Spent primers

[Mark_Mark]

That's funny, I get annoyed by folks calling a cartridge a caliber. Its not the end of world but this can cause a misunderstanding and this can be a problem here.
I think it is more important to be familiar nomenclature of reloading than the spelling. But to minimize confusion it would be prudent to be as accurate as possible in both regards.
As you all know I am not a English major.

Don’t move to the south... we called everything bullets or shells. All mags were clips, and big clips was an extendo, small guns were baby Glock and AK&AR’s were choppers.

 

[Swampman]

I recently spent 2000 large rifle Berdan primers on a Ruger 10/22 that was in almost new condition!

I was thinking about used my old primer as tumbling media.... mix with a little walnut! call it a 50Grit tumble

This is a terrible idea.
I know because I tried it once with some incredibly filthy and corroded 7.62x51 cases.

The primers will get stuck in the cases so tight that you'll never get 'em out, I ended up recycling the whole mess.

 

[Mark_Mark]

I recently spent 2000 large rifle Berdan primers on a Ruger 10/22 that was in almost new condition!

This is a terrible idea.
I know because I tried it once with some incredibly filthy and corroded 7.62x51 cases.

The primers will get stuck in the cases so tight that you'll never get 'em out, I ended up recycling the whole mess.

thanks you sir!

spent primer tumbling medium fail: CHECK

 

[Bcwitt]

You would need an awful lot of them to be worth it. In the meantime, there is all the lead/mercury dust to deal with. I trash mine.

 

[Mark_Mark]

You would need an awful lot of them to be worth it. In the meantime, there is all the lead/mercury dust to deal with. I trash mine.

I’m going to trash mine too! forgot about all those cancer chemicals

 

[Bcwitt]

I forgot to mention it, but I have brought a lee decapper & hand press to the range just to get rid of them there. No need to bring that stuff inside.

 

[alfsauve]

I have a trash can under my reloading bench. All the primers go in there. Last time, when it got to heavy to move, I took several one ounce samples and counted the number of primer cups in each. Then weighted the whole thing and got an estimate on the number of primers. (70,000 if you're curious). I may do the same thing again when it gets full.

As far as recycling, I called two place in town and neither wanted the primers. Not a big deal. Bad brass just gets junked. Not that much of it actually.

 

[ctgrizzly2hunt2]

I’ll have to see if my local recycler will take them, if not off to the trash..

 

[Mark_Mark]

I have a trash can under my reloading bench. All the primers go in there. Last time, when it got to heavy to move, I took several one ounce samples and counted the number of primer cups in each. Then weighted the whole thing and got an estimate on the number of primers. (70,000 if you're curious). I may do the same thing again when it gets full.

As far as recycling, I called two place in town and neither wanted the primers. Not a big deal. Bad brass just gets junked. Not that much of it actually.

70 Thousand! holly crap!

 

[Mark_Mark]

I forgot to mention it, but I have brought a lee decapper & hand press to the range just to get rid of them there. No need to bring that stuff inside.

I been concerned about that too. I got small children, I might setup a decapper outside so I could just holes it off after

 

[lightman]

I save mine and sell them for scrap.

 

[watermonger]

I'm saving mine for re-priming experiments.

 

[Bcwitt]

I been concerned about that too. I got small children, I might setup a decapper outside so I could just holes it off after

Not a bad idea.

 

[alfsauve]

I lied. It was 8 years ago. Went to look at the original post it was only 65,000+/-.

It's a small plastic trash can and was getting so heavy I couldn't move ir with out damaging it. The contents weighed 33#s on my bathroom scale. I scooped out a sample and weighed 8oz of primers, then counted them. 1,033/8oz. My scoop contained a fair amount of the "dirt" so I think it's a fair reprentation.

Rounding down to 2,050/lb that's 67,650. Given the inaccuracy of the bathroom scale let's say 65,000.

This was over a 5 year period, so we're talking less then 1,000 a month. But maybe time to repeat the experiment.

 

[Mark_Mark]

I lied. It was 8 years ago. Went to look at the original post it was only 65,000+/-.

It's a small plastic trash can and was getting so heavy I couldn't move ir with out damaging it. The contents weighed 33#s on my bathroom scale. I scooped out a sample and weighed 8oz of primers, then counted them. 1,033/8oz. My scoop contained a fair amount of the "dirt" so I think it's a fair reprentation.

Rounding down to 2,050/lb that's 67,650. Given the inaccuracy of the bathroom scale let's say 65,000.

This was over a 5 year period, so we're talking less then 1,000 a month. But maybe time to repeat the experiment.

that’s an insane amount of spent primers! Good Job!

 

[alfsauve]

Weight the trash can today. Going with the 2,000 spent primers/lb I've only got around 30,000 in there. It's been 8 years since the last time I weighted it, but then we've done a renovation or 2 since then and I may have emptied it.

 

[Mark_Mark]

Weight the trash can today. Going with the 2,000 spent primers/lb I've only got around 30,000 in there. It's been 8 years since the last time I weighted it, but then we've done a renovation or 2 since then and I may have emptied it.

you shoot Machine Guns? because that’s alot of primers

 

[alfsauve]

I consider myself lower third competitive shooter. I'm a solid class C. I practice once a week. Compete indoors 4 times a month and 1 or 2 times outdoors. I think the number of rounds I shoot is modest. It's easy to use up to 1,000 a month.

Putting it in perspective, just 2 competitions, the USPSA nationals and the International Revolver Championship, will eat up about 900 rounds this year. Add the weekly and monthly matches plus other matches like state and regionals, it adds up. I only wish I had done this level when I was younger.

 

[Armorer 101]

Mine go into empty shot bags and are used for bench bags when shooting from a rest. I like them better than sand bags.

 

[Archie]

The scrap dealers with whom I'm familiar are disdainful of un-useable brass and primers. The main reasons seem to be too much burnt 'stuff' (filth) or the potential for live primers in the pile. So even those who will take it pay minimal prices.

I can see where even one live primer going off in a metal pot - even prior to much melting - would be 'exciting'. So I've come to the conclusion that the material need be fairly clean and free of live primers (convincing the scrap dealing, not me) prior to delivering for sale. I suspect melted and in ingot form would be even better, but that requires more than a lead pot.

In the meanwhile, I've got a good sized pile of cracked or deformed cases and used primers in a box. Hmmpf.

 

[Mark_Mark]

I consider myself lower third competitive shooter. I'm a solid class C. I practice once a week. Compete indoors 4 times a month and 1 or 2 times outdoors. I think the number of rounds I shoot is modest. It's easy to use up to 1,000 a month.

Putting it in perspective, just 2 competitions, the USPSA nationals and the International Revolver Championship, will eat up about 900 rounds this year. Add the weekly and monthly matches plus other matches like state and regionals, it adds up. I only wish I had done this level when I was younger.

well that explains it! you are as young as you feel!

 

[alfsauve]

Here's what my setup looks like, primer trash can.



And if you're curious what the side of the HD bucket says: