With primers being so stupid hard to come by lately, I decided I should raid my scrap bucket the other day and reclaimed some small pistol and small rifle primers that had been loaded into cases that got tossed for one reason or other. Some of them have been in there for years, and the bucket was in the garage and did get water in it at one point, so I wasn't sure what to expect out of them. There weren't a ton, but it was enough for a short range session (I didn't want to mix these rounds with my good stuff, but figured they'd be fine for a day of plinking). I also re-worked my steel target stand yesterday to make it more portable and sturdy, so this was an opportunity to test that out.

What better rifle for shooting steel with scrap bucket ammo than a Mini-14? So that came along, as well as my .357 Blackhawk for the pistol stuff.

It was 16 degrees out, with 20mph winds, and 6" of icy snow on the ground. The gate lock was frozen and I had to beat on it to get it open. Needless to say, we had the place to ourselves. I didn't trust my car to not get stuck driving out there, so we had to walk the target down to the backstop. The new, more compact and self-contained stand worked really well. It also worked out that we didn't have a ton of ammo to burn through, because we didn't want to be out there that long!

We shot the rifle at 100 yards, then the pistol at 50 and 25. Every single round fired, and I was able to keep them on target. My 12 year-old son was hitting consistently by the end, too (he did better after we fixed that chicken wing!). All in all, not a bad day at the range!

It's like I've been telling people for years. You don't have to store your primers and powder in climate controlled places.

Most of the people I know in Arizona store em in storage sheds in their yard. Temps from 25 degrees to 150 degrees every year.

Water is another matter but evidently you dodged a bullet on that.

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Originally posted by Flash-LB:
Water is another matter...

Yeah, I was really surprised that these all worked. It was probably the worst possible environment you could imagine to store primers in. Not only did it get wet, but that garage is un-insulated and temps here range from the low 100s to -50. It was an interesting test.

I realized I should probably add...I'm not recommending that anyone else do this. There are some dangers inherent in de-priming live primers from brass, and probably some potential issues with re-using them in new cartridges as well. Normally I wouldn't do this (which is why they were in the scrap bucket in the first place), but circumstances being what they are, it seemed like a good opportunity for some guilt-free range time shooting up some stuff that otherwsie was going in the garbage. I knew the risks and took precautions (and my son shot good ammo, not the scrap bucket stuff).

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Originally posted by 92fstech:
(and my son shot good ammo,

Sounds to me like it was all good ammo.

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Sounds to me like it was all good ammo

True, it did work out that way

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
I realized I should probably add...I'm not recommending that anyone else do this. There are some dangers inherent in de-priming live primers from brass, and probably some potential issues with re-using them in new cartridges as well.

There are some dangers in depriming live primers, but I have done it many times and so have most of the people I shoot with.

As long as it's done properly and you wear eye protection, it's perfectly safe. I don't know anyone who had one go off accidentally. Think about this, it takes a fairly hard strike from a firing pin or striker to set one off so as long as you do it slowly and smoothly, you'll be okay.

And they work fine when they're reused in another case.

My first reloading setup was the Lee Loader. You know the one where you use a small mallet/hammer to tap cases, primers, bullets into place one at a time? Well my BIL thinks it’s taking entirely too long so instead of tap, tap, tap, he goes all in on one big hammer blow setting a primer. They are loud in confined spaces. Lol

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They are loud in confined spaces. Lol

Lol I'll bet! I've never used a Lee Loader, but I've always wondered about the potential to do just that. I've never popped a primer on my press, but I realize the potential is there (I imagine you'd have to slam it pretty hard...but still, possible)...I just put that little addendum out there because I'd hate for somebody to do it wrong and get hurt.

Oh yes, my BIL converted potential into kinetic with one tap.

I loaded a lot of 38 that way. I was 16, no money, couldn’t buy ammo myself and I never set one off. Patience went a long ways.

Looking back I can’t believe I loaded ammo that way. It took forever.