i would use them in my 6.5 Grendel for coyotes, they are winchester primers. I wouldnt normally do it but with the shortage you resort to many things.

Having a bunch of primed 30-30 brass sounds like a good excuse to buy a 30-30 lever gun...

[gwpercle]

You certainly can reuse those decapped primers .
If they don't go bang going in or coming out the first time ... and usually they don't , they will usually work the second time around . I've re-used hundreds of them . I'm know as frugal and don't throw primers away , even in times of plenty ... I never had any problems with them .
Just go slow when de priming , wear eye and ear protection just in case and they will come out easily .
Gary

[TyGuy]

I recently did this very thing with a box of 32S&W Longs that I was given. Known reloads with all data included. The primers and powder went under some cast Makarovs and the bullets and brass were just mailed to a member of another forum. No sense letting anything go to waste these days!

[BamaNapper]

Time for a palm to the forehead. A couple years ago I found almost a thousand rds of 7.62x39 ammo at the range. Nobody claimed it, I don't shoot it, so last fall I gave it to a neighbor with an AK. Those unusable rds now represent almost a brick of primers. Not sure if they were large or small rifle, boxer or berdan. I'm going to assume they would have been useless to me just to feel better about myself. At least during this ammo shortage I know my neighbor has a stash.

[Hanzy4200]

I just started a identical thread a week or so ago. I did, and they worked just fine. Just take your time and empty your primer catch tray often.

[Hanzy4200]

Time for a palm to the forehead. A couple years ago I found almost a thousand rds of 7.62x39 ammo at the range. Nobody claimed it, I don't shoot it, so last fall I gave it to a neighbor with an AK. Those unusable rds now represent almost a brick of primers. Not sure if they were large or small rifle, boxer or berdan. I'm going to assume they would have been useless to me just to feel better about myself. At least during this ammo shortage I know my neighbor has a stash.

Who loses a thousand rounds of ammo? Unless they were high end Hornady or S&B, they were almost surely Berdan primed.

[blackthorn]

Having a bunch of primed 30-30 brass sounds like a good excuse to buy a 30-30 lever gun...

----or a bolt----or a pump----or a T C handgun-----

[whtsmoke]

I had a 30 3o at one time but sold to a young guy who was just starting out and now I am sorry to say I am limited to nothing more than a 243 because of a titanium shoulder, if i screw it up one more time i dont have the use of it. I have cheated a bit with the 6.5 grendel but it has a compensator on it to tame it down a bit.

[wolfwing]

Having a bunch of primed 30-30 brass sounds like a good excuse to buy a 30-30 lever gun...

I was thinking it!! Glad you said it!

[beagle]

Back to the thread. Yes, I've done thousands of recycled primers with no primer popping. In fact, I was in high school when the M60 MG came along. I'd get loads of blanks and it was fairly easy to nip the long blank nose off and decap the case as the originals had unstaked primers. These were reinstalled in .30/06 cases and kept my M1903 fed for a couple of years using a Lyman Ammunition Loader kit and a can of Unique. /beagle

[BamaNapper]

Who loses a thousand rounds of ammo? Unless they were high end Hornady or S&B, they were almost surely Berdan primed.

Our gun club used to be pretty laid back. Members would open the gate and the last person leaving would lock it back up. If it wasn't a busy day anyone could drive in and shoot without being questioned. It's not run that way anymore. Anyway, I was using the pistol range while a guy and his 2 younger sons (10-ish) were at the rifle range with multiple rifles. The gate had been opened by early skeet shooters. The guy eventually left the rifle range and a while later I went over to shoot. There was a full mil surplus ammo can sitting under the bench. I assume the distraction of his sons and them helping him pack up was why the can got left behind. I put the ammo in my truck, shot for a while, then went up to the clubhouse, put a note on the bulletin board, locked the gate and went home. For a year I made sure the note was there but never got a call or email. I also contacted the secretary of the club a couple times and had an email go out with my contact info. I assume the guy who lost the ammo was not a member of the club so he didn't have access to the clubhouse and wasn't on the email list. And it would be more than a little bold to come around saying he wasn't a member but left his ammo can when he was trespassing.

Definitely not top shelf ammo so Berdan probably. Now I wonder why I didn't keep the ammo can.

[kevin c]

At the going rate on Gunbroker of 15¢ or more per cap (plus shipping) I don't blame the OP for asking.

I've done it too, loading them only into plinking rounds, and being gentle on punching them out. This was mainly on damaged cases or on brands of brass I find problematic. So far no mishaps and no failures to fire.

[Chihuahua Floyd]

This is is ideal. However, I recommend removing the de-cap assembly and then resizing the case, then proceding with the subsequent reloading steps. The process of expanding, seating, crimping and pulling bullets will leave a neck with less neck tension. That should be reset back to square one.

Exactly what I do. If planning to reuse case why remove and reinstall primer.