OK, I Have This Problem That I Would Like To Talk About

[Chief351]

No! Not THAT kind of problem! It's like this:

I use an old RCBS Rock Chucker press for reloading. One accessory for this press is a priming attachment that uses what appears to be an aluminum tube which feed primers by gravity, one at a time, for delivery into the little gizmo that actually presses it into the primer pocket of the case.

My problem is that somehow a small primer - not sure if it's a small rifle or a small pistol primer - got turned sideways in this tube and has some unknown number of primers "trapped" inside the tube. Way back when this happened I simply set this tube aside, and ordered a new tube from RCBS. I would really like to "recover" this tube, as it seems that RCBS has moved on to a different primer system for it's newest version of the Rock Chucker, and these old style primer tubes may be unavailable. (Or, they may just be unavailable at this time due to the Biden/Harris election, the Covid-19 virus, panic buying, sunspot cycle, time of the month, or whatever.)

Anybody have any ideas on how to dislodge this primer? Sticking a thin steel rod down there and hammering on it doesn't seem like a good idea. Maybe if I could somehow de-activate the primers by soaking them in penetrating oil, water, kerosene, a solution of pixie dust (Where can you buy pixie dust, anyway?) first.........

Need advice, and you guys haven't failed me yet.

By the way, I have one of those hand-held primer tools, so I'm not totally dead in the water, but I would like to recover this tube if I can do so without losing any fingers or an eye or something.

[jefferson101]

Throw a couple of drops of oil on the open end of it, wait 24 hours, and tap it out. Note that I said "Tap", not "Pound".

1. Oil kills primers. They are sealed more about that than about water.

2. It's a primer, not a hand grenade. If it does go off in the tube, it's going to be like stacking about three roll caps up and popping them at once. It won't ruin your day or the tube if it does go off. I wouldn't be standing directly over the rod I used to tap it out, but that's common sense.

[Chief351]

I thought oil was supposed to kill primers too, but then I asked this same question on a reloading forum, and was advised that the primers would not be deactivated by oil. Or water, or anything else. So, what I finally did was this:

I have one of those fence post driver tools that consists of a stout piece of steel tubing, closed on one end, and with two handles welded to it. Kind of like a battering ram that the cops use on a drug raid. I went to home depot and bought a 1/8" piece of steel rod, then cut it several inches longer than the primer tube. I inserted the steel rod into the primer tube, slipped the fence post driver over the tube so that the rod extended out of the end, and tapped the exposed rod against the concrete foundation wall of my house. I figured if a primer popped and set off a "chain fire" that the steel fence post tool would contain it. Anyway, that forced them out of the tube until the mangled and mashed primer was left stuck in the plastic jaws of the primer tube. Then I just picked it out with a dental pic, No detonations, no lost fingers or eyes, Job complete.

Thanks for the reply though.