I have some old Remington 120 gr 6.5 Rem mag ammo that's not burning all the powder when I shoot it and I'm afraid to keep using it. (squib?) I plan to pull the bullets, dump the powder, and reload it. How do I deprime unfired primers? Thanks

Pull the bullet, dump the powder, put the case in the gun, close the bolt and pull the trigger. Now you have fired primers.

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If Elmer didn't say it, it probably ain't true.

Thanks 333, I thought of that but I have ten boxes and I am looking for a short cut rather than do that 200 times. If there is no other way that's what I'll do.

If you don't mind cleaning the cases afterwards, spray a little WD-40 in them and let them sit for about an hour.

Nashcat

Why pop the primers??? Do you suspect they are the problem? If not, remove your deprimer pin and resize the cases and load 'em and shoot 'em. If you're not sure, reload a couple and see how the primers do.

Thanks for your help. My son had some of this ammo also. He pulled the bullets yesterday-80 rounds. He says there was some moisture in the cases and that most of the bullets are not reuseable due to corrosion. He said there was some sort of chemical reaction which caused pressure to build up in the cases. There was a "pop" of escaping gas when he pulled the bullets. This ammo has been stored in an air conditiond place in the original boxes. I have military 30-06 ammo that's over 40 years old stored in the same place which shoots fine. This 6.5 mag ammo was bought when Remington stopped making it so it's no where near 40 years old. Strange.

Pull the bullets and then soak the cases in soap/water. You want to neutralize whatever chemical reaction might be going on anyway. After a wash cycle, rinse in hot water and let dry.

I have a universal decapper die which just knock out the primer, no sizing. RCBS offers one for about $12. And you get the full, three die plastic box with it too. Comes in handy for knocking spend primers out of dirty range pickups before washing them -- so you don't scratch your dies.

IF by some odd chance, the primer does pop (not likely) the charge is directed up into an oversized die and then down toward the ram. If your hands are out of the way and you're wearing safety glasses like the books say you should, this "pop" is going to be pretty harmless.

BUT there's little chance of the primer surviving a soak for a couple hours in some dish soap and water.

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OK guys, Thanks. I had an email from my son this morning. He got it done as you reccommended Genghis. He already had the depriming tool.