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5/26/2010 11:46:41 AM EDT
First, these are unfired primers that I seated in some WCC 223 brass before I realized that they had a crimp.  I got a number in but they went in hard and although it appears that they seated properly, the primers are a bit flat.  I have since brought the Hornaday Primer Pocker Reamer and so the crimp problem is no more.  

My question is the first small batch of primers that went in hard and came out flat, are they OK to fire and more importantly, would this affect accuracy?
5/26/2010 12:02:34 PM EDT
[#1]
You would be better off safety wise to your rifle and yourself to spray some WD40 in the cases and safely deprime them after the WD 40 kills the primer.......LOL
5/26/2010 12:12:19 PM EDT
[#2]
Thanks for the response, so you are saying that they are unsafe?  Not to contest this, but for my own education, I would like to know a bit as to why?
5/26/2010 12:15:15 PM EDT
[#3]
I shoot em up, personally.  I have never had an issue, they all go bang, never once had any doubles.
5/26/2010 12:24:38 PM EDT
[#4]
Yes, I can understand the problem with finding a flat primer after firing the round, but it would seem that a flat primer from seating should still work unless it somehow compromise the primer.  

If the primer does not work, it would be like having a dud which should not be unsafe as the gun would not cycle.  My one concern is that the primer would not work optimally in which case it might give you slight differences in how the round would perform i.e. possible effect on accuracy in a grouping.
5/26/2010 12:24:43 PM EDT
[#5]
Quoted:
I shoot em up, personally.  I have never had an issue, they all go bang, never once had any doubles.


+1.  I've had some what of the same issue and it turned out fine.  As long as they're flush or below you're fine IMO.  But each person has their own comfort level so you decide on yours.
5/26/2010 12:27:56 PM EDT
[#6]
Thanks!  Yes, the primers are seated all the way down and flush.  Their only problem is that they are flat and not convex in shape when viewed from the outside.
5/26/2010 12:42:30 PM EDT
[#7]
Quoted:
Thanks!  Yes, the primers are seated all the way down and flush.  Their only problem is that they are flat and not convex in shape when viewed from the outside.


I would fire them.  JMO.  The worst that could happen is that the primers are compromised and the cartridge won't fire.
5/26/2010 12:45:27 PM EDT
[#8]
If the cases still had the primer crimp, you would not be able to re prime them.
5/26/2010 12:45:50 PM EDT
[#9]
Thanks guys!
5/26/2010 1:51:39 PM EDT
[#10]
Shoot em up.
5/26/2010 9:04:56 PM EDT
[#11]
WD-40 does not kill primers and it will fuck up your cases as far as a powder contaminate.

If you are concerned about the primers just load them w/o powder or bullet into your rifle and shoot them. Then you do not have to worry about one going off on you. Me, I would just stick them in the press and punch them back out. Slow and easy will get them out. Even if one did detonate it would not make a bomb out of the die. You may need a change of britches but that is about all. If you have a weak heart do it the other way.
5/26/2010 10:19:40 PM EDT
[#12]
Quoted:
WD-40 does not kill primers and it will fuck up your cases as far as a powder contaminate.

If you are concerned about the primers just load them w/o powder or bullet into your rifle and shoot them. Then you do not have to worry about one going off on you. Me, I would just stick them in the press and punch them back out. Slow and easy will get them out. Even if one did detonate it would not make a bomb out of the die. You may need a change of britches but that is about all. If you have a weak heart do it the other way.


I've de-primed live primers ALOT and with little to no regard for them going off....never have set one off either.  The first time I was all cautious and leaning away, slowling working the ram....after enough u will learn it takes a good amount of force to set em off.  I de-prime them in the same fashion I do spent primers.....Knocking on wood I have never set off a primer in my Lee Loadmaster!!
5/26/2010 11:39:19 PM EDT
[#13]
I'd shoot them!

I've done this, and had zero issues.
5/27/2010 5:51:53 AM EDT
[#14]
Yes, I think putting anything else foreign into your brass like WD-40 is just asking for more trouble.  Primers are best neutralized by firing, that is what they are made for.
5/27/2010 11:32:56 AM EDT
[#15]

The worst that you could have done was crush the primer causing a misfire.  The primer anvil may be sitting hard against the priming compound - some think it sensitizes the primer, I could never tell a difference.

I never primed through a crimp, but when I started reloading I seated primers with a little more enthusiasm than needed.  This smashes them a little flat, how much depends on how hard you pull the handle on the priming tool.


WD-40 is an unreliable method for killing primers.  If you're worried about these primers, either decap the brass or shoot them without a bullet and powder charge.



5/27/2010 12:20:17 PM EDT
[#16]
Hi AeroE,

Good to hear from you.  When you say a “misfire”, I gather that means the round will not fire which would be OK.

Yea, I primed through the crimp purely because of my inexperience.  I was under the wrong impression that only military related brass like LC would be crimped and that WCC brass which is commercial in nature would not be.  Not being able to recognize a crimp also did not help.  

I did a few thinking that it was just brass that was off spec , but having done three and seeing that they were all hard loading, I checked again using a magnifying class and realized that I was trying to prime a previously crimped brass.  I actually think that these were not crimped very strongly as I did not have to do anything heroic with the priming handle, just a little harder than normal – Of course, my wife would tell you that” you do not know your own strength” – LOL!

Definitely no WD-40….

On the different topic, I am getting ready to test a wider range of Varget powder weight (as per your suggestion) with my Nosler 77 grain CC plus the crimp vs. no crimp we talked about a month ago.  Also managed to get some 52 grain SMK and RL-15 and so will be testing that magical combination sometime in the future.
5/27/2010 7:59:50 PM EDT
[#17]
I would deprime the cases and start over by removing the crimp.

Wear safety glasses when you do this.
5/27/2010 11:13:01 PM EDT
[#18]
Did the same thing you did a while back. I didn't feel comfortable with them either, so I just chambered them in the rifle and fired off the primers. Then de-capped the cases. Even though the primers were all smashed up, they all still functioned.
5/29/2010 12:40:41 PM EDT
[#19]
Quoted:
If the cases still had the primer crimp, you would not be able to re prime them.


Not true.  I cut the crimp out with a deburing tool and have some that I didn't cut enough crimp to seat the primer correctly, causing what the OP describes.  I just fire them if I can get the primer seated below flush.  if not, they get deprimed and more crimp is cut out so the primer will seat without excessive force.

I've seated primers sideways before so depending on the amount of crimp, it can be totally possible to seat a primer with the crimp still there.
5/29/2010 3:31:50 PM EDT
[#20]
Thanks for all the input.  All the brass with flat primers have the them seated flushed and so I am pretty comfortable firing them, especially now with so much retrospective data.  Will shoot them next week and give you some feedback afterwards.

Thanks guys!
6/5/2010 1:01:24 PM EDT
[#21]
BTW, just to close the book on this, I went out and shot all these cartigrages with the flat primers and they all fired without any problem.  Thanks again for all the help.
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