Cartridge Pens from “live” ammo – yes, seriously – help!!!

[Sylvanite]

Duncan,

Many people have already given you advice. Some of it is good advice. Some of it is very bad advice. If you can tell the difference, you probably don't need it. If you can't tell the difference, then don't mess with the primer yourself. Trade it away or find someone knowledgable to process it for you.

There has been so much misinformation given so far, that I'm not going to describe my procedures for depriming live ammunition. Suffice it to say that I understand the risks and take steps to minimize them. Primers can be handled safely, but mishandling them is dangerous. Don't trust a penturning website to give you reliable information on this subject.

Regards,
Eric

 

[thevillageworkshop]

take the round to a gunsmith or gun shop and have them remove the primer. once removed drill from the outside not the inside of the casing. the removed primer provides a pilot hole to center the drill bit. visit my web site for bullet pen kits and instructions.
www.thevillageworkshop.net

 

[KD5NRH]

Just to add to the anguish of the 'bury them and run far, far away' camp, I actually had them rattling around in my trouser pocket as complete cartridges when I was under the impression that they were dummy rounds – maybe I wouldn't have been able to write the original post if they hadn't been the more robust military-spec rounds?

Uhh...I walk around with a whole bunch of live ammo in my pocket every day. Otherwise, it's hard to reload when the gun's empty.

FWIW, I will provide low-cost bulk unloading services for quality ammunition in 9mm .38Spl, .357Mag, .45ACP, .45LC, .243Win, .30-06Spr, 7.62x54R, 20ga and 12ga. Ship me the ammo with return shipping costs and you'll get back plenty of inert hulls. :biggrin:

 

[Mark Scrivener]

I'm a newbie to the pen world, but I've been around the block a few times in the reloading world. Live primers should be treated with care - much more so with loose primers than those already in a casing.

When it comes to de-priming live ammunition there are a few proper ways and many more wrong ways. As KD5NRH points out above - chambering and firing the round works great if the ammunition is known safe/good. Otherwise you need to pull the bullet with a bullet puller, empty the powder (makes good fertilizer), and (the tricky part) de-activate the primer before pressing it out from the inside. Soaking the primer (from inside the casing) in WD-40 or penetrating oil is a standard method for de-activating primers.

Taking reasonable precautions (safety glasses, ear protection, using a press so nothing can go flying, etc) there isn't too much danger from a single primer with no powder present. Reloaders typically have tubes full of live primers being feed into a press - and if something goes wrong and the whole tube of primers goes off it can be very dangerous. The military primers in your 7.62 cartridge are actually safer to deal with as they require a stronger impact to detonate (they are designed to reduce the chance of "slam fire" caused when the floating firing pin touches the primer as the bolt slams shut).

For proper bullet pulling and de-priming tools, see http://www.leeprecision.com/. Sorry I don't know an overseas source. As others have stated, if in doubt, find a gunsmith or re-loader who can help.

-Mark

 

[KD5NRH]

Live primers should be treated with care - much more so with loose primers than those already in a casing.

As any owner of a Lee Classic Loader (don't pay $34, Midway has most calibers for $22) can tell you, primers sting like heck and make your ears hurt if you're not wearing protection, but as long as you have the bullet and powder out of the way, and good safety glasses or a face shield you're pretty safe.

The main thing to remember if you try to decap a live round with the Classic (or any similar decapper - this product is essentially just the decapping part of the Classic, though if you're only going to be dealing with .30 caliber and up, this one will be easier...they're cheap, get both if you don't know for sure.) is to wear quality eye protection and keep everything except the mallet head out of the path the decapper will take if it does get launched. Using a pair of vice grips to hold the decapper will also keep your hand away from any hot gases, and increase the effective mass of the pin to keep it from being launched easily.

 

[Glenn McCullough]

Duncan,
I am glad you still have all your fingers, but also glad you wrote above the photos that you have attached thumbnails, too!!

 

[Arizona Silhouette]

To add a couple of 'cents' to this thread:

I don't post much but in this instance I feel that 40+ years of experience reloading ammunition may help someone from hurting themselves.

I have been handloading ammunition since 1963. I have loaded everything from 222 Remington to 50BMG (Browning machine gun). In a previous life I was a USMC Aviation Ordnanceman from 1965-1974 who dealt with small arms munitions to the MK-61 nuclear bomb.

Having read all of the pages of comments I would imagine there is a lawyer (or lawyers) out there who is just waiting for an injury to occur. There is way too much incorrect information being presented by individuals who know absolutely nothing on what they are 'talking' about. Primers are classified as an explosive and if you don't know what you are doing there is a possibility that you can cause a serious injury to yourself.

If you don't know what you are doing don't ask a bunch of people who don't know what they are doing.

Bill Baumbeck

 

[jttheclockman]

Bill

You make alot of sense. I do not use live shells just because of the fact I do not know what I am doing and brand new shells are so cheap to buy weather it is from someone here or from a ammo place. Just not worth it.

But the real point you made and I see this alot on other forums I frequesnt and sometimes it scares me. I am an electrician by trade but I try to refrain from answering electrical questions on the web because you just do not know the person on the other end and how much experience he has and if you tell some one how to do something but leave out a step because it is too obvious to you because you do it all the time, this could mean the person getting seriously hurt. But I do step in when I read something blatently wrong and dangerous.

Another example is when people ask about using machinery and doing some task that they never did and what responses they get. I happen to do that when I took up turning. I am self taught and believe far from good at it. But I have been around machinery enough to know if it does not feel right it probably is not.

Probably the moral of my post and piggybacking on what you said Bill, be careful when giving advice that has danger written all over it. This is one such case. OK my speech is over.

 

[Dave_M]

Thank you Bill.

Although I haven't been reloading quite as long as Bill nor do I have anywhere near his experience, I've been reloading for a couple decades and I've had my share of learning opportunities. I couldn't agree more with Bill's statement. Live ammo and yes even primers can be especially dangerous when you think you know what you're doing. There is a lot of incorrect and incomplete information presented in this thread and this isn't a subject matter you want to study at the school of hard knocks.

To add a couple of 'cents' to this thread:

I don't post much but in this instance I feel that 40+ years of experience reloading ammunition may help someone from hurting themselves.

I have been handloading ammunition since 1963. I have loaded everything from 222 Remington to 50BMG (Browning machine gun). In a previous life I was a USMC Aviation Ordnanceman from 1965-1974 who dealt with small arms munitions to the MK-61 nuclear bomb.

Having read all of the pages of comments I would imagine there is a lawyer (or lawyers) out there who is just waiting for an injury to occur. There is way too much incorrect information being presented by individuals who know absolutely nothing on what they are 'talking' about. Primers are classified as an explosive and if you don't know what you are doing there is a possibility that you can cause a serious injury to yourself.

If you don't know what you are doing don't ask a bunch of people who don't know what they are doing.

Bill Baumbeck

 

[Russianwolf]

Hey guys, just wanted to point out that this recent thread is from January 2009. have a feeling its been done and over for many moons.

 

[PenMan1]

Don't forget to say "Hey Ya'll, hold my beer and watch this!". In the deep South, where I live, the proceeding statement is know as a redneck's final words.