Decapping primed brass

[huntem]

I bought some bulk 257 weatherby brass but I noticed that the stuff is already primed. I don't want to shoot off the primers in my custom gun. What are my options? Sorry for such a dumb question.

[wapiti13]

Huntem, What primers are in the brass? Maybe you can just load up the brass. I know that it is not recommended to punch out the live primers. If you must deprime, one safe way to do it is spray the primer through the top of the brass with WD40 and let them sit for a day or so. The WD40 will kill the primer allowing you to safely deprime.

[abinok]

Do it gently with a universal decapping die. Ive done a whole mess of Federal brass that way. Run it slow... don't just bang them out... softly contact, then slowly increase pressure till it pops out. Dump your primer catcher every few primers so you don't have a pile of them setting there.

Or....

You could COW fireform them as they are, or put a false shoulder on them, then COW them. Just finished a batch of 300WM brass done that way. Very nice.

[uncleB]

the only thing I would add to what abinok said is wear safety glasses while de-priming and it is no problem.
UB

[BountyHunter]

OPTION # 1: Ask your mother-in-law to do it for you.

[Hired Gun]

I knock them out like any other spent primer. Even if one went off in the press the flash and bits would be contained in the shell inside of the die. If it were to breach it would be directed down and away from you. I remove good primers whenever I want to clean up brass that is already primed and sat too long and has tarnished. I just tumble them again and then knock out the primers and redo them. It has never been a concern. It seems like a lot of people think these things are easy to detonate. Properly supported it takes a precise sharp hit to set one off. A weak firing pin spring or too much headspace like in an improperly done Ackley and they will not go off. Slow steady pressure like a reloading press would be hard pressed to get one to go off only working it by hand. Don your safety glasses and knock them out.

[huntem]

Thanks for the sound advice...I think my mother in law is coming down soon [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]