What to do with spoiled powder and primers?

kb007

kb007

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Hey, I'm a noob to reloading, I made a few mistakes, so I have some powder that got wet and some live primers that also got wet.

I'm on a septic system so I'm not gonna flush it down the toilet. I was going to maybe throw some of the powder in the fire pit next time we have a bonfire, but if I decide not to, how do I dispose of the powder?

Same deal for primers - have a few that got wet, prolly dry by now, but don't want to try to re-use. How are these supposed to be disposed of - don't think I'll toss these on the fire pit, I imagine they might go pop!

Right now I've just got it locked up with the rest of my powder, but how do you guys take care of "mistakes" like this?
 
Load the primered only cases and shoot off the primers?
Makes a bit of a bang, but no biggee.
I guess I don't need to get into muzzle control?
 
kb007 said:
Hey, I'm a noob to reloading, I made a few mistakes, so I have some powder that got wet and some live primers that also got wet.

I'm on a septic system so I'm not gonna flush it down the toilet. I was going to maybe throw some of the powder in the fire pit next time we have a bonfire, but if I decide not to, how do I dispose of the powder?

Same deal for primers - have a few that got wet, prolly dry by now, but don't want to try to re-use. How are these supposed to be disposed of - don't think I'll toss these on the fire pit, I imagine they might go pop!

Right now I've just got it locked up with the rest of my powder, but how do you guys take care of "mistakes" like this?
Click to expand...

You can deactivate primers by soaking them in oil for a day & then they would be safe to put in the garbage. If you have an open area where there is no fire hazard you can dump out the powder and burn it. As long as it is not in a sealed container it will just burn & not explode. I have also heard that you can also just spread the powder on your lawn. Apparently the powder chemicals are pretty close to what lawn fertilizer is. In any case it won't do any harm.
 
Put the primers anvil side up and pour the gun powder over them. Make a trail and light it up. Stand back and enjoy the show. It's a small puff of smoke. They will not pop as there is nothing holding pressure. Of there isn't a lot of them remove the anvils otherwise stand back.

Obviously do it outside and at your own risk etc...


Putting them in oil or water will only temporarily deactive them.
 
For the powder id dump it on the lawn make it nice and green. As for the primers id likely use them to scare my kids around a bonfire. Toss them in a coue ata time. Should make a bit of a pop or bang. But im the kind of dad who toss a "fire crackler" on the ground behind my kid to watch him run away and then yell at me lol.
 
I recently had to rid myself of 200 primed 7.62x39 cases and over 400 grams of powder.

I cut the bottom off of a cereal box, filled it with powder, set it on a snow bank and threw in a match. Four seconds of fun.

I was more worried about the primers. I do not believe that oil reliably destroys them. So I welded plates on the end of a steel pipe. Fed the cases into the pipe through a tapped hole in one of the plates, then installed a bolt. Set the assembly on top of a turkey fryer burner, and wait for the sound of metallic popcorn to cease.
 
well i just did a quick test with some rem oil, water and an ultrasonic cleaner. i took 3x 38 spl primed cases and filled them with rem oil and another 3 cases with water. i let them sit for 10 minutes. i took one of each and fired them, they went off BUT barely, a very small puff of smoke and almost no noise. i put the next pair and put them into the ultrasonic cleaner and again they went off, but with very little force or noise.

i suspect both would go off if left to dry for a while.
 
Spawn-Inc said:
well i just did a quick test with some rem oil, water and an ultrasonic cleaner. i took 3x 38 spl primed cases and filled them with rem oil and another 3 cases with water. i let them sit for 10 minutes. i took one of each and fired them, they went off BUT barely, a very small puff of smoke and almost no noise. i put the next pair and put them into the ultrasonic cleaner and again they went off, but with very little force or noise.

i suspect both would go off if left to dry for a while.
Click to expand...

yes the priming mix is wet when put in the primer it drys after the anvil is put in so they should be ok you may have a few dud rounds just check the bore make sure no bullets are stuck in the bore
 
For gun powder I just burn it goes up in a puff of smoke quickly.. for small amounts...

For primers I just load it into 1 case stick it in the gun and click then deprime it load the next one and do the same unless it's deformed ie bad. then I just hammer them 1 at a time.

Wear hearing protection and eye protection.
 
kamlooky said:
Load the primered only cases and shoot off the primers?
Makes a bit of a bang, but no biggee.
I guess I don't need to get into muzzle control?
Click to expand...

This works great for scaring the dog too :)

When I was a kid my buddy Mike used to steal these funny silver buttons from his Dad's workshop that would go off with a bang when placed on the pavement and struck with a hammer. great fun!

It wasn't until years later that I found out that the buttons were rifle primers.
 
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