bad primers

[magnum loader]

I was testing some new powder loads in 357 today & had 2 Winchester mag. primers fail me back to back. Primers are less than 1 yr. old. I went on to shoot 16 more rounds without incident & had fired 32 rounds prior to the 2 failures. I have already used about 300 primers out of the 1000 case with no troubles.
What are the readers thoughts on failures & how often have you had it happen on your loads? I waited 1 hour before I used the inertia puller to unload the rounds, was this a proper method?

 

[45ACPUSER]

Are you sure that you seated the primers properly? Did you try and fire them again? Sometimes the first failed impact seats the primer deep enough so that the second impact lights the primer......I have never cleaned primer pockets in handgun rounds yet....I have 45ACP brass that I have been loading since the late 80's that has never been cleaned....they go bang no problem.....

 

[scrat]

my thoughts exactly. if they do fire then two things. Make sure you clean out primer pockets and make sure you seat the primers deap enough

 

[HRT]

Any mods to the pistol? Replaced the main spring? Loose strain screw? both of which have bit me on occassion.

 

[45ACPUSER]

Any mods to the pistol? Replaced the main spring? Loose strain screw? both of which have bit me on occassion.

Excellent observation....some times once a competition light action job is done...you are married to Federal primers.....

 

[magnum loader]

Ok, nice return questions. I am shooting a S&W 627 PC with no aftermarket mods. I bet I have fired over 1200 rounds since I bought it in 07 & never had a bad primer issue on my loads, can't say that with some factory ammo I've tested. These 2 primers were reshot multiple times after I unloaded the rounds, neither fired, initial indents were normal looking so go figure.

 

[RecoilRob]

One of the nice things about handloading, and priming with a RCBS hand primer, is that you/I can inspect each and every primer for a pellet and anvil.

Yes, I have found the odd one that the anvil had fallen out of....which would NOT have fired if it had been loaded.

When you decap the duds, you might check to see if everything is where it is supposed to be. You can crush the pellet if seated too hard or on too dirty a pocket. Crushed ones won't fire sometimes.

 

[magnum loader]

Primers looked normal, no missing parts. maybe they were just 2 flukes.
Also I had a question about cleaning the fine dust off my tumbled cases, does everone do it by hand. I wiped down over 300 the other day & that was a pain.

 

[Mt Shooter]

Set the loaded round on a sheet of glass, bullet up. does it wobble, or sit firmly. If it wobbles the primer isnt seated far enough.

 

[MMCSRET]

Sometimes Murphy takes control. Some years back I developed a good load for 338 win mag. Loaded and fired 300+ rounds, all good. Was hunting elk, got a good standing broadside shot and the primer failed, I was able to eject and try again and it worked. Good, easy one shot kill but I was dumbfounded, go figure!!!!! All the primers and powder from the same lot #'s.

 

[magnum loader]

I decided not to worry about the 2 bad primers & finished shooting the new 2400 powder loads, had no misfires today. Those max loads with Hornaday 125
hp leads have a nice recoil to them. I did recheck the primer depths when I loaded the gun each time, all were seated well. I actually fired off a few accurate rounds today. I think I'll cook up another batch of loads from 24oo & 231 to verify my chrony values on the 1st tests.