have about 50# of spent primers. Do scrap yards accept them just as scrap brass, or is there an issue with the spent chemicals in em?
Also anyone know what the going rate is?
No clue. They are brass but not completely since they are often nickel plated. The main problem is finding a scrap yard to take them.
Personally I would setup a little forge and melt them down and cast into a paperweight or something else interesting. Keep it, gift it, sell it for more than the brass weight. Or cast into ingots and sell them as a scrap yard would probably be more interested in that than primer cups that will be a loss should they get dumped accidentally.
I've read that some scrap yards aren't taking primers OR cases anymore due to getting live primers and rounds mixed in and they just don't want to mess with them. Whether that's true or not IDK. I'm wondering too since I have a bit of each myself.
Same here read a lot of places don't want to deal with them. Part of the reason I would just make my own forge to melt them down. Once that is done it's no longer scrap primers but brass. You can then sell the brass or do any other number of things with it.
A propane tank, some steel tubing, refractory cement, steel bucket, large coffee can, along with a few other things and a serviceable smelting furnace can be made. Have seriously considered doing something like this myself and do a lost casting of some stuff. A cast brass AR upper and lower would be very interesting even to use as a paperweight. Get an 80% lower kit and you could easily machine one out for use since you can make the casting very close if done correctly. But that will have to wait till I have someplace to do it.
About a year ago I took a coffee can of them to standard iron and metal I had a bunch of brass cases also.
Usually my bad cases I smash the mouths shut so some fool does not get stuck with them thinking they are good.
Make sure no good primers in there and run a magnet through them some are magnetic.
At least some of mine were.
I have been selling to them and buying from them since the 80's they have taken everything I have to scrap.