Crushed brass & live primer - Now what?

[melensdad]

...the brass still have a live primer in it.

So how do I dispose of this? ...

Put several drops of OIL in the case.

Oil will desensitize the primer and effectively render it inert/or nearly inert. Then throw it away.

 

[Lupin3rd]

You could try and desensitize the primer with water, diesel fuel, or WD-40 but remember, desensitizing is not the same rendering it safe. In its desensitized state it can still go off, it's just not as sensitive as it was. Also, whenever your water, diesel, whatever dries up, explosives generally have the bad-habit of resensitizing.

Your best bet is to send it to hell from whence it came. It's a small quantity of explosives so burning it shouldn't be hazardous. I like shibumiseeker's idea of just throwing it into a cast iron skillet and cooking it. Just make sure to put a lid on the skillet and keep back just in case.

 

[Caleb]

I can see it now... a case with a live primer sets off the methane gas given off by the landfill, end result, a large crater

 

[lon]

Looks like "desensitize with oil" is an old wifes tale. I always believed it too, until I read this.

The Box O' Truth #39 - Oil Vs. Primers - Page 1

Like shibumiseeker said, just wrap it up in a paper towel, and throw it in the trash.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Looks like "desensitize with oil" is an old wifes tale. I always believed it too, until I read this.

The Box O' Truth #39 - Oil Vs. Primers - Page 1

Like shibumiseeker said, just wrap it up in a paper towel, and throw it in the trash.

The biggest danger with oil in loaded ammunition is not the primer being desensitized, it's the powder being desensitized and causing a hangfire or squib round. This I have reliably tested, but it took a lot of exposure to a lot of oil over several months, and the oil had to be able to get in around the bullet/case interface (as in an oiled chamber/barrel).

I spent six months doing a loaded ammunition/primed case/bare primer test on this similar to BoT did. I posted on arfcom my results and basically it was that oil desensitized bare primers reliably and water did not. When primers were set aside and the oil allowed to evaporate over time the primers regained some level of sensitivity. Primed cases were not reliably desensitized by oil (about 50% failure rate), and loaded ammunition soaked in water or oil had a high squib rate and a couple of hangfires (half to one second delay) and when some were disassembled it was clear that it was powder desensitizing that was the culprit.