I have a chance to buy some unfired brass that was loaded, then had the bullet pulled for inconsistent powder charge. It still has the primer. My guess is that it will need the neck resized, but not sure. My question is if the neck needs resized, what is the procedure without taking out the primer?
Unfired brass.
- Thread starter Huntkook
- Start date
p_ham
Well-known member
Pull the decapping pin out of your sizing die and you're good to go.
Addicting
Well-known member
Just be aware that the old powder can be smashed into the primer. If you switch powder you will have inconsistent velocity.
antelopedundee
Well-known member
You can tap the back of the case with a piece of wood to dislodge anything that might be stuck.
As far as depriming a hot primer is there any precautions that you take and can you reuse those primers?
Safety glasses and ear plugs just in case. I’ve never had one pop on me, and I’ve reused them before. They weren’t as tight going in the second time. Not sure if I’d recommend reusing the primers though.
Wore safety glasses. Tossed the primers. I asked questions before I did it. mtmuley
Addicting
Well-known member
I have had one pop on me. Eye pro and ear plugs.
Tapping with wood won’t get kernels out if you had a compressed load.
Tapping with wood won’t get kernels out if you had a compressed load.
BenInMT
Well-known member
You could shine a light in them and see if there’s any powder stuck in the hole, if not should be good to go. If it were me I’d neck size them without the expander, then I’d run a mandrel through them. Or I guess set the expander so high that it doesn’t touch the primers.
Sheltowee
Well-known member
I’ve heard of some guys submerging the primed brass in water overnight to neutralize the priming compound but I’ve never gone to that extreme. Just don’t ram the press handle down too hard, lest you end up with an unexpected fireworks show.
ImBillT
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I just remove the decapping pin. I’ve removed primers too though. Never had one go off.
antelopedundee
Well-known member
I've done it any number of times. Safety glasses for sure. Get a separate decapping die, they're about $15. Do it slowly. If the anvils don't fall out you can reuse them, esp for fire forming.
FWIW I use a decapping die to de-prime all of my fired cases. If you'd rather resize and de-prime together you can always use a smaller expander ball that won't touch the neck.
Bullshot
Well-known member
Why not just fire form them to your rifle using the already installed primers?
44hunter45
Well-known member
All good posts about primers. I've never had one pop on me. Once they are out you can visually inspect them for old powder kernels. If they are clean, I re-use them. The others go in sleeves of pulled down primers which I use for things that just need to go bang.
BTW - A tip I got from a CCI engineer buddy. If you are worried about de-capping live primers, you can moisten them with distilled water or isopropyl alcohol. Once they thoroughly dry they are just like new. They are made in a wet process, it's just the same. They can even be dried in the oven if they are kept below the flash point temp. Mrs45 draws the line at lead styphnate in her oven.
If you are going to dispose of live primers, drop them into an oil bath to kill them.
I use the RCBS universal decapping dies to de-primer cases. Really handy when you don't want to actually resize cases.
Unless you have a L.C Smith chamber gauge, I would run all that brass through my rifle to see if any resist bolt closure. When I was just starting out I neck sized a 100 new unprimed Winchester .264 Mag brass and loaded them up. About half were hard to close the bolt on. I had to take them all apart with the inertial puller, FL size them (and trim!) and remake them. I never assume a bag of new brass is good-to-go for my rifles.
BTW - A tip I got from a CCI engineer buddy. If you are worried about de-capping live primers, you can moisten them with distilled water or isopropyl alcohol. Once they thoroughly dry they are just like new. They are made in a wet process, it's just the same. They can even be dried in the oven if they are kept below the flash point temp. Mrs45 draws the line at lead styphnate in her oven.
If you are going to dispose of live primers, drop them into an oil bath to kill them.
I use the RCBS universal decapping dies to de-primer cases. Really handy when you don't want to actually resize cases.
Unless you have a L.C Smith chamber gauge, I would run all that brass through my rifle to see if any resist bolt closure. When I was just starting out I neck sized a 100 new unprimed Winchester .264 Mag brass and loaded them up. About half were hard to close the bolt on. I had to take them all apart with the inertial puller, FL size them (and trim!) and remake them. I never assume a bag of new brass is good-to-go for my rifles.
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BenInMT
Well-known member
Let’s back up. Is there really anyone who thinks that one kernel of the wrong powder in the flash hole is going to produce a meaningful or measurable difference considering that it’s unfired brass? I’d just shoot it, chances are that whatever it was loaded with has a similar burn rate and we’re talking about a quantity so small that it won’t register on some scales. Considering the times we’re in I’m not wasting a single primer.
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