What's the worst case? Obviously that the primer goes off and shoots things, possibly even pieces of the die, outward. It isn't going to sever your carotid, but VERY small amounts of force will damage your eyes to the point that you get a forever eyepatch. Now consider how much higher or lower that unpredictable risk is for every action that involves primers.....most of them involve gunpowder as well. Again, an uncontained brass case will simply rupture, possibly after forcing the press ram down at great speed, but it still isn't producing ballistic injuries on a scale beyond what will require at most a few stitches OR severe damage to your eyes.
To me, the take-away isn't "be super careful when de-capping live primers" but "be super careful when RELOADING AND ALWAYS WEAR EYE PROTECTION". Julian Hatcher famously observed that in all of his destructive testing of guns, most injuries to a shooter would've been avoided with gloves and eye protection.
To me, the take-away isn't "be super careful when de-capping live primers" but "be super careful when RELOADING AND ALWAYS WEAR EYE PROTECTION". Julian Hatcher famously observed that in all of his destructive testing of guns, most injuries to a shooter would've been avoided with gloves and eye protection.
