Will a long soak in WD40 kill the primer of a bullet? ?

Question

if i take my winchester 9mm hollow tip "luger" an put it in a bath of WD40 will that kill the primer and make it a dud?

if so how long should it take for the WD40 to kill the primer?

Answer 1

The only way to know if you succeeded would be to fire the round, which defeats the purpose. Why not visit a gun shop, and ask the proprietor if he, or one of his friends, could seat a bullet in a couple of empty 9mm cases with fired primers. This would provide you with dummy bullets you KNOW cannot be fired because there is no powder and the primer has a firing pin dent. Most gun shop owners would only charge you a buck or two to do this, although they might have to wait a few days for a few spare moments in which to make them up for you..

Answer 2

WD 40 will "kill" primers. Spray the primer end of the cartridge and it may not discharge. Any oil is capable of ruining a primer...thats why we teach people not ot overlubricate carry guns or guns that are stored loaded

"time" depends on how wet you get it and if the primer is sealed or not.

Answer 3

Yes it can but that's not guaranteed unless you pull the bullet first, dump the powder and then spray a generous amount of WD-40 directly into the cartridge assuring that the primer is thoroughly soaked.  I'd let it pool within the cartridge and allow it to stand that way for half-a-day or so.  Then replace the bullet minus the powder and you should have a 'dud.'  Or once the casing is devoid of the bullet and powder you could load the casing into a gun, point it in a safe direction (preferably at the gun range) and detonate the primer. This way for sure you have a dud.

H

Answer 4

I wouldn't count on it killing the primer in a loaded round.  The factory goes to great lengths to insure their ammunition is as impervious to the elements and chemicals as possible.  I also wouldn't trust any ammo that had been exposed to oil, chemicals or long immersion in water.  

  

Answer 5

no, it wont. look here:http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot39.h...

you need to get it inside the primer to properly disable it.

Answer 6

Pull off the bullet and dump the powder of several shells. stand them in a small pot of WD40 and test each one to see how long before one fails. All bullets aren't equal though, since no two shells and no two primercaps are exactly alike. I don't know why you want to see if WD40 will kill bullet primers, and I would never trust any primer to work or not work under any circumstance. I would always assume that since it is a primer, there is a good chance it will fire and do what it's supposed to do to whatever's downrange.

Answer 7

Don't bet your life either way.

A former co-worker told me that once the chief of police told him that a certain person was alive because WD-40 had killed the primer of the bullet the chief had tried to shoot him with.

Being the curious sort, Steve sprayed a lot of WD-40, in a jar lid, and set up half a dozen factory .38 SPL cartridges.  He left them sitting on the case heads submerged in WD-40 until the WD-40 evaporated, refilled it and let them sit a while longer.

When Steve loaded the cartridges in his revolver, every one fired on first attempt, and none seemed any the worse for their immersion.

So you pays your money and taks your chances.

I believe the safest thing to say is that WD-40 CAN kill primers, but it might not get to the primer to kill it.

If you are wanting a deactivated cartridge, finde a reloader and get him to assemble you a dummy cartridge, with a fired primer and no powder.

Doc