Where Do Your Spent Primers End Up?

[hmp32]

Where do your spent primers end up?

That is, out of every 100 rounds you load, how many of the spent primers end up in the collection tray? Please tell me which dillon press model you own too.

thanks.

[dajarrel]

I have a 650 and a 550. Looking at the primers in the floor, (very few) I would venture to say 98-99% of them find their way to the collection cup.

FWIW

dj

[Patrick Sweeney]

Ditto (550)

[ctgun]

I own a 650 and capture 100% of the used primers although I have made a modification to my machine. Check in the "Reloading FAQ" under the tips for the 650. There are a few people who have made a modification so that the spent primers fall out a tube down into a large container. Then you only worry about emptying it every 10,000 rounds or so and don't end up with primers on your floor.

[Harmon]

once captured, what do you do with them little toxic bastards?

they are brass right? scrap? will a salvage yard buy them?

[revchuck]

About 80% of mine end up in the cup (450).

[ctgun]

I have them drop into an old powder can that I have washed out and then I put the top back on and put it into a bag and toss it in the dumpster. Maybe not the most enviromentaly sensitive thing to do but not unsafe since they have all been fired.

[shred]

I own a 650 and capture 100% of the used primers although I have made a modification to my machine. Check in the "Reloading FAQ" under the tips for the 650. There are a few people who have made a modification so that the spent primers fall out a tube down into a large container. Then you only worry about emptying it every 10,000 rounds or so and don't end up with primers on your floor.

The spent-primer-tube is probably the single best modification I made to my 650 and 1050. 100% in the bottle and no hassles. Put the cap back on the bottle when it's full for disposal.

[XRe]

My understanding is that they're copper - and you might be able to convince a scrap recycler to take them for a decent piece of change. Just don't tell him the composition of that black crap all over them

[cpty1]

I have an older model 1050 and would guess 98-99% of my spent primers end up in the collection tray. I ended up with a batch of roll sized and deprimed brass once that sure was nice...and a lot less messy.

[Vlad]

About %5-%10 of mine end up on the floor or bench. Thats one thing I really dont like about the 550. I dont even care about the ones on the floor so much, I care about the ones that fall right on the path of the primer slider which then can't return fully and I have to stop clean the buggers out.

[Proteus]

After a small modification 100% ends up in the tray. I made a short pipe on the spent primer opening, so all the spent primers are falling in the tray now.

[sargenv]

You mean I can't just put them in the trash with all the used spray paint cans, rags with solvent and grease, empty plastic oil bottles and all the rest of the toxic junk I put in there?

Because once they find their way into the collection bin on my 650, they eventually wind up in the common household trash.

V

Edited January 6, 2006 by sargenv

[dillon]

If you are having a problem with spent primers not going into the cup, there are two most common causes. First, the aluminum cotter pin(part # 13998) that the spent primer catcher chute(part #13899) pivots on may be bent, and not allowing the chute to freely pivot. In this case, use a small safety pin to replace the aluminum cotter key. Just open it up, push the pointy end through all the holes, and snap it closed.

The other cause is if the rooler bracket assembly(part#14280) is shifted on the mounting screws too far to the right, then spent primers can land on the rear lip of the cup and bounce all over. To correct this, use a plastic hammer (a kinetic bullet puller works great) and gently tap the the roller bracket to the left. If tapped too far to the left, then it will rub against the right side of the primer feed housing. Just be gentle with it.

BTW, spent primers are brass, and very sellable as scrap metal

Edited January 6, 2006 by dillon

[hmp32]

This is a great set of responses!

And, I would like to hear more stories about where the spent primer ends up in relationship to the machine (btw I take my spent primers to my gun club and deposit them in the brass bucket after removing

the brass I want to keep).

My goal is to find out if there is difference between the various Dillon machines in handling spent primers as part of my decision process on which machine to get. I detest the fact that my my Lee Turret Press lacks the ability for the primiers to go into the spent primer hole. I have to deprime my cases seperately after removing the primer arm and placing a barrier around the the base of the turret press.

thanks!

Edited January 6, 2006 by hmp32

[Greg in VA]

I have 2 550's and a 1050, on the 550's I took the thing apart and polished the inside and de-burred the holes, that helped alot, I get about 95-98% in the cup. On the 1050 the only time I have a problem is when the cup is empty and they bounce out.

Greg

[wide45]

Got a new 1050, like 5 years ago.

About 1 in 4 or 5 thousand escapes the cup. No motivation to modify...

[kevin c]

They go into my SDB cup. I taped some cardboard around the rim so that they don't bouce out. I lose a few mainly when it gets full after 500 or 600 rounds. Then they get dumped into big plastic peanut butter jars.

I've used some as filling for bench rest sandbags, some more to weight props for stages, and the rest to with my scrapped brass to recycling.

[Mistral404]

I have a 1050. I use two tubes in the first two stations which drain down to a large tray. A copper tube fitting on the ends that are in the 1050 and flexible tubing. Works great!

[buddy_fuentes]

Where do your spent primers end up?

That is, out of every 100 rounds you load, how many of the spent primers end up in the collection tray? Please tell me which dillon press model you own too.

thanks.

I have a 550 and a 650, both have a slight modification. On the 550 I drilled the cotter pin hole to a larger size and replaced the pin with a paper clip. On the 650 I used a small binder clip (the kind used in the office to replace a paper clip) on the side of the primer bin to hold it in place. Both modifications work great.

I also use the binder clip at the end of the primer chute on the 650 to stop live primer from hitting the floor.

Buddy