TimRB speaks true. There have been fairly scientific tests on the very subject of killing primers. They were soaked in various liguids (water, gun oil, WD-40, kerosene, Kroil oil, etc.) and tested for effective flash when fired in the normal manner in a firearm. Several brands were tested. If was found that some primers would be deadened a little by some of the liquids, but most would go off and some would go off as if there was nothing on them. It was further found that the primers soaked in the more volatile liquids (e.g., water, kerosene) would go off as usual after the liquid had been allowed to evaporate for a few days. IOW, the effect of the liquid was only temporary.
The compounds used in primers is of a percussive nature. If they are soaked in a liquid, there is not necessarily going to be a chemical change in the compounds. Even if there is, it may not go all the way through the primer pellet. So a percussion will still set it off.
Trying to kill primers is iffy at best and may give you a false sense of security about them.
I guess I don't understand the paranoia about throwing one or two of them in the trash. If there are children around who might rummage in the trash for little shiny objects, you may have a bigger problem than having them find a primer. Even so, if there are small children around, any adult worth being one can find a way to keep unusable primers away from the kids until they are firmly in the trash collector's hands. Once they are at a landfill, if they go off - so what? The "explosion" from them would pale in comparison to the aerosol cans and small propane bottles that go off there on a regular basis.
Also. those who are a bit paranoid about one going off as it is being removed from an empty case have never used one of the old Lee Loaders!
Sure they
might go bang very loudly, but in general it's not all that dangerous as long as the proper safety precautions are taken. Everyone should be wearing safety glasses when reloading anyway, whether removing live primers or not, strictly on a just-in-case basis.
One thing I would caution about is hitting primers with a hammer when the primer is out of a case. 99 times out a hundred, it's going to be relatively safe, but there is a chance that the anvil will not be caught by the hammer and can go flying at a
very high speed. Now, the odds of it hitting anything important are even lower than that 99/100, but don't forget what everyone told Ralphie in "A Christmas Story" - "It'll put your eye out!" Eyes tend to be magnets for flying objects even behind safety glasses.
