Soaked Primers...

Spawn-Inc said:
No, no it's not.
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My bad, I found the source I thought I had read it in. ABC's of Reloading page 49, corrosive primers can deactivated by soaking in water.
Lead styphinate (spelling?) ones need to be soaked in strong lye solution. And from what I've been able to find, modern lead free types are pretty much indestructible.
 
I'm frankly surprised and impressed with the responses thus far. Much better than most sites. The only reliable way to deactivate a primer is to fire it.
 
I found that the magic green toxic material in the Soviet Army Surplus round primers I turned into dummies is strongly water soluble.

After hydraulic de-priming I rinsed the primers out under warm running water in the sink, and the little copper cup came out clean and shiny.

I put them back in (to keep the shape the cartridge the same), but there's nothing left in there that can go bang.

I do not assert that the primers the OP has use the same material, or that there was enough water flow to have removed it if they were, but I mention it as relevant first-hand data.
 
Another thing Im wondering is some of the primers were CCI which are yellow. I died the standing water with a paper towel and the towel had a yellow tint when I swapped it. Is this the compound being rinsed away?
 
Rayleigh_Scattering said:
I found that the magic green toxic material in the Soviet Army Surplus round primers I turned into dummies is strongly water soluble.
....
I do not assert that the primers the OP has use the same material, or that there was enough water flow to have removed it if they were, but I mention it as relevant first-hand data.
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Modern primers will be lead-styphnate, unless they're the newer lead-free primers. This is the main source of lead dust in the air at indoor shooting ranges; not the bullets.

Corrosive milsurp primers will often be potassium chlorate or potassium perchlorate. Since it's a metallic salt like sodium chrloride (table salt) it's water soluble. That's also why the residue is corrosive; it attracts water like the salt that gets on your car in the winter.

I've run into a lot of people who think mercury fulminate is still in use but commercial ammo hasn't been made with it since the late 1800's.
 
a local gun dealer gave me 3000 lg rifle primers that had gotten wet in shipment and after several years setting in the back of my storage bin I tried them and tried them and they all fired with no duds.
 
LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1 said:
Another thing Im wondering is some of the primers were CCI which are yellow. I died the standing water with a paper towel and the towel had a yellow tint when I swapped it. Is this the compound being rinsed away?
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The yellow might have been from the paper they put in between the anvil and priming compound but I'm not 100% sure on that.

LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1 said:
It was not a large stash for sure, but their were enough of them that its worth to at least try to save them. Im not going to lose any sleep if they are gone though.
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Exactly. I would certainly try and use them if I could and it would strictly be used for plinking. Even if 1 brick of primers got soaked and after drying 600 worked perfectly for the price I wouldn't risk using them for hunting or competition.
 
LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1 said:
It was not a large stash for sure, but their were enough of them that its worth to at least try to save them. Im not going to lose any sleep if they are gone though.
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I have run primers through the washing machine. Once by accident and once on purpose just to make sure the results weren't a one off. On both occasions I didn't bother to try drying them but all of the primers I tested within a day didn't even make a pop. Nothing screws up your concentration at the bench or especially on a hunt than a click --- nothing. I respect many of the people here and their knowledge but in this case I will just have to disagree with them. I cannot see how the priming components would not be effected by immersion in water which I surmise would change or wash out some of the ingredients. Maybe the primers I tested were different because they were immersed in hot, soapy water.

The cost of the primer is nothing compared to the cost of the bullet/powder for questionable accuracy or performance.
 
LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1 said:
Another thing Im wondering is some of the primers were CCI which are yellow. I died the standing water with a paper towel and the towel had a yellow tint when I swapped it. Is this the compound being rinsed away?
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Yes, the yellow/green tinted water is the priming compound. So it is at least somewhat water soluble. That is what my drowned primers experienced too.
 
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