Primer accident

Ganderite

Ganderite

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Farm south of North Bay
I have loaded and unloaded hundreds of thousands of primers over the years. My first accidental firing of one was a federal primer (LP) in a Lee Autoprime. Blew it to pieces.

Today one of the wheels on my chair ran over a primer on the concrete floor and fired a primer. A Federal LR. Fortunately there was not a lot of powder on the floor.

I sized a batch of brass that included a few rounds where I had pulled the bullet and dumped the primer. One of those primers went off. Made a fairly loud bang.
 
So have you changed your shorts yet.:D It really gets your attention when you set one off, as your chair did. Only had one go off accidentally near me so far in 30+ years of loading and it gets your attention. It was a buddy using my equip. i was in the room loading shotshells at the other end of the bench.
 
I like using my Lee autoprime for seating primers, & they discourage using Federal primers, which is the main reason I don't use them in all my years of reloading. Winchester & Remington brand primers works without a hitch!

I suppose rolling over any primer with the wheel of a chair on a hard surface would set it off....

I suppose I'm just lucky so far & have never set one off, but I bet they could scare the bejesus out of ya...:eek:
 
ruffbird said:
I suppose I'm just lucky so far & have never set one off, but I bet they could scare the bejesus out of ya...:eek:
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I have had one CCI 200 go off while using a Lee Autoprime (maybe a trend? :eek::D) while loading 30-06. I have no idea what set it off, as it wasn't a particularly tight fit and I wasn't really squeezing hard on the lever at all. I had the case mouth pointing away from me (as taught by my buddy who showed me the ropes) and nothing happened aside from ringing ears. It was remarkably loud in a confined space like that. The experience also firmly cemented my practice of always wearing safety glasses while handling primers and priming cases.


Mark
 
The reason Lee didn't recommend Fed primers is because the Fed square primer tray was larger than the Lee round tray and some primers could get by on the floor and then rolled onto by Ganderite.
Recently Lee came up with a square primer tray that works with all manufacturer primer trays.
 
I've rolled a chair over federal small rifle primer. It scared the cat so bad she's never gone in my office again. I've also repeated this with a winchester primer as well. The biggest spook I've ever had was years ago when I was dumber I hit a 209 shotshell primer with a hammer. Did not expect it to be that loud
 
I accidently hit a primer with my kinetic bullet puller. Startled me a weee bit but really freaked out my wife, she thought I shot myself!
 
I'm just confused Why would you be reloading?? with excess powder on the floor?? We all have spills but. I have mounted a cookie sheet under the loader and clean after every session.
 
I've read somewhere that the reason the warning about Fed primers is on the auto-prime is because of a spat between Richard Lee and an executive at Federal. Can't remember where I read that, and I don't know if it's true.
 
Ganderite said:
I have loaded and unloaded hundreds of thousands of primers over the years. My first accidental firing of one was a federal primer (LP) in a Lee Autoprime. Blew it to pieces.

Today one of the wheels on my chair ran over a primer on the concrete floor and fired a primer. A Federal LR. Fortunately there was not a lot of powder on the floor.

I sized a batch of brass that included a few rounds where I had pulled the bullet and dumped the primer. One of those primers went off. Made a fairly loud bang.
Click to expand...

Awww, they up above were having a bit of fun with you.
They say it comes in threes, so give'er, yer dun for now........:p
I have been always meaning to smash one with a hammer, but worrying
about the mini gernade shrapnel ketching me?
 
I remember as a kid whacking a starter pistol cap with a hammer in the basement of our house, unfinished basement with no carpet or drywall to dampen the sound.

I'm pretty sure my ears are still ringing from the bang. I don't really want to experience it again with a primer.
 
It is my understanding that the primer compound in a federal primer is more sensitive than the compound used by others.

It is easy to increase / decrease hammer spring tension on a S&W revolver. My PPC gun is set as light as possible. 100% ignition with federal primers, less than 100% with others.

This might be caused by a thinner/softer cup metal, too.
 
I've had 2 go off using the lee loader (hammer type) for 357 magnum
He first one didn't seem to scare me all that much but the second time sure did.

Ive used 100 federal primers in one of my pro 1000s without issue. But I hate the size of their trays. I like cci the best.
 
I have never had an issue with the Lee Auto Prime. Lee warns against using Federals in the Lee Pro 1000.

I did set off a CCI 250 many years ago while loading my .375 in my college dorm room :p

That was with the Lee Ram Prime which seems to require a lot of force and have not used since.
 
3macs1 said:
I'm just confused Why would you be reloading?? with excess powder on the floor?? We all have spills but. I have mounted a cookie sheet under the loader and clean after every session.
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Hey come on. don't be hard on these new reloaders. Give him time to get the hang of it.
 
H4831 said:
Hey come on. don't be hard on these new reloaders. Give him time to get the hang of it.
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I don't worry about the new guys they are normally super careful at the start. It is us old guys that may get a bit too comfortable. Not trying to be hard just don't want to hear about a preventable fire.take care;)
 
Spawn-Inc said:
I've had 2 go off using the lee loader (hammer type) for 357 magnum
He first one didn't seem to scare me all that much but the second time sure did.

Ive used 100 federal primers in one of my pro 1000s without issue. But I hate the size of their trays. I like cci the best.
Click to expand...

that's b/c the primer didn't stay CENTERED in the column or the rod struck with an off center blow- as long as it STAYS in the center of the head on the hard part, it will prime properly- if it moves to the spring steel ( black ) part , it WILL go off- i've seen folks mount the primer,and MOVE THE COLUMN by mistake and then drop the rod down and hit it- BANG- the casing has to be FREE to move ( ie out of the die ever so slightly) to prime, so that the casing moves DOWN over the primer as you hit the other side of the flash cup with the rod
 
"I'm just confused Why would you be reloading?? with excess powder on the floor?? We all have spills but. I have mounted a cookie sheet under the loader and clean after every session."

I sweep up after a session too, mostly because of all the dead primers laying around that will get tracked around the house if I don't clean up.

But this incident was during a loading session, not after, and there may have been powder on the floor. I once had a powder fire on the floor because there used to be a shag rug that was difficult to clean. Key word is "used to be".
 
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