Engraving Ammo

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Scorpion
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Engraving Ammo

Post by Scorpion »

My uncle, and Vietnam vet recently passed away. At some point either after he left the service or on leave be brought my dad a 7.62x51 round from the M60 he fired from a Huey.

The round has had the bullet removed and the powder emptied out and the bullet replaced but the primer is un fired. My dad was thinking of getting it engraved and placed in a shadow box with some of his patches and medals (including a Bronze or Silver Star).

Ability to have it engraved aside, I wasn't sure about engraving a casing with an unfired primer. He would be getting the side of the case engraved not near the primer. Has anyone ever engraved a live round or at least one with an unfired primer? I don't think it would really pose any hazard but not sure about having an engraving needle millimeters away from a live primer.

Thought about telling him to find someone who reloads ammo that may be able to pull the primer and then replace it after engraving but I'm not a reloader so I don't know if you can pull an unfired primer and then replace it. He's trying to keep it as authentic as possible.
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Re: Engraving Ammo

Post by glocksmith »

I once heard someone suggest that you can put the empty case - that means containing no bullet or powder - in a vise and hold a blow torch on the primer until it detonates. Then you have an undented primer which is inert.
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HancockCountyHAl
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Re: Engraving Ammo

Post by HancockCountyHAl »

Everything I've ever heard would suggest a few drops of oil into the case would deactivate the primer. You might want to call a primer manufacturer to confirm.
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Mr. Glock
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Re: Engraving Ammo

Post by Mr. Glock »

I may be wrong, but you have to whack a primer to push the internal anvil to crush the contents and create the spark. So that part should be ok with engraving?

If I was engraver, I'd be more worried about any powder or powder residue and the heat of engraving. Yes, you said it was empty but.....
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SMMAssociates
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Re: Engraving Ammo

Post by SMMAssociates »

Just IMHO, but anybody who reloads that caliber should be equipped to pop that primer out of the case and replace it with a spent primer or nothing at all.

The de-priming tool that the reloader uses should be fine, and safe enough if a few simple precautions are followed:

1. Remove the bullet. He should have a "bullet puller" anyway.

2. Point everything someplace safe and punch out the primer.

3. Replace the primer with a spent one, if desired, or some clear silicone adhesive to just fill the hole without being obvious.

Engrave away....

If you wish, the reloader can probably clean and polish the case for you, too - he's probably doing that for his own reloads anyway.

(Note that I'm a pistol caliber reloader, and some of the steps for rifles are a little different. Two friends of mine and I got into reloading about 50 years ago, but before we actually reloaded anything, somebody's mom, wife, or girlfriend objected to having gunpowder in the house and the whole thing went away. I decided to take the jump myself right before Obama's second election, and was able to keep ahead of the craziness by being careful to find components that weren't quite what the cookbooks suggested. Been reading about it since forever, but not a lot of practice until about five years ago.)

I think this is a great idea, btw. Might flake hoplophobes, but.... You should have seen my little sister (both of my sisters are hoplophobes!) when she found out that I was reloading, and storing a couple pounds of powder in the basement. Fortunately, these are standard "smokeless" powder, and not particularly dangerous. Particularly since I quit smoking in 2000. I think there's a lighter here someplace, but the cats don't know where it is. :D

BTW, I'm not sure if there's any danger of heat buildup during the process, but you could encapsulate the whole round in clear acrylic, and just put a little "plaque" in there to "dedicate" it. Probably cheaper than an engraver :)....

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AlanM
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Re: Engraving Ammo

Post by AlanM »

If the bullet is pulled the primer going off isn't going to move the brass very far (if it worries you hold it with a clamp that can stand the heat to add some weight) so just put in your oven and cook it off. 400°F should be enough. YMMV

FY:I Mythbusters cooked off some ammo in an oven and the ONLY round that did ANY damage was a complete BMG 50 round and it was the brass case that cracked the oven window. An empty cartridge with only the primer and maybe a little gunpowder residue isn't going to be dangerous.
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Re: Engraving Ammo

Post by Cruiser »

AlanM wrote:If the bullet is pulled the primer going off isn't going to move the brass very far (if it worries you hold it with a clamp that can stand the heat to add some weight) so just put in your oven and cook it off. 400°F should be enough. YMMV

FY:I Mythbusters cooked off some ammo in an oven and the ONLY round that did ANY damage was a complete BMG 50 round and it was the brass case that cracked the oven window. An empty cartridge with only the primer and maybe a little gunpowder residue isn't going to be dangerous.
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Bruenor
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Re: Engraving Ammo

Post by Bruenor »

I was thinking stand it up in a pan on a coleman camp stove.
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Scorpion
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Re: Engraving Ammo

Post by Scorpion »

Thanks for the info everyone on ideas to handle the primer. Not sure if my dad is going to end up doing anything with it or not. I know he wants to keep it in it's current condition with some nice patina and engraving may not show up well anyway.
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Re: Engraving Ammo

Post by dingode »

Just a FYI, I was thinking of getting some of the brass from my dad's graveside service engraved and I came across this company, https://www.veritasmachiningllc.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They do laser engraving and such. I think they quoted $40 to laser engrave around 6 pieces of brass.
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