After the thread at http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=188291 I tried killing some primers. I had a loading block handy with 50 cases primed with Winchester Large Rifle primers, so I
- filled 10 cases with water and let them sit.
- filled 10 cases with water, let them sit for about 15 minutes, then dumped the water out and let them dry out for two days.
- filled 10 cases with strong soapy water (Ivory soap powder), dumped the soapy water out of 5 of them after about 15 minutes and let those dry, while leaving the soapy water in the other 5.
- squirted WD-40 into 5 cases.
- squirted Kroil into 5 cases. The next morning, I dumped the excess oil that was remaining in two of the five, both WD-40 and Kroil.
- squirted WD-40 into the loading block hole where two cases were sitting, same with the Kroil, and one with soapy water. This let those cases sit in those solvents for two days, primer in the solvent, but nothing inside the case.
That left me 5 cases that were "good",-- nothing done to them.
The "good" ones worked fine.
I fired 10 that were soaked in water, then let dry. 9 fired, one didn't. (I think ... read on) I fired 5 that had been soaked in soapy water and dried. All 5 fired.
I started firing the ones that were still soaking in water, soapy water, and in WD-40 and Kroil. None of the ones with WD-40 or Kroil still in the case went off. Of the 5 that had soapy water still in the case, none really fired, but 3 did something. All 10 of the ones with water still in them "did something", the same thing.
Those puzzled me. The primers that "did something" partially fired. They made a little "poof" sound, and there was some ejecta from the muzzle, although both the sound and the amount of ejecta were way less than a normal primer. But they did partially fire. They were not entirely dead, despite having been wet for two days, and still being wet.
The cases that had the primer end soaking in stuff for two days fired normally, as did the primers that hadn't been futzed with.
The one that had been soaked and dried that I marked as "didn't fire" might have "did something", but I was not at that point attuned to the "did something" sound.
So, I conclude that I owe Smokey Joe a beer or two, and that primers are a lot harder to kill than I thought. Maybe the only reliable way is to fire them. The only primers that seemed to have been killed were the ones still soaking in oil.
But now I won't feel quite so silly with my earmuffs, safety glasses, and a towel wrapped around my face when I deprime live primers.
- filled 10 cases with water and let them sit.
- filled 10 cases with water, let them sit for about 15 minutes, then dumped the water out and let them dry out for two days.
- filled 10 cases with strong soapy water (Ivory soap powder), dumped the soapy water out of 5 of them after about 15 minutes and let those dry, while leaving the soapy water in the other 5.
- squirted WD-40 into 5 cases.
- squirted Kroil into 5 cases. The next morning, I dumped the excess oil that was remaining in two of the five, both WD-40 and Kroil.
- squirted WD-40 into the loading block hole where two cases were sitting, same with the Kroil, and one with soapy water. This let those cases sit in those solvents for two days, primer in the solvent, but nothing inside the case.
That left me 5 cases that were "good",-- nothing done to them.
The "good" ones worked fine.
I fired 10 that were soaked in water, then let dry. 9 fired, one didn't. (I think ... read on) I fired 5 that had been soaked in soapy water and dried. All 5 fired.
I started firing the ones that were still soaking in water, soapy water, and in WD-40 and Kroil. None of the ones with WD-40 or Kroil still in the case went off. Of the 5 that had soapy water still in the case, none really fired, but 3 did something. All 10 of the ones with water still in them "did something", the same thing.
Those puzzled me. The primers that "did something" partially fired. They made a little "poof" sound, and there was some ejecta from the muzzle, although both the sound and the amount of ejecta were way less than a normal primer. But they did partially fire. They were not entirely dead, despite having been wet for two days, and still being wet.
The cases that had the primer end soaking in stuff for two days fired normally, as did the primers that hadn't been futzed with.
The one that had been soaked and dried that I marked as "didn't fire" might have "did something", but I was not at that point attuned to the "did something" sound.
So, I conclude that I owe Smokey Joe a beer or two, and that primers are a lot harder to kill than I thought. Maybe the only reliable way is to fire them. The only primers that seemed to have been killed were the ones still soaking in oil.
But now I won't feel quite so silly with my earmuffs, safety glasses, and a towel wrapped around my face when I deprime live primers.
