Well it had to happen sooner or later. I finally had my first primer fail after about 13,000 reloads over the last 4 years. Not going to mention the type as one fail does not constitute a problem and I don't want to start a ### primers are crap discussion. I was curious as to how many primer problems people have. Is this about normal or have I been lucky. I have used a lot of Federal, S and B and CCI primers. All have been very reliable and I have noticed very few issues with any of them other than Federals are a bit soft for my floating firing pin AR. I tend to use the Federals for my Cowboy action revolvers but I have also used the others without problems.
Primer Reliability
- Thread starter grinder08
- Start date
I have had only one bad primer problem in 47 years of reloading and it was in a .357 magnum. The primer drove the cast bullet a short way into the throat but for some reason the powder did not ignite. The powder turned lighter in color but not one particle of powder burned. I was able to tap the bullet out of the barrel with a light tap with my palm using a pistol cleaning rod.
All the other 49 rounds loaded fired OK and I was left scratching my head on what caused the single primer failure.
I have had primers fail to fire on some of my old milsurp rifles "but" this was caused by firing pin protrusion or debris blocking the firing pin. And this was fixed by stripping the bolt and adjusting the firing pin protrusion or a good cleaning inside the bolt.
I had a bad brick of Remington 9 1/2 primers in the mid 1970s that were recalled but these all fired but ruptured at the primers rounded edges. And Remington repaired my etched bolt face and I was given a new brick of primers.
I think most "primer failures" are caused by the person reloading the cases. Meaning the primer not seated properly or the case shoulder bumped back too far creating excessive cartridge head clearance. And only a small fraction of these failures to fire on defective primers from the factory.
My 2 Cents
All the other 49 rounds loaded fired OK and I was left scratching my head on what caused the single primer failure.
I have had primers fail to fire on some of my old milsurp rifles "but" this was caused by firing pin protrusion or debris blocking the firing pin. And this was fixed by stripping the bolt and adjusting the firing pin protrusion or a good cleaning inside the bolt.
I had a bad brick of Remington 9 1/2 primers in the mid 1970s that were recalled but these all fired but ruptured at the primers rounded edges. And Remington repaired my etched bolt face and I was given a new brick of primers.
I think most "primer failures" are caused by the person reloading the cases. Meaning the primer not seated properly or the case shoulder bumped back too far creating excessive cartridge head clearance. And only a small fraction of these failures to fire on defective primers from the factory.
My 2 Cents
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I had a major issue with Sellier & Bellot Small Pistol primers a couple of years ago. I loaded about 600 rounds of 9mm Luger on my progressive and then went to the range with about 200 of them for some plinking fun. Every 4 to 5 rounds, there was a failure to fire. Heavy firing pin strikes from my Alfa Proj revolver but no makey-go-boom...
I stopped shooting, gathered the duds and went back to the "reloading room". Turns out that primers need to be more than just two pieces of brass to go boom
The pale blue coloured explosive compound was missing in every dud. Examination of the remaining unused primers confirmed this - into the garbage they all went. Then I had to disassemble the 500+ that I had already loaded. PITA, but the bullets, brass and powder all got re-used.
Now, I don't care whose primers they are, I ALWAYS give every tray of 100 a good eyeballing before they're put to use.
I sent an email to S&B but never got a reply - ya live 'n learn...
I stopped shooting, gathered the duds and went back to the "reloading room". Turns out that primers need to be more than just two pieces of brass to go boom
The pale blue coloured explosive compound was missing in every dud. Examination of the remaining unused primers confirmed this - into the garbage they all went. Then I had to disassemble the 500+ that I had already loaded. PITA, but the bullets, brass and powder all got re-used.
Now, I don't care whose primers they are, I ALWAYS give every tray of 100 a good eyeballing before they're put to use.
I sent an email to S&B but never got a reply - ya live 'n learn...
Did Winchester repair/fix your bolt face?
When Remington replaced my eroded bolt face, it was the "old" Remington/DuPont but those days are now long gone.
Had more misfires with CCI primers than all the rest put together. LR
Benchrest and 250 Mags were the worst. Cold weather,
hard cups, big charges and mild primers don't mix. The worst offender was my first .338 Edge. At 40
Below I was lucky if half fired. I went all the way to a 36 pound striker spring. Some of them cooked the powder into a yellow mass that I had to scratch out with a nail. This was during me of
The many component shortages, but I dipped into the stash of 215Ms and the problem went away.
Benchrest and 250 Mags were the worst. Cold weather,
hard cups, big charges and mild primers don't mix. The worst offender was my first .338 Edge. At 40
Below I was lucky if half fired. I went all the way to a 36 pound striker spring. Some of them cooked the powder into a yellow mass that I had to scratch out with a nail. This was during me of
The many component shortages, but I dipped into the stash of 215Ms and the problem went away.
I was lucky, no flame cutting, all happened in Howa or Weatherby rifles. I don't know if that is a testament to their gas venting capabilities or the surface hardening on the bolt heads?
They were all in the same pack of 100 in a 1000 piece box, no issues with the other 994 primers..go figure.
Early in my reloading career, I had a bad batch of Alcan LR primers. Had several failures in 200 primers.
Since that time, I have had 2 fail to fire primers, both were older CCI 200's.
However, due to one of those primers missing the anvil when I removed it, I began to check all primers
before seating them. Over the years I have caught 6 primers missing the anvil. Various makers involved.
For the most part, primers tend to be very reliable. Think of the number of primers used over a year's time.
D.
Since that time, I have had 2 fail to fire primers, both were older CCI 200's.
However, due to one of those primers missing the anvil when I removed it, I began to check all primers
before seating them. Over the years I have caught 6 primers missing the anvil. Various makers involved.
For the most part, primers tend to be very reliable. Think of the number of primers used over a year's time.
D.
A fail to fire is not always a primer failure. A hard primer may not fire if the hammer/striker spring is too mild. Some revolvers have been reduced and rifles with oil in the channel lose power in cold weather.
A given rifle might be marginal with a primer. You don't know this because you get 100% ignition. Until the day you change something. I had this happen when I seater my bullets longer, so they touched the rifling. This kept the case shoulder slightly off the chamber, and the bullet pushing into the rifling softened the blow enough to get 50% misfires.
A given rifle might be marginal with a primer. You don't know this because you get 100% ignition. Until the day you change something. I had this happen when I seater my bullets longer, so they touched the rifling. This kept the case shoulder slightly off the chamber, and the bullet pushing into the rifling softened the blow enough to get 50% misfires.
vagrantviking
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Alberta
I've had some Winchester LP primers that do this regularly (like 10/50). Both in hot 44mag and really low pressure 44Russian black powder loads.
Not very impressed at all.
I’ve had a few fail, but I like to whack them in with the lee loader priming tool so I attribute that mainly to me getting too aggressive with the hammer. It is kind of a pain though so I bought a hand primer, but in 3 trips no one has the correct shell holder for it lol so here I am smacking them in as per usual. I must admit it is kind of satisfying.
I had two primer failures with cci 250 primers this year out of about 160 rounds. Both looked like the strikes were light with a very shallow dent& wouldn't fire with repeated tries. These are the first failures for 30 years so surprised me. They were 2 years old & carefully stored. I didn't take them apart yet so I'm not at all sure what's up, but I don't like it. The last one was going to be the coop de grassy on a moose & i had to eject it before I knew if it was a hangfire. I will pull them apart soon &see if I can figure out what's up. The shallow strikes make me wonder if the cups are too hard, or maybe that's just what they look like without the pressure behind them. Anyone have any thoughts on that?
I've been reloading since 1964.
The only problems I've had were with Chedditte primers.
The firing pins punched a hole in the primers.
This was with 2 brand new Brownings o/u shotguns.
It also happened with, my 870's.
Needless to say I don't use Chedditte anymore.
The only problems I've had were with Chedditte primers.
The firing pins punched a hole in the primers.
This was with 2 brand new Brownings o/u shotguns.
It also happened with, my 870's.
Needless to say I don't use Chedditte anymore.
1965 for me and funny Cheddite was also the only one I have ever had issues with
Cheers
M12shooter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- East St. Paul, mb
Rem replaced my bolt from my sako 222 Varmint many years ago. Talked wit the Rep in Arkansas and his words "were oh those..." Primer cups were too thin and blowing through. Had hot gas hit my face under my eye which was what got me looking. damage was already done..
