7.62x54r hangfires

rimfiremac

rimfiremac

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Cooked up a few reloads using 178 Amax's and 2.8cc Re15 (Lee scoops for what they're worth) with CCI200's

5 for 5 were 'ping-bang!s', about a quarter second hangfire. Ambient was 0 C.

Any ideas on why? How to correct?

Grouping was way better then PPU FMJ, for a silver lining to it all.
 
I had that once with a very light bullet over ball powder.

I suggest you try it again with a magnum primer or a hotter load (more powder).

But loading without a scale sounds scary unless loads are very light. And I suspect a light load is the problem.
 
You got a good group with hangfiring ammo? You must have nerves of pure steel. Either that, or the other ammo is pure crap. Personally I've not experienced a hangfire, but I'd imagine any hangfire round from me, would likely end up 3 feet away from the rest of the group.
 
I suspect, you're using Lee Powder scoops. If used properly, they can produce some very decent ammunition. The 2,8cc scoop, should give a consistent charge of about 40 grains of Re15. Right in the middle of what Richard Lee reccomends as min and max charges for 180 grain bullet. Slightly over 40,000 psi. Not hot by any means but not a squib load by any means either. Standard primers, should do the job just fine but with ball powders, many here like to use magnum primers.
I doubt primers are the issue here.
Are your primers seated all the way down? If not, that will cause hang fires.
Is your firing pin protruding enough?
Is your firing pin tip corroded? If it is pointed or cratered, that can also cause hanfires.
As the 7.62Russian, headspaces on the rim, it's doubtful that you have a serious head space problem.
What does your firing pin indent in the primer look like? Is it shallow or off set?

A quarter second delay, sounds more like a sticky firing pin. Did you clean the grease out of the bolt body?
 
Does your gun have a long throat, in other words, is there a long jump from where it's seated until it engages with the lands of the bore? If so, pressure can take longer than usual to build, and in extreme cases, the bullet might have completely exited the neck before it engages with the rifling. In this cases, the answer is to seat the bullet out farther, use a longer bullet (although the 178gr AMAX is a fairly long bullet), and/or increase the charge. I would dismiss the primer as the cause, however a magnum primer could compensate for the base cause.
 
That's a different take Andy. Never thought of that. A quarter second delay after the strike is a lot. I guess, if you're right on this and you might be, the next question should be how dirty are the cases. If pressures are low, until the bullet reaches the lands, the case probably hasn't expanded enough to seal the gasses efficiently.
 
I fired a couple Privi's right after my reloads, and they fired without any ado- no delay between the trigger break and the noise.

I noticed that the primers on the 54r factory and surplus rounds are quite recessed in the brass, and the Lee Classic Loader I load with will seat them flush, but no further... from your opinions here, I suppose that may be the culprit.

The 178's are seated long, and even though the M39 I'm shooting has the D chamber (longer throat), I'd be very surprised if it has a huge jump to the lands, but you never know.

Will try upping to magnum primers as well- thanks for the opinions all
 
The crater on the primers also appears normal... slightly less cratering than with the Privi or surplus loads, but it shows consistent normal primer dimple characteristics-
 
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