Has anyone ever had a primer go off when seating it?

I've been lucky, even after loading many thousands of cartridges. The closest I've come is primers seated badly and crushed while twisted sideways. That's happened dozens of times due to poor technique on my part or sloppy tolerances in some tools. But none have gone off.

I ALWAYS wear safety glasses or regular glasses when seating primers. And I got rid of my Hornady primer tubes that came with the press. They stack primers on top of each other, all lined up. What a recipe for disaster if you dropped a full tube on a concrete floor.
I prefer the filler tubes in my Forster primer seating tool. Much safer, it stacks primers facing outwards, side by side, not nested on top of each other facing upwards like the Hornady design.
 
Never had one go off yet but I only prime with a Lee ram primer and an old RCBS Jr. press that doesn’t have a lot of mechanical advantage so it’s easy to feel how much force is being applied and when the primer is seated or something has gone wrong. Still possible tho so I’m always cautious.
 
All the time with a Lee handloader. First time I took the blast to the face (.303 British), I darn near s hit my pants. Wife comes down the stairs as sheepish as could be, asks "what happened?".
 
tiriaq said:
Yup. Sure got my attention.

This is why it is a really bad idea to reseat a high primer in a loaded round...
Click to expand...
I actually do this all the time after I audit batch. Earmuffs on, safety glasses already on. I make sure no cats or any humans are around.

I have a lot of mulligans I didn’t bother to seat deeper from my early days of loading.

What I don’t do is take more then 10 primers out of the case when single stage priming so I can keep track of sets of 10s with my primed brass. For fear of losing track of one and a cat getting one.
boxhitch said:
Never have had one detonate, surprising as using a Lee Auto Prime II in a press its easy to apply pressure
enough that more than one occasion have seated a primer crooked or into a crimped pocket causing some severe deformity
Click to expand...
 
Not by myself, but had an old roommate have a Federal 210 go off when he tried to prime some WCC headstamp 7.62’s without first removing the primer crimp. The old reverse stroke RCBS unit on a Rockchucker was used…..

The neighbouring apartment tenant's were very concerned to say the least, it made me spill my beer while watching a hockey game. I’m pretty sure he needed an undergarment change too.
 
Ive loaded at least 250,000 shotgun shells and 30,000 or so rifle shells and have never had a primer go off. Is it just me or has anyone noticed that all the mishaps while actually priming have a similar component.LEE, just saying. The shotgun shells were all loaded on MEC loaders both progressive and 600 JRs. I prime all my rifle and handgun cases by hand. Its slow but I like to feel them bottom out on the pocket. Ive been loading for 40 years.
 
Never, in about 30 yrs of reloading. That includes having some small rifle primers flip in the cup and get wedged in sideways. I don't hand prime, I use an RCBS ram tool, or the seater on the Forster co-ax.
 
I don’t remember popping a primer while seating it; but I had one go off in an inertial puller awhile ago. Still have a primer sized hole in my 14 foot high shop ceiling.😂. Not the end of the world when it misses you; but does make you think twice about depriming live primers. 1 in a million is still bad odds when its pointed more or less at your pecker.
 
In my 8-9ish years of reloading I haven't had one pop-off yet. That being said, I religiously wear safety glasses every time I prime. I am also the guy that wears safety glasses a lot, like at the range and while mowing or whipper-snipping. I know some people find safety glasses a nuisance or uncomfortable, but I have to wear them every single day at work, so either I've just found comfy ones or my face has given up trying to tell me they don't like them :unsure:
 
Yes. Federal primer in classic Lee hand primer. Lee says do not use with Federal primers. Fed primers are more sensitive than others.

A single primer going off blew the plastic to bits. Drew some blood. Lee says that sometimes all the other primers go off, too. That would be exciting.
 
Been Reloading since 72. Started out with Lee Kit in a Cardboard Box by Hammering Primer out/in and same with Casings for about a year. Then progressed to a Lee Hand priming Tool where the Shellholder had threads. Little time later our local Gunsmith (Sigi) talked me into used RCBS Equippment (used was all I could barely afford) including a Benchmounted RCBS Auto Priming Tool. I also reload 12 & 16 Ga. Shells Buckshot & Slugs including Rubber Slugs. All told I never had a Primer going off on me.
But
The other day I reloadet for the first time 6.5 Creedmore Shells and found some Primers I had to seat extra Hard to have them Flush with the Bottom of the Casing, still none went off.

Cheers
 
I've had 2.

First was while seating in a particularly tight pocket using the seating arm on a RCBS press. The primer ended up going in a little cocked to the side and "crush fit". Loud SNAP at the end of the seating.

Second was my own stupidity. I was seating a bullet in a case that I had neck turned (too much) and the neck split. So I pulled the bullet, dumped the powder and used a Lee collet die to push out the primer for re-use....another tight pocket and SNAP.

PS - Federal GMM primers in both occurrences.
 
Last edited:
No, but i believe I came close. Hornady factory ammo, once fired - primer pockets need reaming. I pushed so hard on these two, one appears to have shaved the side wall of the primer, the other looks to be seated crooked. I figured out how to get consistent and proper primer seating, a bit of a learning curve. Priming using the press mounted primer on a Lyman orange crusher press.1000000452.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom