Prvi Ammo

[rezmedic54]

Has anyone had problems with this ammo. I have a customer whom picked up 40 rounds of their 175 gr. Match ammo for his .308 out of 40 rounds 15 had the primers blow out of the pockets. There are no marks on the case that show any signs of pressure. All case dimensions are to spec. I had him bring the rifle back in to check head space and the bolt face. Using all 3 gage the only one the rifle will close on and it closes tight is the go gage. The rifle is a Model 12 Savage. Any ideas on this cause I'm at a lose for whats up other then just bad factory ammo. Thanks for any help here or reports of the same problem.

[Unclenick]

I have seen some dissected images of their brass that were not encouraging. The presumed mechanism in a tight chamber is the primer pocket has enlarged because the head is too soft, so the primer, having returned to original shape elastically after firing, could then fall out when he opens the bolt. See if the brass will let you reseat the spent primer? Is the bolt face showing any signs of a gas cutting ring around the firing pin tunnel?

[Toolman]

I've Privi in 30-30 with good results. I visually inspected the cases after firing & didn't see any problems. I haven't tried to reload the brass yet.

[riverwalker76]

I've not heard good things about their ammo. I reload their bullets, but I wouldn't shoot their cartridges. I personally don't trust new manufacture ammo that is out of an old Eastern Bloc Country. They don't have the stringent quality control that we have here in the states.

[Bamashooter]

i have some ppu 223 brass that is on its second loading. it seems to be just fine. loaded 69gr.SMK and they shot and grouped just good. ive been wondering how the 62gr. fmj bullet was becouse they are cheap right now. wouldnt mind having some if they are good bullets. ive never shot any of thier loaded ammo so i dont know about it.

[Shane Tuttle]

I've shot Prvi ammo and I can't say I have any gripes. I haven't reloaded with their cases yet, but this is the first I've heard problems coming from them to be honest.

[FrankenMauser]

I've shot a few of their loads in 7.62x39, .270 Win, and 7.7x58 (Hornady branded).

I also use their brass in 9x19mm, 7.62x54R, and {the third cartridge escapes me, at the moment}.

The 9x19mm is so-so.

The 7.62x39 seemed to be on par with the Remington brass I had to compare it to.

The .270 stuff was fine. -Nothing special, but not bad, either.

The 7.7x58 was as fine. -Nothing special, but having actual 7.7x58 case dimensions without forming from 30-06 was nice.

The 7.62x54R, I like quite a bit. Mine is stamped "Winchester", but it is drawn by Prvi - on the same machines they use for their own brass. Good stuff.

While I admit that all manufacturers can put out a bad product... I would be headspacing that .308 before I dug any deeper. Nothing should be blowing primers with a factory chamber. If it's not factory (not likely, but possible), then I blame the shooter. He should have known about his short throat/tight throat/etc, and not stuffed factory ammo into it without checking the specs.

The only thing that I've seen some rifles have issues with while shooting PPU ammo is primers. Prvi uses extremely hard primer cups. Rifles that have weak firing pin/striker springs sometimes can't set them off without multiple strikes.

The way things have been going lately, I'll take PPU brass over S&B, PMC, or even Fiocchi any day.

[Dannyl]

HI,
PPU is used frequently in SA, mainly because:
1. it is cheaper than other brands.
2. It is almost always available.

I have not heard of any similar problems, and I am involved in a few shooting clubs, word of things like that travels fast.

I have some cases that I have reloaded (30-06) and have had no problems with them.

Brgds,

Danny

[rezmedic54]

I've check the rifle over everything on it seems to be fine. Used all 3 gages only one it closes on is a go and it closes tight on it. I haven't tried to replace the primers yet that fell out with themselves but will give it a try. Other then that chamber on the rifle seems fine and this is the only ammo that has ever done this.

[Unclenick]

You say the gauge closes tight? That might be an element of the issue, depending how you mean "tight"? One is only supposed to feel for very light contact with a headspace gauge. Hatcher points out that bolts can cam hard enough to stretch a chamber with a headspace gauge, which he'd seen many gunsmiths do. So maybe that Savage chamber is setup short, which would raise pressure?

Did you find out if the primer pockets are loose? As you are aware, there is no way for a primer to simply back out in a tight chamber, so the loose pockets (a high pressure sign) seem like the only logical source of the event. The two sectioned PP cases I saw pictures of included extra brass thickness in the case walls near the head and crease lines where the brass was folded into the head. In one instance it was leading to head separations. However, others have had no issues with PP brass, so this may be a lot problem and not normal for them?

Treat them as soft brass and give them a little more headspace to lower pressure and see if that clears it up? It's also possible to get a lot that is overloaded. You could pull bullets and weigh the powder to see if their not metered consistently? Redistribute the powder to the cases and reassemble them, if that's the problem. Seeing a couple of grains extreme spread in powder charge is not exactly unheard of in surplus ammo, but I have no idea how good PP is at weighing powder?

[rezmedic54]

By tight I mean you can feel it closing on something. Well I have started at square one. Went out and cronied some of the ammo in question all the ammo ran at 2700 to 2725 for 8 shots. So I'd same it's loaded pretty close. I had no primers back out on any of this. I have talked to Privi and am sending them a few cases with one of the primers the pocket is very large primer can be set into it a falls out on some of the cases you have to tap the case to get the primer to fall out. Only thing I can figure to do now is slug the chamber to see it thats the problem. The rifle shoots fine with all other ammo I have tried Winchester 40 Rd's., Wolf Gold Line 40 Rd's., Federal 40 Rd's., all the ammo has been of different weights and manufacturers. This is really a head scratcher.

[Unclenick]

Since it's a Savage, I would consider getting a Savage barrel nut wrench and resetting the headspace.