Rebuilding Spent Primers

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Pathfinder45

New member
So, who among us are rebuilding their spent primers now?
My younger brother did it successfully nearly 50 years ago as an experiment using strike-anywhere-match tips for his 6.5 Remington Magnum.....
Maybe your spent primers have more value than you thought?
Right now, I'm not certain I could buy a primer even if it would save my soul....
 
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Shadow9mm

New member
Watched some videos on it. Tedious work from what I have seen. Most of the compounds I have seen to re-prime are corrosive... I have enough to last a bit.
 
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Unclenick

Staff
Strike-anywhere matchheads are corrosive, too. Judging by the scent of the smoke, they use the same compound as cap gun caps, and every cap gun I had as a kid would corrode, eventually. The same stuff was in percussion caps I bought long ago, but BP cap-and-ball guns always get a good cleaning. My cap guns didn't.
 
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IMtheNRA

New member
Pathfinder, primers are available almost daily at MidwayUSA, you just have to keep checking. Still expensive, but at least you can get them nowadays.

I think it would be a fun project to rebuild a primer with those white match tips. If you try it, please post some photos and let us know how well it ignited the powder charge and whether your firing pin had any trouble activating the makeshift primer.
 
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Pathfinder45

New member
I'm OK on primers for the moment. But the recurring shortages are thought-provoking...
How many of us are shooting a lot less because of it?
 
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P Flados

New member
I got started after being prompted by the sparkplugs thread at castboolits.

The aspects that got me going were that this EPH 25 approach works pretty good, is non-corrosive, and is pretty safe. No explosion risk, but handling lead based chemicals does require appropriate care.

I only started down the primer reloading path last December, but I have loaded several K or so.

I posted my basic steps for processing primers (not including making the EPH25 powder) at https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?437558-Primer-Reloading-Pics-and-Tips

If you are even thinking about it, start saving primers sorted by type and brand and save the sleeves. It will really help.

It is cheap on a per primer basis but it takes a decent investment if you want your own wet lab equipment.

My focus has been on loading bulk "range / target" ammo where I can tolerate some less than perfect results. I expect that over time that I will figure out the key elements needed for near 100% bang on first strike.
 
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thump_rrr

New member
P Flados said:
I got started after being prompted by the sparkplugs thread at castboolits.

The aspects that got me going were that this EPH 25 approach works pretty good, is non-corrosive, and is pretty safe. No explosion risk, but handling lead based chemicals does require appropriate care.

I only started down the primer reloading path last December, but I have loaded several K or so.

I posted my basic steps for processing primers (not including making the EPH25 powder) at https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?437558-Primer-Reloading-Pics-and-Tips

If you are even thinking about it, start saving primers sorted by type and brand and save the sleeves. It will really help.

It is cheap on a per primer basis but it takes a decent investment if you want your own wet lab equipment.

My focus has been on loading bulk "range / target" ammo where I can tolerate some less than perfect results. I expect that over time that I will figure out the key elements needed for near 100% bang on first strike.
Click to expand...
I am curious as to how much time is required to remanufacture 100 primers?
 
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Unclenick

Staff
It's also corrosive chlorate priming. So if you live where the relative humidity is greater than about 30-40%, you'll want to follow the old rule of thumb to clean the gun immediately after shooting them and then clean it again the next day. Water-based bore cleaners that scrub powder and carbon out of the way, like Bore Tech C4, would be a good idea. Carbon can cover over some of the potassium chloride combustion product that initiates rust. Pouring boiling water through the chamber and bore is another way to eliminate it.
 
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74camaroman

New member
I have taken apart about 5000 small primers and cleaned the cups and anvils, also about 500 large rifle primers and 500 large pistol primers and made a kit so just in case our government keeps us from buying components in the future, after I am gone. I enclosed instructions and everything that my sons might need in case there are no primers to be had. Might happen some 30 years in the future but could happen. Encluded powder kits with instructions for the primer assembly. Never know what our government might do to keep guns out of the hands of the People.
 
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Unclenick

Staff
If you have a primer pocket swager, you should find the small primer swaging tip is about perfect for most large primer cups. For the small primers, though, you are going to want to make your own. You can chuck a length of 3/16" drill rod in your drill and play a fine too mill file over the end until you about an eighth of an inch of it down to 0.014", then round off the corners and there's your punch. You may want to harden it so it lasts through the punching operations. After heating and quenching, draw it back at about 800°F to give it hammer face hardness.
 
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