Decapping Primed Brass???

[Doug]

Once upon a time, I did hear that it is possible to do this, safely, because the primer anvil works only from the direction of the firing pin. At the time, I thought, "Yeah, right......not me...."

Well I have a new-to-me rifle chambered in .270 Wby Mag. I have previously owned a rifle in this chambering, and reloaded for it. In fact, to obtain brass for my new toy, I swapped back my old brass from the Gun Nut who owns my previous .270 Wby!

I very rarely trim once-fired brass, and nor do I usually even check it for length. (first contributing factor). I de-burred and chamfered the necks, brushed out the brass shavings, lubed the exterior of the cases and the case necks, and full-length re-sized the brass. I almost never tighten the die down to the quarter-turn or so past snug. (second contributing factor)

I cleaned off the cases and cleaned the lube out of the case mouths, and primed all but four of the cases. Those four are dummy rounds I make up for my gunsmith just in case I ever have a problem with this rifle, because he does not have much call for some of the cartridges I have been known to play with.......

I seated bullets in the four (unprimed, empty) dummies, and then, as usual, tried to chamber one in my rifle to make sure it would fit. Very tight, hard to turn the bolt. No sweat, I reckon it is just a case of needing to seat the bllets a hair lower. Do that, same thing.

OK, let's try an empty (re-sized) cartridge to see if it is bullet length that is causing the problem. Nope, that one I can't even close the bolt! OK, let's check case length. It is a hair over maximum, but that should not prevent chambering. Hmmm, well let's re-size one of these unprimed shells with the die screwed right down and then some. BINGO. Conclusion: this rifle has one damned tight chamber.

Problem:

I have sixteen pieces of hard-to-get brass that is primed, and I want to de-prime it to re-size it. Yes I know I can remove the decapping pin, BUT this die is going to give me hell to get that out. This is the default option of course. But I am also going to trim the brass before re-sizing, and I do not like the idea of small brass shavings possibly getting into the primers.

So here is the question, for some of the old hands. (If you don't know the answer for 100% certainty, I am not interested in conjecture or opinion, thanks...)

Is it safe to de-cap primed brass using a standard decapping die?

Doug

PS) Yes I have thought of trying to chamber them in a similar rifle to see if I can work them in that, and just shoot off the primers. I am thinking one of my .300 Wbys, need to check cartridge specs......

 

[tiriaq]

It is undoubtedly not safe.... But I have done it occasionally, without mishap. Go VERY slowly. Bump the anvil, and the primer is likely going to fire. The case being in the die, nothing is going to go "up" if a primer fires, but the primer is going to come down through the ram passage very fast. Where would the primer go? Could it hit you or anything else? It could be travelling as fast as an air rifle pellet. Just keep that in mind. Wear goggles. It is sometimes suggested that the primer could be exposed to this or that oil, solvent, etc. This does not guarantee that the primer will be neutralized. Don't reuse the primers. Disclaimer - this practice is unsafe. If anyone tries it, they assume all responsibilty for the consequences.

 

[Khalnath]

I would think hydrostatic decapping would be much safer. You fill up the case with water and use a piece of dowel similar in radius to your bullet. The dowel goes in the case mouth, and you smack it with a hammer.

Of course, I've never TRIED this, so I'm ALSO going to disclaim any responsibility for any damage sustained. I can't imagine it being WORSE than using a decapping pin, though.

Still shouldn't reuse the primer.

 

[Doug]

No I have no intention whatsoever of re-using the primers, they are cheap. The brass is hard to get and I don't want to discard 16 if I do not have to....

Doug

 

[acrashb]

I've done it quite a bit. Go slow, don't hammer the primer, push it. Works fine. Of course you should wear eye protection and maybe earplugs and use your own judgement.

 

[bussard]

Why not chamber the brass and fire the primer with your gun? Then you can safely decap. I don't reload but it makes sense to me.

 

[Laniru]

Spray some WD40 into the case and let it soak into the primer...WD40 kills primers dead.

 

[Levi Garrett]

Back off the de prime pin and just size the case. run a flat file on the end if over long , and touch up later.
then fire the suckers or load a light load and fire them , if the primers look bad i would not waste powder , just shoot em without a load.
Frank

 

[guntech]

In 40 years I have deprimed several live primers. I have never had one go off. Obviously if one does go off, there is no danger from the case mouth end as the die is covering it. Figure the route the primer will take and protect yourself from that. The press I use now is a Bonanza Co-Ax and it deprimes straight down into a drawer under the bench top and I have no worries at all.

 

[Doug]

Thanks guys. Sounds like what I heard way back when was correct.

Back to bussard, I cannot chamber the rounds, that is the problem.

Frank, BINGO. I can take the whole centre out of the die and just size the case, since the neck size is good. Then the flat file, very elegant.

I knew somebody could figure this one out for me!

Doug

 

[Gatehouse]

I've done iot a few times.

I put on l;eather gloves, heavy clothing around the area where the primer will shoot if it goes anywhere (ytour crotch) and I use safety glasses.

Never had one go off, just do it gently.

 

[44Bore]

You shouldn't trim to length until after you resize with the expander ball in place--a lot of the case lengthening comes from the expander ball drag--helps some if you polish the expander ball and graphite the inside of the case neck.

44Bore

 

[dizzy dan 1]

Just run them through the die again, I have done it a couple of times no problems. DAN>>>

 

[Levi Garrett]

I may be totally out of line here , but graphite I would not use on the inside of a case, something tells me its abrasive property will cause problems in the long run, I use lee tooth paste , the dry lube they sell. Good point on the trim after idea as the norm, just here it was a matter of getting the case to fit in the chamber and fire those primers.
I could be in left field on the graphite though , maybe someone in the machine shop trade can set me straight on this dry lube.
Frank

 

[Doug]

Thanks guys!

I removed the decapping/expander unit completely, screwed the die down to the point that I could just barely use the ram (Rockchucker press), and re-sized. Measuring them again I decided against doing any trim, and they work slick as eel snot now........

Back to 44Bore, I don't disagree about trimming after sizing, for the reason you state, but if I trim at all I like to do this as a first step before chamfering and de-burring, so I get all of the brass shavings out of the way up front.

Now to see how this very PRETTY shootin' iron performs at the range! If it shoots half as good as it looks, it will be a tack-driver......

Doug

 

[Slavex]

deprime away, I've done this tons of times, never had a primer go off, and even if it did, it's inside the die and not going to go anywhere. If the primer falls out and goes off, well that's nothing as well. Primers are only dangerous when in bulk, and are lit on fire (yeah I tried it a couple times), or contained and then setoff. Individually, they are pretty tame.

 

[NormB]

I've done iot a few times.

I put on l;eather gloves, heavy clothing around the area where the primer will shoot if it goes anywhere (ytour crotch) and I use safety glasses.

Never had one go off, just do it gently.

I have done it several times as well, with none going off.

But at a BR match in Holton MI a shooter had one go thru his jeans and into his thigh, while we were reloading between relays. Just a small hole in both. A day later it festered and swelled up. A small piece had penetrated a few inches. A trip to the doctor was necessary.

NormB

 

[John Y Cannuck]

I've done it many times, no bangs yet, but I am always well prepared with safety gear.
I even re-used a couple of primers just to see if they'd work. They did!

 

[Hitzy]

I've done it several times as well. Just went very slow and no problems.

 

[guntech]

I may be totally out of line here , but graphite I would not use on the inside of a case, something tells me its abrasive property will cause problems in the long run, I use lee tooth paste , the dry lube they sell. Good point on the trim after idea as the norm, just here it was a matter of getting the case to fit in the chamber and fire those primers.
I could be in left field on the graphite though , maybe someone in the machine shop trade can set me straight on this dry lube.
Frank

Powdered graphite is used as a neck sizing lube with no problems. Bonanza make a 3 brush container with graphite for that purpose.