Federal 300 WM Primer pockets

[Joel]

Hey guys,

I was gonna reload some 1F Fed 300 WM brass tonight, but out of the cases I started priming, most showed what felt like no resistance at all. I gave them a light scraping with a Lee primer pocket cleaner just like I do all cases I load, and nothing more.

I have heard some people complain of Fed brass but have never seen anything like this...I would say maybe 3/10 gave light resistance and the rest of em, well the primer just flew right in!

Not gonna shoot em, for sure.

Anyone else have any similar experience or input? Is one firing really enough to balloon a primer pocket that badly?

Primers are Win large rifle magnum.

 

[updatelee]

Ive been told federal have weak primer pockets and that they arent the best for reloading as the primer pockets loosen up so fast. Ive got some federal brass I bought off ee (was a mixed lot) I havent had a chance to try them out as Ive got alot of winchester brass that has been doing me very well.

 

[303carbine]

Hey guys,

I was gonna reload some 1F Fed 300 WM brass tonight, but out of the cases I started priming, most showed what felt like no resistance at all. I gave them a light scraping with a Lee primer pocket cleaner just like I do all cases I load, and nothing more.

I have heard some people complain of Fed brass but have never seen anything like this...I would say maybe 3/10 gave light resistance and the rest of em, well the primer just flew right in!

Not gonna shoot em, for sure.

Anyone else have any similar experience or input? Is one firing really enough to balloon a primer pocket that badly?

Primers are Win large rifle magnum.

I find that Remington ,CCI don't fit the primer pocket as tight as Federal LR primers do. The Remington are the easiest to seat,they can almost be pushed in with your thumb.

 

[todbartell]

Ive experienced once fired F-C 375 HH brass that wasnt reloadable. You could not keep a primer in the pocket after the first firing of factory ammo

That being said I have some 243 F-C brass Ive shot a half dozen times so far with no problems, and I havent had any problem with 338 Federal brass either

 

[maynard]

I have seen primers fall out of factory Federal .270 cases the first time they were fired. Out of a box of 20, 2 stayed in place, 2 fell out on extraction and 16 were backed out. The rifle preformed flawlessly with any other ammo including handloads that were not loaded with Federal brass.

 

[Boomer]

Most of my Federal cases are in .30/06, .308 and .243. Federal's primer pockets don't last nearly as long as Remington or Winchester when loaded to normal pressure. I was interested in 303carbine's comment about relative primer size and decided to measure the large rifle primers I have on hand. The results weren't quite what I expected, but were interesting none the less.

Winchester WLR - .2100"
Remington 91/2M - .2095"
Federal 215 - .2105"
Federal GM210M - .2105"
CCI - 250 .2105 - .2110"
CCI - BR-2 - .2105" - .2110"

All the primers were measured with the anvil facing up at about the middle of the cup. The CCI's were the only ones that didn't give me a repeatable reading and bounced between .2105" and .2110". Given how small the Remington primers are I'm surprised I get as good case life as I do in the .375 Ultra. Actually I found that seating CCI primers required the most force, particularly in Lapua brass, so it's not a surprise that they are slightly larger.

 

[Joel]

Wow, thanks for all the info guys!

Like a lot of you, I am loading Federal brass in other calibers, like 30-06 and 308 and gettin 5-6 firings out of them.

The 300 WM is just harsher on primer pockets I suppose. I am gonna switch to Remmy or Win, but it's a shame, I have more Fed. saved up than the others, as blue box Powershok was cheaper to buy.

Boomer, thanks for posting the measurements, thats really cool to see.