Easy Ignite Powder For Bad Primers-30-06

L

Lahti

Member
Rating - 100%
7   0   0
Location
Nova Scotia
Hello,

I found 600 pieces of "primed 30-06 Browning brass made in Belgium" for a good price from a dealer. Looked to be factory primed then dry tumbled (some small residue of media in some cases).
Loaded some Garand safe ammo up with Accurate 2520 and all were slight but noticable hangfires. Varget had less delay before firing but still noticable.
Given that primers are so scarce now, are there any powders that are Garand safe that might ignite more easily or loading tips that might help reduce the problem?
Any way to try and help the primers like putting the primed brass in a dessicator?

I know any fix won't be perfect and to be cautions with hangfires or duds but really hoping to make at least slightly more usable ammo out of this if I can.

Appreciate any suggestions, thanks,

Lahti
 
Sadly my only 30-06 is a Garand and I don't think Trail Boss is safe to use with that gas system.
My loads with the other powders filled up well over half of the case capacity, 45 grains of Accurate 2520 and 45 grains of Varget.
I would try the Trail Boss idea if I had any and a rifle to shoot that sort of load in.

My understanding is ball powders are harder to ignite than stick powders which might be why Varget seemed to work better.
Assuming that is correct, are there any powders that might work better?
 
Lahti said:
Sadly my only 30-06 is a Garand and I don't think Trail Boss is safe to use with that gas system.
My loads with the other powders filled up well over half of the case capacity, 45 grains of Accurate 2520 and 45 grains of Varget.
I would try the Trail Boss idea if I had any and a rifle to shoot that sort of load in.

My understanding is ball powders are harder to ignite than stick powders which might be why Varget seemed to work better.
Assuming that is correct, are there any powders that might work better?
Click to expand...

IMR4895 or similar burn rates
 
IMR4895 should ignite more easily than Varget or Accurate 2520?
I will give that a try and see if it is any better in terms of delay.

I'll try putting the primed brass in a dessicator then using IMR 4895 and Varget to see if the hangfires go away.
Was hoping for some magical fix that would make the primers good as new but thought that was wishful thinking.
On the bright side I guess I'll get some great practice making sure I don't flinch at all after pulling the trigger!
 
Lahti said:
IMR4895 should ignite more easily than Varget or Accurate 2520?
I will give that a try and see if it is any better in terms of delay.

I'll try putting the primed brass in a dessicator then using IMR 4895 and Varget to see if the hangfires go away.
Was hoping for some magical fix that would make the primers good as new but thought that was wishful thinking.
On the bright side I guess I'll get some great practice making sure I don't flinch at all after pulling the trigger!
Click to expand...

To my knowledge, most primers made these days have a waterproof coating. I could be wrong on some makes.

Just for giggles, this spring I took out Federal/CCI/Dominion/Remington and Campro primers and after inserting them into cartridge cases, filled the cases with water and left them for a couple of days before inserting the cases into a rifle and firing them. NOT ONE MISFIRE.

The tumbling media may have left some sort of residue over the primers or the polishing compound may have caused the waterproof coating to deteriorate???

Varget should have ignited easily, especially with half a case of powder.

Before loading any more cartridge cases with powder and bullets, I would randomly select a half dozen or so of the primed cases and just shoot them in the Garand to see if you're still getting hang fires.

Hang fires can indicate other issues, such as a damaged firing pin tip or one that has been modified by polishing shorter.

You don't mention how well the primers were struck.

Garand hammers usually have enough weight behind them and enough spring tension to ignite the hardest milspec primers.

You may also have a condition where the shoulders are set back to much and the case is sitting to deep in the chamber for a good firing pin strike, usually the extracto holds the case head tight enough to the bolt face to eliminate an issue.

Have you had issues with this rifle and hang fires previously???
 
Sorry yeah more background, I didn’t tumble them, I got them from Higginsons as new primed brass. I’m assuming they were tumbled in a dry tumbler with some sort of media as a few cases had a bit fall out and others had what looked like a bit of media that dried on for lack of a better term but I could easily knock out. Browning .30-06 headstamp, site said made in Belgium. No date or annealing marks like military brass I’ve seen. Primers aren’t crimped in and match the brass color. Cases are mostly shiny but with a bit of tarnish on a few.

Would (CAREFULLY) depriming a live case to look at the primer compound give any useful info?

No issues with the Garand previously, I normally use CCI #34 primers and PPU 150 gn M2 ball style bullets. Same day with my other loads rifle ran completely fine.
I did fire about 10 of the primers on their own and there wasn’t a perceptible delay, only with loaded ammo.
 
Lahti said:
Sorry yeah more background, I didn’t tumble them, I got them from Higginsons as new primed brass. I’m assuming they were tumbled in a dry tumbler with some sort of media as a few cases had a bit fall out and others had what looked like a bit of media that dried on for lack of a better term but I could easily knock out. Browning .30-06 headstamp, site said made in Belgium. No date or annealing marks like military brass I’ve seen. Primers aren’t crimped in and match the brass color. Cases are mostly shiny but with a bit of tarnish on a few.

Would (CAREFULLY) depriming a live case to look at the primer compound give any useful info?

No issues with the Garand previously, I normally use CCI #34 primers and PPU 150 gn M2 ball style bullets. Same day with my other loads rifle ran completely fine.
I did fire about 10 of the primers on their own and there wasn’t a perceptible delay, only with loaded ammo.
Click to expand...

Quit overthinking this.

If you're getting a perceptible delay with full loaded rounds and the empty primed cases work properly, you have a "powder" issue
 
bearhunter said:
Quit overthinking this.

If you're getting a perceptible delay with full loaded rounds and the empty primed cases work properly, you have a "powder" issue
Click to expand...

He didn't have a powder issue before running into these primers. The primers will have no delay, but they may be weak. If they don't get the pressure up in the case to start a quick burn, the powder will have to do it from scratch, thus the delay. I have cured hangfires by changing the powder , obviously the primers had no delay.
 
porpoise said:
He didn't have a powder issue before running into these primers. The primers will have no delay, but they may be weak. If they don't get the pressure up in the case to start a quick burn, the powder will have to do it from scratch, thus the delay. I have cured hangfires by changing the powder , obviously the primers had no delay.
Click to expand...

He didn't mention which powders he was using to previously reload in other 30-06 cartridges.

From his post it appeared that this may be his first time reloading for the 30-06 for his Garand.

His information was sketchy. I posted according to his info.
 
I’ve shot a lot of that Browning head stamped brass; never had any luck with with the primers. Accuracy was never there when they worked at all. The brass on the other hand is some sturdy stuff.
 
Dogleg said:
I’ve shot a lot of that Browning head stamped brass; never had any luck with with the primers. Accuracy was never there when they worked at all. The brass on the other hand is some sturdy stuff.
Click to expand...

Thanx for this post, that pretty much mirrors the issues experienced by the OP.

Obviously my ''bad powder choice" call was wrong.

I wonder how many other people here have had similar issues with those primed cases?
 
Apologies should have been clearer that I thought it wasn’t a powder issue, I appreciate you mentioning to check the rifle and powders though. I’ve definitely focused in on the wrong problem before and you and others here have steered me on the right path.

I used 2 separate containers of Accurate 2520 and had the same problem, both containers worked fine with CCI primers.
I have noticed more velocity fluctuations with 2520 than Varget or IMR4895 with CCI primers (up to 200 fps) using lighter loads so I assumed it was harder to ignite for that reason. I also read that ball powders sometimes are harder to ignite. I’ve loaded a few thousand rounds for the Garand using Varget, IMR4895 and accurate 2520 without issue. .

I’ll try a few more cases with Varget and IMR4895 not the 2520 and see if I have any better luck. If not I’ll sadly condemn those primers. I’ll make sure they’re inert first to not startle the neighbors.
 
I just called Higginsons to see if they were aware of the issue, they said they hadn't heard any complaints with the thousands of cases they sold. Very possible no one else called to let them know.
They didn't have any ideas about what I could do to improve the performance (different powders or cleaning or anything) which is fair given I called out of the blue.
They offered credit if I returned it and said they'd look into the primers as well, I thought that seemed reasonable of them.

This primed brass was 46 cents a piece, given that my other options from them are Gevelot or that Imperial brass which 'B' had problems with I'm thinking keeping the brass alone is probably my best bet if IMR 4895 doesn't work any better.
 
Lahti, the deal on that brass is very good, even though the primers need to be replaced.

Sadly, at this moment in time, primers are very expensive. Amost as expensive as the cartridge case.

I wouldn't waste any more time/money/components on this. Get rid of the primers as suggested by dogleg.

His post pretty much confirms your suspicions IMHO. Throwing good time/money/components down a dark hole isn't worth it.

If it really bothers you, save the primers you pull and try a few of them in other cases.

Yes, you can reuse those primers. I wouldn't use them for hunting loads but for plinking, if they work in the other cases they will be fine.

It just may be an issue with headspace and primers that sit to deep in the pockets, whatever.
 
I had a bunch of those Browning cases in 300 Win Mag. As Bearhunter said, consistency was lacking.
I just pushed out the original primers and replaced them with CCI 250s.......problem solved!!

However, primers in the day were about $4.00 a flat, so no issues with cost as there is now. Dave.
 
I just threw out a couple hundred of the pulled primers ..............no matter I'm not hurting. Now I'll have to de-prime my .300 win mag brass as I was going to make .308 Norma mag out of them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom