Challenger/Cheddite warming

Couple of years ago, I bought a real nice used Browning 625, The first 3 flats of challengers I put through it, I had 5 pierced primers...ALWAYS in the bottom barrel !
I could see the etching on the firing pin so I took it apart and polished it off (1000 grit wet sand)...removing less than 1-2 thou of an inch.
I've since put thirty flats thru it and had only a couple more pierce since. I figure it's because of the shortened FP...not he better primers..lol
Challenger, has since revamped their line up of shot shells, and the issue is supposed to have been fixed (straight from Elie's mouth ) which for intents and purposes admits that there was indeed a past problem !!

Joe...I had some issues wayyy back in the early days of reloading blue peters and canuks with those black ched primers...I went to Win / Rem 209's and never looked back ! Win 209 is STILL my primer of choice.
 
Rob! said:
Yes - and as you have read in this thread, Challenger are famous for it. (Let the howls of protest begin anew).. ;)
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Yes and most times those that say they have never had the issue have never looked for it or really knew what to look for
These pics will help new shooters
Cheers
 
Usually it's the bottom barrel in a Browning that pierces them, though I have seen a few pierce in the top also.

The only Browning O/U I've owned that didn't have this problem with Cheddite primed ammunition was a 20 ga Citori. That gun got only Winchester primers, I'd learned my lesson at that point.

Both my 725 and Cynergy pierced them. Both have been fixed now.
 
Chilly807 said:
Usually it's the bottom barrel in a Browning that pierces them, though I have seen a few pierce in the top also.

The only Browning O/U I've owned that didn't have this problem with Cheddite primed ammunition was a 20 ga Citori. That gun got only Winchester primers, I'd learned my lesson at that point.

Both my 725 and Cynergy pierced them. Both have been fixed now.
Click to expand...

How was it corrected?
 
pond_hockey_champ said:
How was it corrected?
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Like Westward, I did firing pin work on both guns.

With the 725, there is an angled shoulder on the firing pin to limit it's forward travel. You can shorten the tip of the pin to reduce the amount of protrusion past the breech face. I kept the rounded profile, just kept removing material until the problem went away. If you do that, keep in mind you CAN take too much off and the gun won't fire. Measure overall length as you go. I think I took off 0.005" at a time, then tried it. It took a few tries.

I still had 100% ignition, no further problems with that gun.

I think the Citori 425/525/625 uses the same style pins as the 725.

The Cynergy was a different challenge, since it's firing pins aren't shouldered to limit travel. The fix for that gun was to flatten the rounded tips of the pins, which spreads the striking force over a larger area. No more issues with that gun either.

The easiest way to fix this is to NOT use Cheddite primers, or Cheddite primed factory ammunition.

Challenger and Kent both use Cheddite primers. If that's what's readily available near you, you have a problem unless you can do something to make the gun tolerate it.

That's why I worked on my firing pins. Challenger is almost always available here, and less expensive than anything else.
 
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