OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

257917 Philip Yarra <philip.yarra@i...> 2016‑02‑07 Brass ferrules from old shell casings
Hi all,

I regularly find myself needing to make small ferrules (for example, for 
scratch awls, small marking knives, that kind of thing). I like brass 
ferrules, but getting hold of brass tube of a suitable size can be 
tricky, unless you like paying exorbitant prices.

So when I recently acquired a handful of old 9mm shells - decades ago 
fired and abandoned in the dirt - I figured they'd make an ideal source 
of brass. Cleaned and cut to size they work very nicely - the slight 
taper inside the cartridge works well to give a tight fit when they're 
pressed on.

A few weeks later I mentioned it to a friend - one who actually owns a 
gun, and shoots regularly. He was alarmed, and warned me that the primer 
cap can "often" only partially detonate, and might explode if heated, 
jolted, poked, or worked with tools that generate sparks. He stressed 
the likelihood of serious injury.

I've never ever heard of such a thing. I can't find anything about it on 
the internet. And judging by the sheer number of people who re-use empty 
cartridges for craft projects, they haven't either. None of the guides 
to hand-loading ammo I could find mention this as a possible hazard. I 
guess there are a few people on this list who might know. Can anyone 
shed light on this? Is this warning bogus, or am I heading for a future 
where I'm nicknamed "Stumpy"?

Currently I'm using a junior hacksaw to work these pieces, so I doubt 
I'm generating sparks, or even much heat. The old 9mm shells had been 
buried for decades; there's nothing left that could go bang. The much 
more recently fired .30-06 shells I acquired a few weeks ago, though, 
are giving me pause for thought.

Cheers,
Philip.
257918 "Adam R. Maxwell" <amaxwell@m...> 2016‑02‑07 Re: Brass ferrules from old shell casings
> On Feb 6, 2016, at 18:25, Philip Yarra  wrote:
> 
> bang. The much more recently fired .30-06 shells I acquired a few weeks ago,
though, are giving me pause for thought.

I reload .30-06 by pressing the fired primers out and don't worry about them. If
these are fired cases with a struck primer, I think you're fine; I'd certainly
not worry about hacksawing. If it misfired and someone pulled the bullet, I
suppose you could have a live primer, but chances are slim.

Adam
257919 Phil Schempf <philschempf@g...> 2016‑02‑07 Re: Brass ferrules from old shell casings
Philip-

I likewise have never heard of such a thing.  I have de-primed thousands of
fired rounds of ammunition and have never given it a second thought.  It
sounds like you're not a reloader so let me drone on and excuse me if I'm
beating a dead horse.  A cartridge is de-primied with a die in a press.
The primer is removed with a decapping pin pressed against the inside of
the primer from the mouth of the case.  The pin is necessarily small to
pass through the flash hole of the case, 2-3 mm in diameter I'd guess.
When you have several hundred rounds to do, the process becomes quite
mechanical with no effort to be gentle with spent primers dropping out of
the case into a heap.  Some fellows use progressive presses so all the
various steps of the reloading process are done on a round before it is
removed or ejected from the press.  There are spent primers being driven
out, live primers being seated and powder being fed into the case from a
reservoir of a quarter kilo or so.  I cannot say with certainty that a
primer, live or dead, has never detonated during this process, but in the
litigious society of the US, if this was a concern we would have heard
about it and I haven't.  Reloading manuals and supplies would be covered
with warnings if available at all.

If it would make you rest easier you good give each spent round a dollop of
light oil, WD-40 or something similar to "kill" the primer and let them
stand a while before surgery.  It would be interesting to take a pile of
spent primers and chuck them in a fire to see if you could get a pop out of
them.  I'd be surprised if you could.

Phil
257921 Elf Wrangler <elfwrangler@g...> 2016‑02‑07 Re: Brass ferrules from old shell casings
My gut instinct, after having reloaded and pulled countless shells since I was
12, is that you may be hearing bona fide horror stories from or about people who
have reloaded their own ammo without either knowing what on earth they were
doing, or were knowingly doing so unsafely in order to push some envelope or
other. Some of these eejits create small bombs and seriously injure themselves.

But if you’re dealing with conventionally fired, factory issued ammo then I have
yet to witness or reliably hear of a genuine hazard in reusing the casings in
any craft oriented manner — so long as you personally ascertain that they have
indeed been fired, not pulled.

JL
257922 Bruce Zenge <brucensherry@g...> 2016‑02‑07 Re: Brass ferrules from old shell casings
Philip,
Adding my voice to the chorus.  No need to worry if the primers have a
dent in them.  I have even deprimed live primers without any
detonation, albeit, very gently.  I will also say that I have tried to
kill primers with oil, leaving it for a week or so and the primer
would still fire.

Basically, the advice you have gotten is sound.  Primers will not
detonate more than once.  It's just not in their nature.  No concern
about being called stumpy.  And for what it's worth, the bigger danger
in my opinion with an unfired primer is the risk of eye damage if you
happen to be on the wrong side of it, or of it setting off flammables
nearby.  Might burn your finger, but won't take anything major off.
Always a good idea to wear eye protection when doing anything manual.

My 2 pennies worth and it still is worth what you paid for it.......

Bruce Z
Des Moines, IA
40+ years of reloading and counting....
257923 Chuck Ramsey <chuck-ramsey@l...> 2016‑02‑07 Re: Brass ferrules from old shell casings
Galoots-
I too use casings (brass and stainless steel) from fired ammunition for ferrules
or whatever.  I don't give safety
a second thought if the primer has a dimple in it.  I was cautioned to avoid a
.50 caliber casing that had an undimpled
(and therefore presumed live) primer by the collective wisdom of the porch.  I
agree that expended "brass" is an excellent
source for ferrules and comes in a wide assortment of sizes.  9mm seems to be
the most common available to me in AZ but
.38, .40, .45 are also easily found. .22, .32 and .44 are also available.  Rifle
calibers are less common but also worth collecting.
It's nice to be able to fit the best caliber for the tool in need of a new
handle and ferrule.  I have saw off the rim of .50 caliber
brass for the blade end ferrule (not the end cap) on a draw knife.  There was
enough meat to the brass to file a gentle curved
dome to the replacement handles and files opened up the primer hole to match the
rectangular cross-section of the draw knife tang.
I usually use a plumbers copper tube/pipe cutter to cut the needed length of
ferrule and then slightly taper the inside of the cut
to help get the tight fit I like.  But brass is hard on my tube cutter wheels
and I need to replace the wheels.
Just my $.02.
Good Luck,
chuck
 

________________________________________
From: OldTools  on behalf of Philip Yarra

Sent: Saturday, February 6, 2016 7:25 PM
To: OldTools
Subject: [OldTools] Brass ferrules from old shell casings

Hi all,

I regularly find myself needing to make small ferrules (for example, for
scratch awls, small marking knives, that kind of thing). I like brass
ferrules, but getting hold of brass tube of a suitable size can be
tricky, unless you like paying exorbitant prices.

So when I recently acquired a handful of old 9mm shells - decades ago
fired and abandoned in the dirt - I figured they'd make an ideal source
of brass. Cleaned and cut to size they work very nicely - the slight
taper inside the cartridge works well to give a tight fit when they're
pressed on.

A few weeks later I mentioned it to a friend - one who actually owns a
gun, and shoots regularly. He was alarmed, and warned me that the primer
cap can "often" only partially detonate, and might explode if heated,
jolted, poked, or worked with tools that generate sparks. He stressed
the likelihood of serious injury.

I've never ever heard of such a thing. I can't find anything about it on
the internet. And judging by the sheer number of people who re-use empty
cartridges for craft projects, they haven't either. None of the guides
to hand-loading ammo I could find mention this as a possible hazard. I
guess there are a few people on this list who might know. Can anyone
shed light on this? Is this warning bogus, or am I heading for a future
where I'm nicknamed "Stumpy"?

Currently I'm using a junior hacksaw to work these pieces, so I doubt
I'm generating sparks, or even much heat. The old 9mm shells had been
buried for decades; there's nothing left that could go bang. The much
more recently fired .30-06 shells I acquired a few weeks ago, though,
are giving me pause for thought.

Cheers,
Philip.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.

To change your subscription options:
https://oldtools.swingleydev.com/mailman/listinfo/oldtools

To read the FAQ:
https://swingleydev.com/archive/faq.html

OldTools archive: https://swingleydev.com/ot/

OldTools@s...
257924 Gary Katsanis <gtgrouch@r...> 2016‑02‑07 Re: Brass ferrules from old shell casings
Many shooters reload their cartridge cases, but others merely collect it 
for sale.

There is a class of cartridge cases with a primer type that is unusual 
in the USA, called a Berdan primer.  These are typically considered 
non-reloadable on this side of the Pond. Often, you can obtain large 
quantities of Berdan-primed cartridge cases for next to nothing.

I can post WTB or ISO messages on reloading forums if enough people want 
cases.  Please PM me offline if you're interested.

Gary Katsanis
Albion New York, USA
(with about the most restrictive gun laws in the USA)
257926 Champ Herren <champherren3@g...> 2016‑02‑08 Re: Brass ferrules from old shell casings
Likewise I am going to call bullcrap.  Never heard this.  Anyhow an
interesting point is raised about reusing spent brass.  I could see how
anything from .38 special to .50 caliber machine gunner ammo could be
used.  It ain't hard to find, although the compression nut from a brass
fitting; ala Millrat I feel is still better.

CH
257927 scott grandstaff <scottg@s...> 2016‑02‑08 Re: Brass ferrules from old shell casings
Bullet brass is mostly too small for tool handles
  I have lots of 38 brass, have had for decades (its my caliber)
but I don't think I was ever able to make a decent tool handle from them.
   If you have access to the big 50 cal machine gun cartridges, maybe?

  But shotgun brass? For thin wall ferrules, shotgun brass is pretty 
much ideal.
  20, 16, 12 and 10 all have corresponding handles they fit.
   I think these are 16 ga ferrules

  (Just gently heat the shell until the adhesive lets go.)

http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/hometools/dknife1.jpg

  Large industrial fuses have perfect brass cap ends, but I never 
figured out how to get them free easily.

   Mostly though, compression nuts and flair nuts just rock.
  I have been using those for 30 years.
     yours Scott


-- 
*******************************
    Scott Grandstaff
    Box 409 Happy Camp, Ca  96039
    scottg@s...
    http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/
    http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/hpages/index.html



-----
No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 2016.0.7357 / Virus Database: 4522/11575 - Release Date: 02/07/16

Recent Bios FAQ