Firing 308 win with only a primer

[Sev308]

Hello,

After resizing some cases, I checked them out in my rifle and the bolt required some force to close down. Some of them require some force but close completely, and a few others just simply take too much force. I realized after that my lee die was not set properly and I needed to adjust it. Unfortunately, I primed some of those cases without knowing.

Would it be an issue if the bolt closes with some force? Should I reload those?

Also for the once that are hard to close, I was thinking of just loading them up and shooting the primer off without a powder charge or bullet to make them safe and reload them again after (to not waste my brass). Would that cause any issues to the rifle? I did some searching online, some were saying it was completely fine and others said that it might jam the bolt.

I don't want to decap them for safety reasons even though some of you might say it's completely fine and you've done it hundreds of times. I just don't want to take that risk.

Thanks!

 

[XLR308]

Depriming a live primer is not an issue and have done it many times just take all the normal safety cautions you would when priming a case.
If you still dont feel confortable with it it wont hurt anything to discharge it but is just a waste.
You could also pull the decap pin from your die and bump the shoulder back.

 

[ICU22250]

Be a shame to waste primers these days...

 

[Sev308]

I know... but I mean it's only 7 cases, so 7 rounds is not much. I'd rather be safe than sorry. Also thankfully there is still quite a bit of primers up in Canada, so i'm not too worried on losing a few.

 

[6.5SH]

The shape of the expanders on Lee are all over the place so you'd need to closely examine if this is possible.

The Lee expander and decapping pin are one piece but depending on the length of the expander you may be to raise it so the pin won't enter the flash hole. The rub here is you need to ensure the expander is below the neck or you will have a stuck case.

If it can't or it looks too close to tell, just sacrifice the 7 primers, isn't worth trashing a die over.

 

[stewarmy01]

Deleted

 

[Sev308]

Like @6.5SH said, I have that exact issue with the Lee die. So it's a bit hard to set the decapping pin correctly. I think i'm just going to fire off the primers. Not much to loose.

Thanks for the replies!

 

[XLR308]

The shape of the expanders on Lee are all over the place so you'd need to closely examine if this is possible.

The Lee expander and decapping pin are one piece but depending on the length of the expander you may be to raise it so the pin won't enter the flash hole. The rub here is you need to ensure the expander is below the neck or you will have a stuck case.

If it can't or it looks too close to tell, just sacrifice the 7 primers, isn't worth trashing a die over.

Your right and i forgot the lee decap pin isnt removable, i havent used them in awhile.

 

[stewarmy01]

Snake your barrel afterwards, firing primers only leaves all the ash from the primer in your barrel.

 

[stewarmy01]

Your right and i forgot the lee decap pin isnt removable, i havent used them in awhile.

That’s why I deleted my post, Lee decap pin has the neck expander as one piece

 

[proff49]

Buy an extra rod and remove the decapping pin. Next time something like this happens (and it will) you can resize without depriming. Did this with my lee collet dies.

 

[rustyinbend]

I had the same concern, but got talked into trying. I'm now over 100 de-primed live primers with no issues whatsoever. I screw up now ... with a clear conscience. De-capping is WAY safer than trying to size with live primers (that frequently popped out anyway). Some say it's fine, but sizing with live primers didn't work for me. Safe and slow de-priming did.