Single primer explosion.
- Thread starter Ed Dixon
- Start date
Pretty loud pop.
Can get shrapnel into self.
Possible a bit of burn.
Definately worth wearing safety glasses while messin with em.
When sucked into Oreck vacuum cleaner, fan blows primer, primer knocks high speed fan out of ballance, mini earthquake, Oreck done. Makes wife type nervous too. Both times.
Sam
Can get shrapnel into self.
Possible a bit of burn.
Definately worth wearing safety glasses while messin with em.
When sucked into Oreck vacuum cleaner, fan blows primer, primer knocks high speed fan out of ballance, mini earthquake, Oreck done. Makes wife type nervous too. Both times.
Sam
If you want a good demonstration of what them little things can do, mount a new primer in the brass without any powder or bullet. Put it in a gun and aim at a cardboard box or something similar and fire it (wear earplugs and glasses).
I screwed up reloading .357 cartridges a few years back and made a couple without a powder charge (not paying attention). When fired in a Ruger GP100, the primer had enough energy to push the bullet halfway down a 6" barrel.
I screwed up reloading .357 cartridges a few years back and made a couple without a powder charge (not paying attention). When fired in a Ruger GP100, the primer had enough energy to push the bullet halfway down a 6" barrel.
Jamie Young
New member
They shrapnel and you won't find a single piece of anything if you hit them with a hammer. It'll also potentially blind you.
VERY LOUD TOO !!
P.S. don't ask me any questions on how I know this stuff.
VERY LOUD TOO !!
P.S. don't ask me any questions on how I know this stuff.
They are pretty darn loud as anyone who ever used one of the Lee Loaders found out or will eventually find out. If the primer is seated in a case, the danger is from the large volume of hot gas released, more than you might guess. If the primer goes off unseated, it is far more dangerous. The little anvil goes banging around at several thousand feet per second. "It'll put an eye out." (Or ruin a table top. ) If it is in contact with more primers, odds are very high it will set them off.
) If it is in contact with more primers, odds are very high it will set them off.The hammer scenario actually skipped through my mind, but I see other braver pioneers got there first. Thought I might take some "flack" for even asking, but I guess I wasn't the only curious one. Felt somewhat like a 10 year old jumping off the garage roof to "see if it'll hurt."
Steve Smith
New member
I too whacked a primer with a hammer, just to see what would happen.
jjmorgan64
New member
Well now I've got to
lockandrock
New member
FWIW:
I launched a WLP ( a primed brass no powder/bullet ) out of glock 21. Sounded like a 22 pistol and the muzzle-flash was about 6 to 8" out of the barrel.
Does anybody who have done this have any explanation on why the primers pull alittle bit out of their pockets?
I launched a WLP ( a primed brass no powder/bullet ) out of glock 21. Sounded like a 22 pistol and the muzzle-flash was about 6 to 8" out of the barrel.
Does anybody who have done this have any explanation on why the primers pull alittle bit out of their pockets?
The primer explosion drives the primer back, and the case forward, as not all of the force goes "exactly" through the flash hole. With no powder to drive the case backwards, the primer protrudes a little bit, rather than being forced flush with the case head.
Primer-powered ammo (like X-Ring rubber bullets) often requires drilling out the flash hole to a larger diameter to relieve the pressure. Of course, you shouldn't load the so-modified cases with "real" ammo afterwards. The bullets must muffle the sound a bit, as the resultant "pop" is much less than one would get from a .22, at least in a 9mm with standard small pistol primers.
Uncontrolled, the detonation of a primer could fling bits of metal about enough to damage one's eyes or, depending on proximity, embed metal into your hand deeply enough that a doctor might be needed to dig it out.
Chris McDermott
New member
lockandrock - primers generate enough gas volume that it can't get through the flash hole fast enough and the pressure causes the primer to back out of the pocket as far as it can. Then the main powder charge builds pressure, pushing the case back and reseating the primer.
Jamie Young
New member
It kind of reminds me of that Bugs Bunny cartoon with the Gremlin and the bomb.
lockandrock - The primer backing out is simply due to the high pressure it creates on detonation. The gases can't all get through the small flash hole all at once so it pushes the primer back. Believe it or not, that happens almost everytime you fire a gun. The primer pushes back a little out of the pocket and then the case pushes it back in when the pressure has decreased enough for the case to stop adhering to the chamber walls and press hard against the breech face. The exceptions to this are crimped-in primers and maybe sealed primers or very tight primer pockets.
[added] - Looks like Hank, Chris and I were all posting at the same time.
[added] - Looks like Hank, Chris and I were all posting at the same time.
Last edited:
john kilgore
New member
They don't just go bang in a Lee press. They'll do it in a Dillion (or so one of my "dillion" friends tells me) , or even the presses that Remington, Winchester, ect. use. Another aquaintance of mine has been on tours of several loading plants and can attest to the scars on the ceilings above the priming stations-primer tubes. I've had one go off in a Lee Pro-1000, and set off all the other 90+ in the tray. Only shooting scars I've got !! The biggest problem is from the flying plastic shrapnel from the trays. Very loud but not life threatening as long as you have the lids/covers on the powder cannisters and measures. I always remember the safety glasses now too !!!!
I had this happen once using a Lee Loader (which is now gathering dust).
I was in a closet area, 6x8 with 8 foot ceiling.
What was really weird is that I didn't hear it go BANG.
Instead, there was what seemed to be a very muted pop followed by intense ringing and a feeling of cotton in my ears. I also could not hear KQRS anymore, which I normally listen to while reloading.
The radio came back in about ten minutes.
The ringing lasted an hour or two.
Like I said, I don't use the Tap Tap method anymore for seating primers.
-Kframe
ps- I later got a Lee tray-style hand-primer, and I had heard of chain-detonations in this, and to avoid any flying shards of plastic I have always stretched an old sock over the tray. I never had it blow, but I felt better with the cloth over it. Even though the sock blocks out the view of the remaining primers, you can jiggle it and hear if you're running low or not.
I was in a closet area, 6x8 with 8 foot ceiling.
What was really weird is that I didn't hear it go BANG.
Instead, there was what seemed to be a very muted pop followed by intense ringing and a feeling of cotton in my ears. I also could not hear KQRS anymore, which I normally listen to while reloading.
The radio came back in about ten minutes.
The ringing lasted an hour or two.
Like I said, I don't use the Tap Tap method anymore for seating primers.
-Kframe
ps- I later got a Lee tray-style hand-primer, and I had heard of chain-detonations in this, and to avoid any flying shards of plastic I have always stretched an old sock over the tray. I never had it blow, but I felt better with the cloth over it. Even though the sock blocks out the view of the remaining primers, you can jiggle it and hear if you're running low or not.