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Calm down, I had to take care of some personal business!!
Well it wasn't really 10 cents each, more like 7.5 cents ea. But by the time you add shipping & Has Mat it was right at $100 per brick. They have them at Midway if you catch them at the right time.(usually mornings)
TTv2
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I've no issue with making percussion caps for muzzleloaders because they're extremely simple and faster to punch out the cap from a sheet of aluminum or copper and then prime and seal. Given that these are used in black powder guns that require good cleaning anyway the corrosive nature of them is not an issue.
For primers it's a different deal because you have to remove the anvil, tap the dimple out, charge and put the anvil back in, seal... that's a lot more work that I don't see as worth the time.
For primers it's a different deal because you have to remove the anvil, tap the dimple out, charge and put the anvil back in, seal... that's a lot more work that I don't see as worth the time.
Okay, where was I.
After you've removed the dimple from the primer and then put one back in it, inspect it for any deformation and fix any if you can.
Surprisingly the cups are tougher than they look, so are the anvils. And I don't do anything to the anvils other than run them through my
wet tumbler along with the cups (2 separate tumblers) to clean them up. After all that you come to the point of actually making the primer.
As you should be able to see. I take a cup, insert a toy pistol cap and then an anvil. The trick/secret to installing the anvil is I use an old spent
case with the primer still in it. I put the primer ( cup/pistol cap/anvil) in that doodad lever thingy that holds the primer when you are going to seat it in
a case. Make sure you have your desired (.308 for me) shell holder installed. Then take the spent case, insert it in the shell holder and not too
firmly press the anvil into the cup. You have inserted the primer too fast and too hard if the pistol cap goes off. I used to put a drop of acetone
to eliminate that but found that just lightening up on the force I was using took care of that. The anvils leg(s) may protrude a tad, that's okay, factory ones do too.![20210831_140301[1].jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/964/964587-1f8b9d4fb796b3f0e1b603f79a49a108.jpg "20210831_140301[1].jpg")
![20210831_140409[1].jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/964/964588-acfed1eb7f91c75ac046d6d53301c4c5.jpg "20210831_140409[1].jpg")
![20210831_140426[1].jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/964/964589-771e9de861f595d876bac6a169814bec.jpg "20210831_140426[1].jpg")
![20210831_140444[1].jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/964/964590-5a019267111b74cffd80feb40c740472.jpg "20210831_140444[1].jpg")
![20210831_140510[1].jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/964/964591-bd4ec1aacd4a40c11fca2c692bd0fc6c.jpg "20210831_140510[1].jpg")
![20210831_150842[1].jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/964/964593-746fa3cad3726686b143b6d9961f0c61.jpg "20210831_150842[1].jpg")
After you've removed the dimple from the primer and then put one back in it, inspect it for any deformation and fix any if you can.
Surprisingly the cups are tougher than they look, so are the anvils. And I don't do anything to the anvils other than run them through my
wet tumbler along with the cups (2 separate tumblers) to clean them up. After all that you come to the point of actually making the primer.
As you should be able to see. I take a cup, insert a toy pistol cap and then an anvil. The trick/secret to installing the anvil is I use an old spent
case with the primer still in it. I put the primer ( cup/pistol cap/anvil) in that doodad lever thingy that holds the primer when you are going to seat it in
a case. Make sure you have your desired (.308 for me) shell holder installed. Then take the spent case, insert it in the shell holder and not too
firmly press the anvil into the cup. You have inserted the primer too fast and too hard if the pistol cap goes off. I used to put a drop of acetone
to eliminate that but found that just lightening up on the force I was using took care of that. The anvils leg(s) may protrude a tad, that's okay, factory ones do too.
![20210901_190412[1].jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/964/964594-7d5e0217d6f3b3fcd7e0335a55ed7592.jpg "20210901_190412[1].jpg")
Now you need to fill your new incomplete primer and fill it with the stuff that'll make it go BOOM!!! I took an old plastic cutting board and drilled some holes in it. I measured the diameter of the primer cups and looked through my drills to find one that came closest to the diameter of the cup and found one that was almost exactly the same size (7/32). Drill as many holes as you like. I just randomly chose 6. You may have to run aa rat tail file through a few of them to get the cups to fit properly. You want a snug fit but not a tight fit. Getting them out can be a bitch and end up messy.If you look at the pic at the beginning of this post with the "tools" I use you'll see two metal rods just below the spent case. The long one is for very gently tamping the powder into the cup. I know, I know, everybody keeps telling me to use a wooden dowel. I could set off the primer using the metal one. Almost 2000 primers later, haven't even come close. I did, however, set one off when I tried adding the powder from that little plastic ring for toy pistols!!! That stuff is crazy powerful and super sensitive!!! Mix it with the Prime All powder at your own risk!!! It's a SUPER BIG BANG, had a big ole blue dot in the middle of my vision and my ears rang worse than a Who concert!!!
After using the razor blade to scoop in the Prime All into the cup that's where I use that rod. Once you've filled the cup and tamped the powder down I'll add more powder until the cup won't take anymore. I then add a few drops of the acetone/shellac mix to put a coating on the powder to keep it from flaking off. You might need to add more powder after putting in the drops of acetone/shellac as it makes the powder into a slurry and opens up gaps in the powder. I wait until the acetone/shellac mix dries a bit then scrape in more powder, tamp it, add more A/S, wait for it to dry before removing the primer from the board.
I make batches of these and store them in an old primer container. I found in the past as I moved that thing around there'd be a bunch of primer powder loosely laying in it. Ended up with a bunch of FTF's, not good. The smaller/shorter rod is used to "punch" the primer out of the cutting board.
Sometimes the primer is pretty firmly stuck in the cutting board. Use caution when you encounter that. It'll suddenly pop loose and stuff ends up all over the place.
![20210902_034257[1].jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/964/964595-873e253c63ea0c7b2c74b0b78c93e6e0.jpg "20210902_034257[1].jpg")
![20210902_034332[1].jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/964/964596-fc374359d251464dfe569f862ad5357f.jpg "20210902_034332[1].jpg")
As I'm waiting for the acetone/shellac mix (slurry) to mostly dry out, I'm setting up the next batch of primers and keep doing this until I have as many primers as I'm going to use or want to store, usually 100 or more in one session.
After I have a bunch of primers that I just removed from the cutting board waiting for them to completely dry out, I take a primer and a sanding block and begin the slow and really tedious process of "brushing" off any excess powder that has stuck to the cup. Also, if there's too much on top, I'll scrape off that with the razor blade and run the sanding block over it to smooth it out.
You now have a completed primer ready to be seated in a case. But before you do that, when you have the primer in that doodad lever thingamajig, put a drop or two of just acetone onto the primer! This'll make the primer temporarily inert. When I wasn't using acetone I had a couple go off and THAT'S A BIG BIG BANG, and a bunch of smoke.
You will find that some of the primers may not seat very well or at all. That's all you! You need to make sure you've prepped the primer properly as well as the cases you will be using. However, being the stupid idiot I am, I'll smack the lever of the press pretty darn hard to get the primer to seat. That usually works.
Remember, I placed several drops of acetone on the primer so when I slam/smack the press lever, the primer cannot go off. This usually will seat the primer.
But again, sometimes ya just can't get the primer to cooperate. Fine, punch the primer out of the case and try another one. Helps if you have properly prepped the case too.
Now you know how to make your own primers. A big pain in the @#$% but if you're like me and gotsta go shoot sumthin' and can't find large rifle primers or your money tree is dead, then this is what ya do!!!
You'll probably have some FTF's or hang fires in the beginning, I did, still do once in awhile. But as you do more of these you'll get better results.
I'm sure I missed some small detail that makes or breaks all the effort involved. Sorry. Cuss me out, call me names, blame my parents, whatever makes you happy. I'm not a snowflake or a pansy, I can take it. (probably not!
)
Good luck
and happy
shooting!
DynoDan1![20210831_140723[1].jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/964/964598-a6717d188d9e43985ee1deaf19ddb2fc.jpg "20210831_140723[1].jpg")
After I have a bunch of primers that I just removed from the cutting board waiting for them to completely dry out, I take a primer and a sanding block and begin the slow and really tedious process of "brushing" off any excess powder that has stuck to the cup. Also, if there's too much on top, I'll scrape off that with the razor blade and run the sanding block over it to smooth it out.
You now have a completed primer ready to be seated in a case. But before you do that, when you have the primer in that doodad lever thingamajig, put a drop or two of just acetone onto the primer! This'll make the primer temporarily inert. When I wasn't using acetone I had a couple go off and THAT'S A BIG BIG BANG, and a bunch of smoke.
You will find that some of the primers may not seat very well or at all. That's all you! You need to make sure you've prepped the primer properly as well as the cases you will be using. However, being the stupid idiot I am, I'll smack the lever of the press pretty darn hard to get the primer to seat. That usually works.
Remember, I placed several drops of acetone on the primer so when I slam/smack the press lever, the primer cannot go off. This usually will seat the primer.
But again, sometimes ya just can't get the primer to cooperate. Fine, punch the primer out of the case and try another one. Helps if you have properly prepped the case too.
Now you know how to make your own primers. A big pain in the @#$% but if you're like me and gotsta go shoot sumthin' and can't find large rifle primers or your money tree is dead, then this is what ya do!!!
You'll probably have some FTF's or hang fires in the beginning, I did, still do once in awhile. But as you do more of these you'll get better results.
I'm sure I missed some small detail that makes or breaks all the effort involved. Sorry. Cuss me out, call me names, blame my parents, whatever makes you happy. I'm not a snowflake or a pansy, I can take it. (probably not!
)Good luck
and happy
shooting!
DynoDan1
Well, as long as you can afford and are willing to pay the price for what large rifle primers are going for and can find them, then go for it.
I can't in either case so I improvised, adapted and overcame. Hoorah!
jmorris
Member
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I haven’t yet but I still have lots and lots of primers.
If I were to give it a go, I would try the EPH20 formula first.
https://www.aardvarkreloading.com/resources/Homemade Primer Course 2019-06-28.pdf
H48 from Hatcher’s notebook would be a good one if it wasn’t corrosive.
If I were to give it a go, I would try the EPH20 formula first.
https://www.aardvarkreloading.com/resources/Homemade Primer Course 2019-06-28.pdf
H48 from Hatcher’s notebook would be a good one if it wasn’t corrosive.
Yeah, I've added his website to my homepage and have done a quick review of his process. I probably should look deeper into it but by the time I was made aware of that site I'd already figured out my process and had bumped my rate of success to the level I currently have (96.5%).
Castboolits.gunloads.com is another forum where somebody has come up with a method of making primers as well.
My method may or may not be the simplest or quickest but it's the one that I use and it works very well, for me.
I'm retired.What do you do with the rest of your spare time?
Some folks go fishing.
Some folks play cards.
Some folks like to travel.
Some folks climb mountains.
Some folks skydive.
Some folks let other folks throw knives at them
Some folks....
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A lot, if you're stupid or timid.
GeoDudeFlorida
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- Dec 1, 2020
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CQB45ACP
Member
My gosh is this a complex process. I’m impressed. Good thing I don’t have to replicate it because I couldn’t.
Ha! Yeah, that's almost what it's come to.
I remember the big Freon scare of the late '90's The price of a can was more than a bag of....well you know!
My boss at the time bought pallets of 20# containers, like the BBQ propane bottles and perhaps 10,000 of the little cans.
He had an automotive service shop that I worked at and we did A/C service among everything else. He was a real nut job but wise (?)
He many years later sold all of it (illegally of course) and retired to a huge house in the mountains and about 400 acres!! No joke.
I wear safety glasses. Don't wear hearing protection anymore. Huh? What did you say? Speak up dagnabit!!!
The amount of powder involved isn't enough to blow any fingers off.
I've taken about the same amount of powder I put in a primer, put it on my broken vise and smacked the powder with a hammer.
Don't get me wrong, it's not something I've done more than once or twice (okay, okay, I've done it more than twice!!!) because it is a pretty resounding bang.
The ringing in my ears was the real deal, about as loud as not wearing hearing protection when shooting my .308 with a muzzle brake. Huh? What!!!??? Damn neighbor kids!!!
No I don't make the 22lr. I bought it from 22lrreloading.com. Comes in a package of 4 separate powders that you mix together into one.
If I knew what the powders were, I'd buy the stuff in bulk. Many have said they know but none have provided empirical proof.
![20210831_145352[1].jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/964/964702-9eb48d6bd6d544111300f98e2aad65b0.jpg "20210831_145352[1].jpg")
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Complex?
Perhaps.
It's more intuitive to me.
I ran out of primers.
I like (no NEED) to shoot (A LOT!!!)
For quite some time primers couldn't be found.
When you could find them the price was through the roof (still is IMO).
I Googled if there was anybody making homemade primers and here we are, today.
It's not for the lazy or timid, ya gotsta ta be addicted to shooting and out of primers.
I've been thinking of making my own boolits and wondering if anyone makes their own brass cartridges too.
I'll cross those bridges when I get to them. Boolits are still within my budget and I've got 500-600 lbs of brass, 9mm/.38 spcl/.357/.308/.556/.223/30-06 and some other oddball brass I've scrounged at the range. I only have and shoot .308/.38/.357/9mm/22lr/12 ga.
TTv2
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I get that, everybody has a different situation. I can work 4 hours overtime and use that to pay for a brick of primers if I wanted to. Instead, I shift focus and if I wanted to shoot rifles I'd buy a replica Sharps and shoot it with my homemade caps and paper cartridges.
How long would you say it takes to make 100 primers?
PWC
Member
I am, and have always neen a tinkerer and dumpster diver. Fix things others throw away. Not always cost effective, sometimes frustrating, always feels good. Fun proving people wrong who say something can't be repaired/fixed or done.
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