CCI primer failure

Poconolg · January 15, 2016, 05:11 PM

I have been using Winchester primers for years. They were not available so I purchased CCI primers. They were small pistol primers. I had 5% failed ignition with them. Is this something that is normal for CCI primers? I am using a Glock in 40 SW.

wogpotter · January 15, 2016, 05:20 PM

Not a Glock owner but My preferred brand for pistol & rifle primers is CCI.
I've never heard of such a thing.

condor bravo · January 15, 2016, 06:19 PM

Most discussions about CCI primers are with the rifle primers and it is well established that those are harder than most. Perhaps the handgun primers are harder as well, causing the misfires, possibly due to light firing pin strikes. Follow ups to your post will probably confirm the harder primers.

brasscollector · January 15, 2016, 06:25 PM

CCI is my preferred brand for primers, just is. I have loaded and shot a lot (thousands) of CCI sm pistol primers and never had one fail me. Of course most of them were loaded in 38spec brass and shot out of a 357mag revolver. What did the primers look like on the rounds that F-T-F?

flyguy958 · January 15, 2016, 07:01 PM

They are tougher to seat, that causes the problem.

243winxb · January 15, 2016, 07:08 PM

Not seated fully, because >

Quote:

They are tougher to seat, that causes the problem.

Steve in PA · January 15, 2016, 07:19 PM

Been reloading for almost 25 years now, using nothing but CCI primers; large, small, standard, magnum, pistol and rifle and cannot ever recall having a failure based on the primer.

Longshot4 · January 15, 2016, 07:28 PM

Primer failure to me is some thing that I am not failure with. Although I have been loading shotgun, pistol and rifles since the mid 70s. I have found problems with the case pockets and I have found no powder ounce but it wasn't my loading.

So what can you tell us about your process of how you handle primers?
The more the better.

Grump · January 15, 2016, 07:37 PM

Check striker spring and for free travel of striker without any drag.

The only time I have personally seen CCI primers (SPP in that case) fail was with a revolver that had the strain screw backed out too much. The hammer was as easy to cock as a worn out cap gun.

The depth of the firing pin indent on the failed primer can provide a great clue as to whether weak strike is the problem. CCI's (and everyone else's) manufacturing processes and QC makes even one empty primer cup way more rare than an honest politician.

MarkGlazer · January 15, 2016, 09:24 PM

I've loaded thousands of rounds with CCI, small pistol They are very easy to work with and I consider them to be the most reliable primer I own. I load defensive rounds with CCI and won't use anything else.

Last year, on the range, my wife suffered the first and only failure of a CCI primer (CZ 75 P01) since I began loading 3 years ago. A second strike failed to ignite. I was surprised but then again, not. Sooner or later a failure is going to take place. A guess this is why we practice failure drills.

I have an inventory of CCI (pistol and rifle), Tula (pistol), Remington (pistol) and S&B (rifle,as yet untested). Tula has the highest failure rate that I've experience thus far, good for practice rounds. I've not had any issues with Remington. S&B was available at Cabelas last year at a price I couldn't resist and after reading a number of reviews decided the purchase was worthy.

If you have future issues with CCI, I would look for assistance from your local gunsmith after validating your seating depth.

Good luck.

Longshot4 · January 15, 2016, 09:27 PM

There you go. Clean the firing pin channel and check the spring they only last so long. I'm with the Grump or is it grumpy?

Last year one of my boys were having problems with the Kel-teck 9mm not firing. I'm going to have to talk to him about that.

Gadawg88 · January 15, 2016, 09:28 PM

As others have already said, it is not the primers. Either not fully seated (most likely) or a gun issue.

9x45 · January 15, 2016, 10:32 PM

OP, what press are you loading on? I have run over 200,000 CCI's thru my Glocks since 92, and not one, not ever an issue. Either you have a press issue or weak firing pin spring, or debris on the counter bore spot face. It's not a primer issue.

As Steve already said 25 years of CCI, and I have loaded tens of thousands of small magnum pistol also.

Nick_C_S · January 15, 2016, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Been reloading for almost 25 years now, using nothing but CCI primers; large, small, standard, magnum, pistol and rifle and cannot ever recall having a failure based on the primer.

I've been loading for 31 years. And I've used nothing but CCI until this last (and still ongoing) shortage. Now I also use Winchester for my competition 38 - because it's had a trigger job (Win's are a little softer). But other than those very small exceptions, I have never used anything other than CCI. They are still my first choice (except for my aforementioned race revolver). And I have never had a problem with CCI primers - ever. Not even one failure - zero. We're talking some 200,000 rounds, if I was forced to guess.

I would be inclined to look elsewhere for the problem.

Reloader270 · January 16, 2016, 11:17 AM

I had similar problems with CCI primers in my .357Mag Marlin Rifle. There is nothing wrong with the CCI primers, but we must accept that firing pin springs do vary in the amount of force it produces. I had switched to Federal 205 SR primers since and never had one misfire.

cw308 · January 16, 2016, 12:32 PM

I also agree CCl Primers are harder but will fire as lone as the firearm firing pin spring isn't weak.

BigJimP · January 16, 2016, 05:32 PM

For the last 10 yrs, I've been reloading and shooting about 25,000 handgun rounds a year ..exclusively with CCI primers ( small and large pistol ) ....in 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 acp, .38 spl, .357 Mag and .44 Mag...and probably 75% of it has been in small pistol caliber primers.../ CCI have been virtually the only primer I've used in many, many years....although I did buy some Winchesters during the shortage a few yrs ago...and I wasn't impressed with Win primers.

and I have not had a single mis-fire .....using CCI primers...

Yes, its pretty well know that CCI primers are a little harder - but they have never been a problem in any of my S&W revolvers, my Sig Sauers or any of my 1911's...
-------------------
light primer strikes are typically an indication of a weak mainspring or weak hammer strut spring..../ clean the firing pin and replace the firing pin spring as well...( if a glock has one...I'm not a glock fan ..so I don't own one -- or any stryker fired handgun)...

you may also have a depth seating problem on your press...

erikk · January 17, 2016, 07:51 PM

`I had the same problem ( I run 3 SDB presses) 2 set up for LPP the other SPP. No failures with the 2 LPP (NOT CCI) I called CCi & was basicially blown off as user error. I was loading 40 s&w's & was getting 2 duds out of every 16 round mag. Well I have been reloading since the early 50's and this is the first time I have ever had any duds and I DO know how to seat a primer. It is also the first time I have used CCI's & will be the last

cw308 · January 17, 2016, 10:10 PM

erikk, I'll bet you don't uniform your primer pockets & bottom your primers.

erikk · January 18, 2016, 07:56 AM

Nope on one and yes on 2 even with 3 hammer strikes they failed to fire. All other brands of primers worked fine for for over 60 years both large and small from SPP,LPP, SRP,LRP magnum & regular in everything from 380 to 45-70 loaded on Progressive, SS presses and Turret .

chiefr · January 18, 2016, 01:07 PM

Been using CCI since they started making them and never had or heard of such problems.

cw308 · January 18, 2016, 02:00 PM

erikk, how did the pin strike look. After 3 strikes l would think it would go off. Just never happened to me doesn't mean it can't. erikk uniforming your pockets look into it can make seating better & the best way to clean up the pocket once uniformed.

mineralman55 · January 19, 2016, 08:32 AM

A few weeks ago I had my first ever primer failure in 30 years of reloading. CCI 500 small pistol in a 9mm. I pulled the trigger and the gun went "pfffst" (yes, it did

). Stopped, cleared the weapon, inspected everything (the bullet was still in the case) went back to shooting. All was well. When I got home, I pulled the round apart and there was the proper amount of powder, so yes, it was a primer failure.
I looked thru my records and saw I had bought these primers years ago and always stored properly. They're not from the current period of buying frenzy and subsequent increase in production which could be blamed for lowering product quality.
My point is, stuff happens. Okay, I had a primer failure, but I'm not going to stop using CCI. When you consider the billions of primers that are produced, one is going to slip thru sooner or later.

TimSr · January 19, 2016, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Not seated fully, because >
Quote:
They are tougher to seat, that causes the problem.

x3

OP didn't mention the priming method, but if you rely on the right "feel", you need a felt increase.

1100 tac · January 20, 2016, 04:10 PM

What Tim and Mineralman said.

January 15, 2016, 05:11 PM	#1
Poconolg Senior Member Join Date: April 5, 2015 Posts: 171	CCI primer failure I have been using Winchester primers for years. They were not available so I purchased CCI primers. They were small pistol primers. I had 5% failed ignition with them. Is this something that is normal for CCI primers? I am using a Glock in 40 SW.

January 15, 2016, 05:20 PM	#2
wogpotter Senior Member Join Date: September 27, 2004 Posts: 4,811	Not a Glock owner but My preferred brand for pistol & rifle primers is CCI. I've never heard of such a thing. __________________ Allan Quatermain: “Automatic rifles. Who in God's name has automatic rifles”? Elderly Hunter: “That's dashed unsporting. Probably Belgium.”

January 15, 2016, 06:19 PM	#3
condor bravo Senior Member Join Date: August 23, 2014 Location: Nevada/Ariz/CA Posts: 1,753	Most discussions about CCI primers are with the rifle primers and it is well established that those are harder than most. Perhaps the handgun primers are harder as well, causing the misfires, possibly due to light firing pin strikes. Follow ups to your post will probably confirm the harder primers. __________________ Ouch, the dreaded "M-1 thumb", you just know it will happen eventually, so why not do it now and get it over with?? Last edited by condor bravo; January 16, 2016 at 12:10 AM.

January 15, 2016, 06:25 PM	#4
brasscollector Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2015 Posts: 526	CCI is my preferred brand for primers, just is. I have loaded and shot a lot (thousands) of CCI sm pistol primers and never had one fail me. Of course most of them were loaded in 38spec brass and shot out of a 357mag revolver. What did the primers look like on the rounds that F-T-F? __________________ He may look dumb, but that's just a disguise. -Charlie Daniels

January 15, 2016, 07:01 PM	#5
flyguy958 Senior Member Join Date: June 27, 2009 Location: SC Posts: 200	They are tougher to seat, that causes the problem. __________________ You can have your own opinion but you can't make up your own facts !

January 15, 2016, 07:19 PM	#7
Steve in PA Senior Member Join Date: October 14, 1999 Location: Northeastern PA Posts: 756	Been reloading for almost 25 years now, using nothing but CCI primers; large, small, standard, magnum, pistol and rifle and cannot ever recall having a failure based on the primer. __________________ Steve

January 15, 2016, 07:28 PM	#8
Longshot4 Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2014 Posts: 868	Primer failure to me is some thing that I am not failure with. Although I have been loading shotgun, pistol and rifles since the mid 70s. I have found problems with the case pockets and I have found no powder ounce but it wasn't my loading. So what can you tell us about your process of how you handle primers? The more the better.

January 15, 2016, 07:37 PM	#9
Grump Member Join Date: October 22, 2008 Posts: 73	Check striker spring and for free travel of striker without any drag. The only time I have personally seen CCI primers (SPP in that case) fail was with a revolver that had the strain screw backed out too much. The hammer was as easy to cock as a worn out cap gun. The depth of the firing pin indent on the failed primer can provide a great clue as to whether weak strike is the problem. CCI's (and everyone else's) manufacturing processes and QC makes even one empty primer cup way more rare than an honest politician.

January 15, 2016, 09:24 PM	#10
MarkGlazer Senior Member Join Date: February 19, 2013 Location: Atlanta, Ga Posts: 329	I've loaded thousands of rounds with CCI, small pistol They are very easy to work with and I consider them to be the most reliable primer I own. I load defensive rounds with CCI and won't use anything else. Last year, on the range, my wife suffered the first and only failure of a CCI primer (CZ 75 P01) since I began loading 3 years ago. A second strike failed to ignite. I was surprised but then again, not. Sooner or later a failure is going to take place. A guess this is why we practice failure drills. I have an inventory of CCI (pistol and rifle), Tula (pistol), Remington (pistol) and S&B (rifle,as yet untested). Tula has the highest failure rate that I've experience thus far, good for practice rounds. I've not had any issues with Remington. S&B was available at Cabelas last year at a price I couldn't resist and after reading a number of reviews decided the purchase was worthy. If you have future issues with CCI, I would look for assistance from your local gunsmith after validating your seating depth. Good luck. __________________ non ministrari sed ministrare

January 15, 2016, 09:27 PM	#11
Longshot4 Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2014 Posts: 868	There you go. Clean the firing pin channel and check the spring they only last so long. I'm with the Grump or is it grumpy? Last year one of my boys were having problems with the Kel-teck 9mm not firing. I'm going to have to talk to him about that.

January 15, 2016, 09:28 PM	#12
Gadawg88 Senior Member Join Date: March 2, 2013 Location: Georgia Posts: 241	As others have already said, it is not the primers. Either not fully seated (most likely) or a gun issue.

January 15, 2016, 10:32 PM	#13
9x45 Senior Member Join Date: January 14, 2000 Location: Southern California Posts: 1,089	OP, what press are you loading on? I have run over 200,000 CCI's thru my Glocks since 92, and not one, not ever an issue. Either you have a press issue or weak firing pin spring, or debris on the counter bore spot face. It's not a primer issue. As Steve already said 25 years of CCI, and I have loaded tens of thousands of small magnum pistol also. __________________ Sometimes my Glock forgets where to look.....

January 16, 2016, 11:17 AM	#15
Reloader270 Senior Member Join Date: March 14, 2015 Location: South Africa Posts: 138	I had similar problems with CCI primers in my .357Mag Marlin Rifle. There is nothing wrong with the CCI primers, but we must accept that firing pin springs do vary in the amount of force it produces. I had switched to Federal 205 SR primers since and never had one misfire.

January 16, 2016, 12:32 PM	#16
cw308 Senior Member Join Date: September 2, 2010 Location: Plainview , Long Island NY Posts: 3,863	I also agree CCl Primers are harder but will fire as lone as the firearm firing pin spring isn't weak.

January 16, 2016, 05:32 PM	#17
BigJimP Senior Member Join Date: February 23, 2005 Posts: 13,195	For the last 10 yrs, I've been reloading and shooting about 25,000 handgun rounds a year ..exclusively with CCI primers ( small and large pistol ) ....in 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 acp, .38 spl, .357 Mag and .44 Mag...and probably 75% of it has been in small pistol caliber primers.../ CCI have been virtually the only primer I've used in many, many years....although I did buy some Winchesters during the shortage a few yrs ago...and I wasn't impressed with Win primers. and I have not had a single mis-fire .....using CCI primers... Yes, its pretty well know that CCI primers are a little harder - but they have never been a problem in any of my S&W revolvers, my Sig Sauers or any of my 1911's... ------------------- light primer strikes are typically an indication of a weak mainspring or weak hammer strut spring..../ clean the firing pin and replace the firing pin spring as well...( if a glock has one...I'm not a glock fan ..so I don't own one -- or any stryker fired handgun)... you may also have a depth seating problem on your press...

January 17, 2016, 07:51 PM	#18
erikk Member Join Date: October 2, 2012 Posts: 42	`I had the same problem ( I run 3 SDB presses) 2 set up for LPP the other SPP. No failures with the 2 LPP (NOT CCI) I called CCi & was basicially blown off as user error. I was loading 40 s&w's & was getting 2 duds out of every 16 round mag. Well I have been reloading since the early 50's and this is the first time I have ever had any duds and I DO know how to seat a primer. It is also the first time I have used CCI's & will be the last

January 17, 2016, 10:10 PM	#19
cw308 Senior Member Join Date: September 2, 2010 Location: Plainview , Long Island NY Posts: 3,863	erikk, I'll bet you don't uniform your primer pockets & bottom your primers.

January 18, 2016, 07:56 AM	#20
erikk Member Join Date: October 2, 2012 Posts: 42	Nope on one and yes on 2 even with 3 hammer strikes they failed to fire. All other brands of primers worked fine for for over 60 years both large and small from SPP,LPP, SRP,LRP magnum & regular in everything from 380 to 45-70 loaded on Progressive, SS presses and Turret .

January 18, 2016, 01:07 PM	#21
chiefr Senior Member Join Date: January 27, 2010 Location: AR Posts: 1,401	Been using CCI since they started making them and never had or heard of such problems.

January 18, 2016, 02:00 PM	#22
cw308 Senior Member Join Date: September 2, 2010 Location: Plainview , Long Island NY Posts: 3,863	erikk, how did the pin strike look. After 3 strikes l would think it would go off. Just never happened to me doesn't mean it can't. erikk uniforming your pockets look into it can make seating better & the best way to clean up the pocket once uniformed.

January 19, 2016, 08:32 AM	#23
mineralman55 Member Join Date: September 29, 2009 Location: deep south Posts: 99	CCI Primer Failure A few weeks ago I had my first ever primer failure in 30 years of reloading. CCI 500 small pistol in a 9mm. I pulled the trigger and the gun went "pfffst" (yes, it did). Stopped, cleared the weapon, inspected everything (the bullet was still in the case) went back to shooting. All was well. When I got home, I pulled the round apart and there was the proper amount of powder, so yes, it was a primer failure. I looked thru my records and saw I had bought these primers years ago and always stored properly. They're not from the current period of buying frenzy and subsequent increase in production which could be blamed for lowering product quality. My point is, stuff happens. Okay, I had a primer failure, but I'm not going to stop using CCI. When you consider the billions of primers that are produced, one is going to slip thru sooner or later.

January 20, 2016, 04:10 PM	#25
1100 tac Senior Member Join Date: February 7, 2012 Posts: 299	What Tim and Mineralman said.