July 1, 2010, 09:55 PM | #1 |
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primer ?
I just loaded 50 rounds of 300wsm and had 3 not go off. should i toss out all of the primers and buy fresh? or is it worth it to test some primers ie. put primer into the brass and pull the trigger on a bunch of them? also, is it possible to seat the primer too low? im using a rcbs handpriming tool.
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July 1, 2010, 10:25 PM | #2 |
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Did you determine why they did not go bang? Did the primer have the normal depression the other that did go boom did? If yes did you see any bullet movement? Is there powder in the cases? did you try a second firing of these duds?
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July 1, 2010, 10:33 PM | #3 |
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You can't seat a primer too low (as long as you're not crushing/deforming them), but you can definitely seat them too high. When that happens, the force of the firing pin just seats the primer further into the case rather than igniting it.
If a second strike on the primer sets it off, that's a good indication that the primer was too high to begin with. |
July 2, 2010, 06:39 AM | #4 |
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I completely agree with ScottRiqi! When I was using a lee pro 100 (thank god I switched to Dillon), I had a bunch of 38 special loads that did just that in my ruger blackhawk.
If the primer is not seated fully in the reloading process, your firing pin will do it for you in the firing process. Point being, if your round goes off on the second try, its probably a primer seating issue. -George |
July 2, 2010, 08:25 AM | #5 |
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elongatus - what brand and type of primer did you use? Which powder/load are you using? Are you squeezing the handle of the hand primer all the way to the stop?
Primers of all makes rarely if ever go bad, so there's actually no such thing as a "fresh" vs unfresh primer. It's even hard to kill them with common chemicals (oil, WD-40, water, etc.) As the others have said, the most likely culprit is usually the seating depth. |
July 2, 2010, 12:34 PM | #6 |
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Another possibility...
Elongatus--Agree that Mal H. has probably nailed it.
There is another possibility, and that is some sort of issue with yr firing pin (gunked up somehow) or firing pin spring (slightly weak somehow.) Seating depth is easy to correct. I'd also disassemble the bolt of the rifle in question, check clean and re-lube the firing pin and spring. That's also pretty easy. Put that in the "Can't hurt, might help" category.
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July 2, 2010, 02:44 PM | #7 |
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thanks for the input
i'm using cci lrg rifle mag with varget. i bought new primers reloaded 50 and they all went off. the firing pin looks fine. so, luckily this was not repeatable. i have not tried to pull the trigger twice on them yet. i was planing on pulling them apart and reloading them, but i'm a bit afraid to put them in a hammer style puller and bang them around. is it possible for them to go off while pulling? |
July 2, 2010, 03:00 PM | #8 |
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I think you're right to listen to that little voice of caution in this instance. A primer that has been indented by a firing pin is a little closer to going off than an undented one. If the primers are good, and there is a very good chance they are, you might be taking an unnecessary risk with an inertial puller.
Either try to fire them again in your rifle or pull the bullets with a collet puller (or a pair of pliers if you don't care about saving the bullet intact). |
July 2, 2010, 04:43 PM | #9 |
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I've used a lot of primers over the last 37 years.......
CCI primers are amoung the best. You could have bad primers if they were left in bad places for a long time. But I'm sure they were good when they left the factory. If you look diligently enough you'll eliminate the problem. I trust my reloads much more than factory ammo. You should be able to do likewise once you've solved this.
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July 2, 2010, 05:37 PM | #10 |
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"When I was using a lee pro 100 (thank god I switched to Dillon), I had a bunch of 38 special loads that did just that in my ruger blackhawk."
198, are you saying your failure to fully seat the primers in "a bunch of 38 special loads" was due to a failure of your "lee pro 100"? Interesting. |
July 2, 2010, 06:16 PM | #11 |
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He might be saying just that, and I can believe it.
I love my RCBS Rockchucker press, but the priming mechanism on it is ... well, it's crap, no other way to say it. No matter how hard you try, it will not seat a primer easily or consistently. I gave up trying long ago and switched to an RCBS hand primer and never looked back. If the Lee press has a similar problem, I would not say it was the person behind the press who has the problem. It is the press and only the press. |
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