Annealing primed brass???

Originally Posted By: arlaunchI always "de-cap" spent primers as a separate operation with a dedicated de-capping die. (on a separate press) If you accidentally tweak your expander ball pin, accuracy will suffer.

De-priming crimped primers out of 1X fired mil brass will normally lead to broken pins and a tweaked assembly.

Another benefit to the de-capping die is that there is no seal. If you ever have to de-cap a live primer, risk goes way down.

This. ^^^^^^^^^^^^

Decapping dies are dependable, indestructible, and dirt cheap.

*
 
I wish I could find the America's Funniest Video of the two young boys (about 3 and 5 YO), covered in something black, white eyes looking up at the camera pitifully as mother's voice asked, what in the world caused you to do this? The older boy replied hesitantly, "We had a plan", to which the 3 YO quickly said, "It wasn't a very good plan."

That video says it all in this situation.
grin.gif


Regards,
hm
 
Originally Posted By: fw707Originally Posted By: Rock KnockerWhat do you all think about torch annealing LC 223 brass that has already been primed?



I would like to nominate this thread for a Darwin Award.

*

+1
 
I've decapped plenty of live primers and never had one go off,but heating a primed case is a lunatic thing to do.But if you want call us on how it goes.
 
Don't do it... not worth trying to save 3 1/2 cents for a Primer. A friend was telling me I could do it to a bunch of sized and primed cases that I have ready for loading... I politely ignored it, didn't argue, etc. About a week later he calls and said he had a loud bang while annealing and was wondering if his torch had a gas leak and backfired. Upon further inspection he seen a case with a black mark around the Primer; it went off!

BTW, I ve deprimed a lot of live primers myself without a problem, BUT, about 4 months ago I was trying to deprime a case on my bench with a punch/anvil setup that's designed for fired, crimped Primer removal... guess what? A large bang, some soiled underwear and I learned a lesson, the Primer blew a hole in my solid wood benchtop in a nice round pattern about the depth of a Primer. Those things have some serious power.

Again, Don t try the annealing is my advice and if you elect to deprime in your size Die wear eye protection and push the Primer out 'slowly' with your press/die .
 
Originally Posted By: Rock KnockerSounds like I'm the only one here that survived a childhood of smashing primers with a hammer.......

No, I did some of that, also shot my bb gun at steel posts, (ricochet bounced back and hit my glasses), lit a pile of powder off that was in a cool whip container, in my bedroom, um, lets see, that's just the start of the dumb stuff I did when I didn't know any better.

Still do dumb stuff, just not as much as I did back then, and definitely won't be setting primers off with a propane torch.
 
I started out reloading 70 years ago for my first center fire rifle, a model 92 Win. carbine chambered for 38-40. Within a week, I got my first lesson as to the power of a large rifle primer. It seems I missed one case when throwing the charge of #6 pistol powder and when "fired" the lead bullet was driven somewhere close to 4" down the barrel by the primer alone. I had a newfound respect for that tiny component which has lasted a lifetime.

Did it stop me from removing live primers from cases? No, but as the kid in the video said, "I have a plan." Is it a good plan? Well, most of the time.

One thing to take into account is that when a primer explodes, something or somethings gonna move. The explosion will take the path of least resistance.

Contained in a chamber, as with my first experience, the bullet was the only choice.

I've never set off a primer (crimped or otherwise) while pressing one out of a case in a die, but I'm pretty sure that the blast would drive the unsupported primer downward and, depending upon the press design, could endanger lower extremities exiting the press. If this is the plan, I'd look over my press and determine the likely trajectory should a detonated primer result.

I have removed a number of live primers with the old fashioned hammer and punch. Only ever had one crimped small rifle primer detonated, and since I always expect it to detonate, take steps which prevent(ed) any serious consequences.

Using my decapping anvil, wearing safety glasses and a heavy leather work glove to hold decapping punch/case, I tap gently (much lighter taps than used on inert primers) until primer(s) removed. I remove each live primer from the anvil & do not let primers accumulate in the anvil.

The day the SR primer did detonate, I felt nothing through the leather glove, as would be expected. The primer, however, being the lightest unsupported component, was propelled with sufficient force to embed itself flush into the 3/4" plywood bench top,

49880147747_dd7766bc7c_c.jpg


where it still resides as a warning to respect those lowly primers.

Regards,
hm
 
Originally Posted By: CalCoyoteThe only way I would consider it is if I could get my mother-in-law to do the annealing on those brass.

pisser.gif


My MIL's age and health caught up with her shenanigans, but
there was a time my sentiments were the same as yours.
 
Back
Top