Blew up my Lee hand primer tonight

lineofsight said:
Good on the safety glasses and happy no permanent damage.

Is it possible that did a "partial" prime and then a second one - noticed if not careful can stack two primers on top of each other, little more resistance, little more pressure... figure if am going to explode it thats the way I'd do it.
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I've stacked two primers one on top of the other alot, and applied substantial pressure. No det. I've primed the case primer backwards, no det either.

I'm with the op. It was probably a slight taper in the primer pocket. Priming compound is about half abrasive, half explosive, and squeezing a bit between the anvil and the cup would generate friction and set it off, a la' tapered pocket.
 
Irrespective of the possible "manufacturers' politics" involved, incidents like this are a good reminder to us (well, ME!) to always be vigilant while reloading, in this case, remembering to wear the proper eye protection etc.

Similarly, I had a near-accident on the range a few weeks ago while shooting my S&W 625. Two rounds went BANG and the third went "pop." There was a bullet lodged in the barrel, presumably from a primer-only load. In this case it was merely an inconvenience, but had I been shooting rapid-fire I could have been in deep doo-doo. I THOUGHT I had visually checked every round for powder (and conversely, overloads) while loading, but apparently I missed one. Interestingly, I once had a similar experience with my 1911, but in this case the bullet exited just fine, presumably due to the shallower rifling of the 1911 vs the 625 (?)

All in all, it shows that you can't be too careful.

Glad you're intact, Onagoth, although you probably won't be able to hear the butterflies for a few days.

:) Stuart
 
I have put primers in sideways and had to crush the primers in order to get the case out of the shell holder with no detonation.

I heard a story (true or not, I do not know) about someone slowly crushing a primer with a bench vise with no bang, but when the closed vice was struck with a hammer, the primer went off and took a chunk of the vise with. Take the story with a grain of salt, might internet-lore.
 
I have crushed many a primer, none lately though. I do my best to clear them out slowly. I have had to pretty well crush a few to get them out. None have gone off thankfully...... Good to hear you are pretty much ok!
 
B said:
I have crushed many a primer, none lately though. I do my best to clear them out slowly. I have had to pretty well crush a few to get them out. None have gone off thankfully...... Good to hear you are pretty much ok!
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If one gets stuck, I will usually drop oil in the case first before crushing them
 
I've been reloading for years, and I've never crushed a primer, put one in sideways, or upside down; though I use an RCBS single hand priming tool. what are you guys doing that is enabling primers to be improperly seated?
Mike
 
mike shickele said:
I've been reloading for years, and I've never crushed a primer, put one in sideways, or upside down; though I use an RCBS single hand priming tool. what are you guys doing that is enabling primers to be improperly seated?
Mike
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For some reason, they don't always move into the raming column perfectly, not sure why, but you pretty well know it right away.
 
I had a Federal Large Pistol primer blow. I was priming 45 ACP cases with m Autoprime. I hit a case with a small primer pocket, so the primer did not want to go. In my fiddling, i think I managed to get one primer on top of another and the pair of them went off. Did not detonate the other 100. Blew the tool to pieces, including a small piece into my big fat gut.
 
Glad you're okay.....good reminder for me to be careful. I just bought 5000 Fed large and 3000 small pistol primer for reloading in my Lee Pro 1000.....:redface:
 
misfire said:
Glad you're okay.....good reminder for me to be careful. I just bought 5000 Fed large and 3000 small pistol primer for reloading in my Lee Pro 1000.....:redface:
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I remember someone having a case of primer detonation in their progressive press and I think it was a Lee pro. IIRC, the solution is to make sure the primer tray is always full, otherwise they don't feed properly and can get jammed.

I can't quite remember the details, but I think thats what I read.
 
phreddy said:
Actually it's because the Federal primer is a much softer metal and is subject to ignition with less pressure.
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I thought the easy ignition of the primer was due primarily to the primer compound and not the soft metal?

That is, Federal's use a basic lead styphnate whereas other primers use a standard lead styphnate. :confused:
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't S&B cases have crimped in primers?

Could this not be the possible source of your premature detonation - trying to force a soft primer into an unswaged primer pocket?

Seems like you mentioned having difficulty with forcing a primer into the pocket.

Cheers, Carl
 
tps50701 said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't S&B cases have crimped in primers?

Could this not be the possible source of your premature detonation - trying to force a soft primer into an unswaged primer pocket?

Seems like you mentioned having difficulty with forcing a primer into the pocket.

Cheers, Carl
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I am not certain if they are crimped or not, it's never been a problem for me in the past with S&B casings, they always required a little extra pressure, but never anything I would consider extreme. I believe the IVI cases are in the same boat here, require slightly more pressure to seat the primer.

Nevertheless, since I can't be bothered swagging pockets, I will just be discarding this brass and loading win/fed/speer and a few others from now on.
 
ITS the 25th.BEAR!!!!!!!!! the first 24 bears turn and run away!!!!!!!! trouble is, bear#1 could be #25. LEE says DO NOT USE FEDERAL PRIMERS. DON,t USE THEM!!!!! buy an R.C.B.S. hand tool for FEDERALS. I DID many years ago and have not had an ACCIDENT YET. Glad you are O.K. POPS
 
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