Any one have problems with Rem 9 1/2 primers

[grubbylabs]

I have had about 6 or so for my 308 not fire, any one have any ideas? There is a great strike mark on the primer from the firing pin. I have even rotated the rounds and hit them several time to no avail.

I would love to hear any ideas on this, I am new to reloading so any thing is a possibility.

[TXGunNut]

Before the latest shortage the 9 1/2 was my standard LR primer. Never had an issue. I recently purchased a box of RP factory loads and one had a bad primer, very odd. Assuming you're handling and storing the primers properly so hope you didn't buy a bunch of them, I'd consider the whole lot suspect with a failure rate like this.

[grubbylabs]

They sit high on a shelf and Idaho is the definition of dry, in fact it creates lots of problems with static cling on my powders and what not. I take them and dump them upside down right into the primer tray. I don't have any issues with my LG or magnum pistol primers and I have CCI and WLPS and no issues with either of them.

Should I trust them again or steer clear of them. I kinda get the Idea that CCI is the "primer to have" in the hand loading community, do they generally not have problems?

[SDiver40]

I have never had a problem using them. Thats mostly what i use too. Check for moisture, excess oil on your brass and seating depth. Make sure they are seated in the brass all the way is a common problem.
Other than that I cant offer anything more
Tom

[Clark]

Some engineer died.
Another engineer bought the house and bought the reloading gear.
10 years went by and when the garage got cleaned out, I got the reloading gear.
100 pounds of stuff I don't need, but there was a primer shortage this year... the Rem 9 1/2 primers are working out well, even if they are a dozen years old

[jamesicus]

Remington 9 1/2 Large Rifle and 9 1/2M Magnum Large Rifle primers can cause problems because of the height of the primer assembly: cup height + anvil leg protrusion.

Here are the nominal measurements (very little variance) I recently obtained for fifty each Large Rifle primer assemblies (cup height + anvil leg protrusion) - CCI 200, Federal 210 and Remington 9 1/2:

CCI ........... .125"
Federal ...... .127"
Remington .. .132"

The Remington 9 1/2 anvil legs protrude prominently:

As a consequence, I was having great difficulty fully seating Remington 9 1/2 primers in the ammunition I was reloading (Winchester brass) for my CZ 550 cal. 30/06 bolt action rifle using my RCBS hand priming tool - even when squeezing with all my might (albeit my hand strength has declined with advancing years). In consequence the seated primers often stood proud above the cartridge case base - in some instances I could only close the bolt with great difficulty. I now only use CCI Large Rifle primers which has resolved the problem.

JP

[grubbylabs]

Thanks I saw your other reply as well. I think I will be sticking with CCI primers.

[Clark]

Depth .... ................ min .. max .min..max
small rifle primer pocket .117 .123 .1730 .1745
small pistol primer pocket .117 .123 .1730 .1745
Large rifle primer pocket .125 .132 .2085 .2100
Large pistol primer pocket .117 .123 .2085 .2100


Height min max Diameter min max
Small rifle primers .115 .125 .1745 .1765
small pistol primers .115 .125 .1745 .1765
large rifle primers .123 .133 .2105 .2130
large pistol primers .115 .125 .2100 .2120"

SAAMI specifications on primers and primer pockets per "Sinclair International's Precision Reloading & Shooting Handbook" 10th edition 1999

[Nevmavrick]

When I started shooting trap, I bought a carton of CCIs as I had had great luck with them for about 15years. I had 9 failures in that carton, so changed to Winchester, for the next 300K(no misprint)
With rifles, I had NO misfires that were not MY fault, for 50 years. In that time, almost 5K were Remington 9 1/2 or 9 1/2Ms. I've since had 3 failures, out of 6K, from Remington 6 1/2 and 7 1/2! The rest of the primers I've used have been CCI and Federal, and the count is about 100K. I've sent a few downrange with Magtech starters, and I keep waiting for Wolf to pop up locally.
If a primer is too high for the pocket it's in, I would be concerned about slam-fire, but I don't load for any auto-rifles. I've never had a high primer for the pistols, unless it's my fault, and I soon fix that. I prime with a Lee tool.
Humidity hasn't been MY problem, either, as I live in Nevada, and I look like a prune(albiet a chubby one)
I don't even think about a primer failure any more. My primers get stored in a dark, cool basement, and because of the shortages recently, everything seems to be new, so the transportation, and storage before me is prolly not going to affect anything.
Have fun,
Gene

[Hog Buster]

Welcome to the club, same dog bit me this morning. Two out of 20 FTF in my 30/06 Model 70. Rounds loaded yesterday with Remington 9 1/2 primers less than 1 year old.

Last FTF with reloads I had was about 30 years ago. Thousands of reloaded rounds shot since then with no problem. However no Remington 9 1/2s used in them.

Thank God I only loaded 60 rounds using this trash. Dumped the 240 left and will not buy them again.

[reloader28]

I used to ues CCI's but didnt really like how hard they were. Never had a problem tho.

Then the shortage hit and all we could get were Rem. I started using them and have had very good results. No problems at all with FTF. I have had a few that didnt seat as deep Jamesicus talked about, but with my primer pockets reamed to the same depth they were all deep enough.

Other than that, no problems at all.

[Hog Buster]

Here’s an update on my last post concerning Remington 9 1/2 primers.

Went ot the range today to shoot up reloads with bad primers I discovered a couple of days ago. Out of a box of 20 I had 10 FTF. Incredible! I was shocked beyond belief. I thought that 2 or 3 might not fire, but 10. All reloaded with Remington 9 1/2s.

Yeah, I know, a light strike problem with the rifle, not so, check out the photo of the FTF primers. Plus the following 20 fired, loaded with Wolf primers, worked just fine.

870 problems and now primer problems, what’s up with Remington and where does it end?

[TXGunNut]

Wow! Has anyone contacted Remington? I know they must be aware of it by now but product is apparently still on the shelf.

[Hog Buster]

OK. Called Remington this AM. Was told that they knew of no problems with 9 1/2s. Told that the only problem that had been encountered was from some guy seating his primers too deep and desensitized them. Said he had seated them to .008 and had desensitized them. Told me .005 is max. Said that if I would send them the dud rounds they would check them for me. Hmmm, .005 thousandths is OK and .008 thousandths desensitized them, not much room for error there.

Not really buying this I reloaded 20 or so rounds with several other brands of primers. Used all the odd ones that had been laying around, some for years. I really crushed them into the reloads. Some even had machine marks on them from the primer ram. The depth averaged .011 to .013. Over twice the recommended depth. Shot them and guess what?....... They all went bang. Even a couple of 9 1/2’s that dated back to the 80’s were in this mix.

Not being able to prove this desensitizing theory with my quick test, I think I’ll just avoid Remington primers.

On a side note I noticed that the anvil legs on the 9 1/2’s that gave me problems were exactly even with the cup. Not like the one pictured in an above post which clearly shows the anvil legs protruding from it.

Much ado about nothing? Probably so, but it kept me busy this morning and I might have even learned something.

[TXGunNut]

De-sensitizing by seating deeper? I think my BS detector is going off. If anything I suspect the opposite is true. I used to seat my Winchester primers a little deeper in my .38 match loads fired in PPC open guns that as a rule have notoriously light hammer falls. Don't know what they hope to learn from your loads, did they ask for a lot number?

[ramiriz60]

I also have experienced misfires from Remington LR primers both reg. & magnum in a 30-30 win handi- rifle, and a TC Contender 30 -30 win. both guns had good primer strikes, but had many misfires. the primers measure .133" high and my Rem - Peters Brass primer pockets are only .125" deep. primers had to be seated hard or they would be proud. I used to like Rem. primers but no more. I wish federal would catch up, and be available again. I loaded over 25,000 rounds with Federals and no misfires. The only problem I ever had with them was in a 223 Rem. Federal SR primers were too soft and had blowbye & piercing in some. I swiched to Federal SR Magnum primers, end of problem. I thought I was all alone on this primer problem, so thanks a lot for letting me know there is a problem with Remington Primers.

Have a good day Ron

[grubbylabs]

Wow I guess I opened a small can of worms here. I am glad it is not an obvious problem with my reloading technique. But kind of a bummer that all my primers are now suspect.

[Hog Buster]

Yeah they asked for lot number. It was 1505. Will I send my duds to them? No, I feel it’s just a waste of time. What could I get out of it? Another box of primers that I wouldn’t use. Not worth the effort.

While there’s tons of BS on this site it’s nice to know that if you are having problems you might be able to hook up with someone having the same problem. Maybe even resolving it.

[grubbylabs]

I would use them if they sent me new ones I would just mark them so I know what they are, that way they only go to the range and not hunting.

[TXGunNut]

I suspect they know there's a problem and have taken steps to correct it. I had great service from 9 1/2's for years, still like RP cases and sometimes their bullets. Might be awhile before I buy their primers again.

[trailrider121]

well I tried to test some rounds in the 30-06 using RL17 @ 57.5 gr ocw. But had problems that I've never encountered. New Winchester Brass. Had 5 duds. Any ideas? I pulled one and the primer never fired. I've used these primers before and had one dud, But 5?? Help...

Primers Rem 9 1/2 LR

I used Hornady 1 shot lube, FL the brass, tumbled, fire formed them, then neck sized them with Lee collet die. Head space?

[wncchester]

"Even a couple of 9 1/2’s that dated back to the 80’s were in this mix."

Those are still like new.

Pushing primers deeper than 3-4 thou below the case head is a great way to crack or crush the pellet or, worse, squeeze the explosive stuff out from between the cap and anvil, effectively killing it stone dead.

[crowbeaner]

The foregoing problems would be minimized if you CUT THE PRIMER POCKETS TO A UNIFORM DEPTH!!!!! This simple but PITA step assures the same depth shot-to-shot and makes the high primer problem less of an issue. I use a LOT of RP primers of all types, and the rifle ammo gets the pockets cut for best SD and ES consistency. Since I seldom buy factory ammo anymore, the FTF falls squarely on ME. I use CCI and WW primers as well in certain loads, all depending on the bullet and powder choice.

[TXGunNut]

Welcome to the asylum, Trailrider121. No idea what's going on but crowbeaner has a good point. As I often say, "don't go looking for a zebra, it may just be a grade horse" . I've had great service from RP primers, hope to use them again some day.