First time reloader, why so many misfires?

Did you wash the cases before depriming them?

This would guarantee the water didn't dry out of the cases just sitting on a towel somewhere! The water in the cases would be held in by simple air pressure, and you would have to shake them pretty hard to get it out. Even still there would be water in them for sure!
 
mlehtovaara said:
Did you wash the cases before depriming them?

This would guarantee the water didn't dry out of the cases just sitting on a towel somewhere! The water in the cases would be held in by simple air pressure, and you would have to shake them pretty hard to get it out. Even still there would be water in them for sure!
Click to expand...

Yes, I did deprimed them before washing them. It's for sure water in the cases though... I opened one up, and it was wet inside.
 
hey man, welcome to the club. while reloading myself i came upon this, and for us, we had the same problem for way too many rounds as well. we came to the conclusion that it was water for us, although for you it could be something else. but ever since we started using the tumbler, it has never happened again.
 
For rifles or handgun cases,i use 0000 steelwool on dirty cases ,especially necks on rifle i also keep my dies clean ( lots of time on my hands :D) when completed i drive my dear wife nutz by POLISHING the loaded rounds with MOTHERS aluminun polish while watching T.V. they come out BETTER than new. in about 40 years of reloading, i have had exactly 2 misfires. one with a 38 special. FORGOT the powder. second was about a month ago at local range. in.30-06. primer was a dud. got several hundred CCI 200 in a trade. I was told that they were about 24 years old. anyways, i oiled the balance and deposited them in the garden. I have only used fresh factory brass for my reloads or from several friends who do NOT reload. i inspect my brass inside and out. i don,t pick up range brass or other brass of unknown history. I have seen some ONCE FIRED brass at gun shows that look like it was picked or DUG up from the battlefield and when asking the seller about ONCE FIRED, well, he says, that was what I was told when I got it. RELOADING is as safe or as dangerous as you make it. POPS:cheers:
 
I think your problem is solved, but it is a good rule to remember: never touch your primers by hand. If you need to handle a dropped primer, use a pair of tweezers.
 
Welcome!

Case prep is the most important step in the reloading process. NEVER wash your cases in soapy water. Unless you plan to dry them in the oven like someone else mentioned. Ambient temperatures and humidity in your home will not allow them to EVER dry properly. You may have gotten lucky with a few rounds that went but the moisture is the reason for the ones that didn't go. I NEVER touch my primers with fingers or anything else other than a clean primer flipper or the priming tool itself. In the picture you posted it looks as though the case on the left- Primer has been seated to hard and crushed therefore it caused a light primer strike as another poster mentioned. Winchester primers are cheap but I have found that sometimes their quality is not great or reliable for accuracy. I assume because your neck sizing your interested in ultimate accuracy out of your firearm? I personally will only use NORMA,CCI or FEDERAL Primers. If its taking excessive force to seat your primers then the cases need to be discarded. Conversely if it takes little effort to seat them then the primer pocket is stretched and the case needs to be discarded. If i come across bad cases they get crushed with a pair of pliers on sight and then there is no chance they can get circulated back into your reloading system. I personally tumble every time i reload for the simple fact is that it shows imperfections on the cases easily and allows for me to discard the ones that I feel are suspect. I also use Isoprophyl alcohol 99% pure to clean them after tumbling. You can buy this at most drug stores. The alcohol is concentrated enough that it evaporates completely in a 24hour period. I have never ever had a misfire by this method. Bottom line is if you pay close attention to the case prep steps in the reloading process you will have great accuracy and success. Welcome to the world of reloading.... Its very addictive! Have fun.

Takman ;)
 
Wash cases all the time (using a bit of vinegar + extra rinses if they're really grubby). To dry them, I put them loose in a rag on a hot air vent overnight. Furnace kicks on quite a bit when it's -30 out.
 
I don't use Isopropyl,:p I dump primers from the big Fereral boxes into the palm of my hand before I pour them into the pan on the Lee autoprime. Been doing it that way for 20+ years, the only primer I've had fail to go bang is one that had no priming compound in it. And I've used all the brands at one time or another.

But I've never used water to clean brass. But you learned about that about 29 posts back.....;)
 
I have a rock polisher that I use to wet polish my brass with a little lemon juice and dish soap, and they come out sparkling clean (I'm too cheap to buy a tumbler and media). I also learned long ago to dry them in the oven, after blowing out most of the trapped rinse water with compressed air (blowing through the casings one at a time with your mouth also works, but after 1000 .223 cases, you'd get light-headed). I had the same problem with misfires, and the primers looked identical to yours. I started to dry the cases in the oven on low heat, and I haven't had a misfire since, regardless of primer type or brand. I think that if you oven dry your brass, you will have no more problems.
 
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