Tikka Blown primer. Options and questions

KITIMAT TOM

KITIMAT TOM

Member
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
22   0   0
Location
BC
Good Day

Spent the afternoon at the range trying to get a target for the my factory heavy barrel gun shoots .75" all day thread.The gun is a tikka heavy varmint in .260 REM.Load is Hornady 140g BTHP in front of 46.5g H-4831SC.Primers are new WLR. In the process I lost a primer on the 7th neck sized loading of my Lapua brass.The blown primer has done some damage to the bolt face.This is the opinion part.Have a look at the pics and see what you think.Replace bolt body or continue to use?Question part.Are CCI primers thicker or harder and not as likely to fail in the same way?This load will be dropped down to 46.0g in the future with new Lapua brass.











 
Last edited:
it's bad batches of winchester primers that caused the problem. this is the 10th thread on bolt faces messed up by winchester.

i would still use the bolt, see how it effects the primers after being shot.
 
Bit of follow up.I poped the primer out of above cartridge.Primer had a full length vertical crack above the failure.I am leaning toward a loose primer pocket.I think the primer tried to expand to meet the dimensions of the pocket cracked and burnt a hole trough the corner?Thoughts?
 
There have been some lots of the new [unplated] Winchester WLR and WLRM primers that have failed in this manner.

In my years of reloading, I have seen this phenomenon with a number of different manufacturers, so it is not new news.

I would continue to use that Tikka as is. The damage, while quite visible, is not likely to cause you any grief.

You may want to contact Winchester about it, regardless.

Regards, Dave.
 
KITIMAT TOM said:
Thank you
good read.I have been using the Winchester primers as I feel there a bit hotter?I have cci200 primers on hand and measured them side by side.The WLR diameter is 209.5" and the CCI-200 are 210.5"Going to try the CCI next to have the tightest fit possible.
Click to expand...

Why do you want hotter? For lower SD and ES in theory you want a cooler primer. Primers are waaaay more variable in energy content than you can measure powder. The more energy the primer contributes, the higher the variability in that contribution. I ask only because the typical desire for a hot primer is to light large quantities of ball powder in cold weather, which seems at odds with the main use of a T3 Var in .260, that's all.

http://riflemansjournal.########.ca/2009/06/primers-large-rifle-primer-study.html?m=1

That said, my best accuracy .30-06 loads are with stick powder and CCI 250s, it shouldn't be in theory, but so it is.

WLR primers are known for this. I've had gas leakage of say 40% of rounds with factory loaded Win ammo. It sure wasn't the pockets, it's the crap primers.

Bolt's fine. Shoot away. Sweet rifle and calibre!
 
Last edited:
I liked the idea of hotter for year round one load use.I shoot in temps of -20C in the winter,Also thought hotter the better for cooking off near max case capacity loads?I`m filling to the neck right now with the H4831sc.From above posts not a lot of love for the WLR primer.

Thanks TOM




flashman said:
Why do you want hotter? For lower SD and ES in theory you want a cooler primer. Primers are waaaay more variable in energy content than you can measure powder. The more energy the primer contributes, the higher the variability in that contribution. I ask only because the typical desire for a hot primer is to light large quantities of ball powder in cold weather, which seems at odds with the main use of a T3 Var in .260, that's all.

http://riflemansjournal.########.ca/2009/06/primers-large-rifle-primer-study.html?m=1

That said, my best accuracy .30-06 loads are with stick powder and CCI 250s, it shouldn't be in theory, but so it is.

WLR primers are known for this. I've had gas leakage of say 40% of rounds with factory loaded Win ammo. It sure wasn't the pockets, it's the crap primers.

Bolt's fine. Shoot away. Sweet rifle and calibre!
Click to expand...
 
Eagleye said:
There have been some lots of the new [unplated] Winchester WLR and WLRM primers that have failed in this manner.

In my years of reloading, I have seen this phenomenon with a number of different manufacturers, so it is not new news.

I would continue to use that Tikka as is. The damage, while quite visible, is not likely to cause you any grief.

You may want to contact Winchester about it, regardless.

Regards, Dave.
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave.
I tend to agree.I will try the rifle with a fresh batch of ammo.If I think the bolt face damage causes loss of accuracy I will deal with it then.

TOM
 
Roger Roger... Bet you could get away with just the CCI 200 lighting your stick powder fire even in those temps. Case fill doesn't matter, ideally loads should be high fill percentage anyway. May be worth it to try both it and the 250, see what your SD and ES is like with each. Non mag just may bring them down. No big deal, just another area to look at in the quest for perfect ammo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom