Fire fail
- Thread starter FNWhelen
- Start date
It has been a quite a while ago now, but for a time there was some Winchester ammunition (white box) that would fail to fire (primer issues). Haven't seen this for more than a couple of decades now...but doesn't mean it can't happen again to any manufacturer.
- Thread starter
- #3
I pulled the bullets on the three dud rounds and tried them in my Ruger bolt gun. Two of the primers went off and one did not. All the primer marks looked alike but when looking closer about half of the primers are backed out a little. This gun is used and new to me. I am wondering if I have a head space issue?
salmonchaser
Ammo Smith
- Dec 13, 2013
- 5,214
- 5,820
Saw it with 9mm; 40 and 45 practice ammo but we’re talking just a couple a year out of 100,000 rounds. Never saw it in duty ammo. don’t recall ever having it happen with 556 or 7.62 or 12guage. Seems pretty remarkable to me how much ammo is spent in training, civilian, law enforcement, competition in this country and you don’t hear about more problems.
From your report you may indeed have an issue.
From your report you may indeed have an issue.
It's possible but probably not. You fired the primer on sn empty case. The force of the primer going off drove the case forward. There was no explosion of powder to drive the case back fully reseating the primer. In fact, that case most likely now has the shoulder pushed back enough to potentially create a headspace problem for that piece of brass.
Paul B.
- Thread starter
- #8
It is not unusual for me to not explain things well when posting. Not counting the three duds about half of the other rounds showed sings of the primers being a little high after firing. My chronograph did not show the rounds to be hot. I have not had any problems with factory rounds so this really surprised me.
Could be as simple as a quality control issue where some primers in a batch weren't seated properly...did you check other rounds in the box?
But as suggested, there could be an issue with the firearm...recommend having it checked out by a gunsmith to verify. If the headspacing is off, they can correct the deficiency. If fine, then you'll know it isn't the firearm, but an ammunition issue.
But as suggested, there could be an issue with the firearm...recommend having it checked out by a gunsmith to verify. If the headspacing is off, they can correct the deficiency. If fine, then you'll know it isn't the firearm, but an ammunition issue.
high primers after being fired , is a sign of low pressure .
on good ammo , when it's fired, the pressure will push the primer out a little , then the brass case stretches against the bolt face seating the primer back flush .
on low pressure ammo , the case doesn't stretch back to the bolt face , leaving the primer high .
I would say if the brass is too short for the chamber would cause this high primer too . brass does not fully expand on the first fire, it usually takes 2 , 3 maybe 4 fires to get it fully expanded . so if the brass was short , it will not expand to the bolt face on the first fire , leaving the primer high . also if the brass is way short , it could cause the failure to fire , from not getting hit hard enough from the firing pin . this is why when reloading , we resize our cases to fit our chambers .
if you have more of this ammo , and have the tools to measure case length to the shoulder , I'd measure a few . I'd also measure some other unfired ammo to see what it measures . maybe this brass was just made a little short .
on good ammo , when it's fired, the pressure will push the primer out a little , then the brass case stretches against the bolt face seating the primer back flush .
on low pressure ammo , the case doesn't stretch back to the bolt face , leaving the primer high .
I would say if the brass is too short for the chamber would cause this high primer too . brass does not fully expand on the first fire, it usually takes 2 , 3 maybe 4 fires to get it fully expanded . so if the brass was short , it will not expand to the bolt face on the first fire , leaving the primer high . also if the brass is way short , it could cause the failure to fire , from not getting hit hard enough from the firing pin . this is why when reloading , we resize our cases to fit our chambers .
if you have more of this ammo , and have the tools to measure case length to the shoulder , I'd measure a few . I'd also measure some other unfired ammo to see what it measures . maybe this brass was just made a little short .
wvbuckbuster
Handloader
- Nov 5, 2015
- 2,817
- 2,781
As stated above I believe it is a brass issue possibly shoulder push back. Saw this happen on a Rem 760 35Rem when a guy was sighting it in for another person. The brand of ammo he was using was showing primers slightly elevated after firing. He was going on about the gun having a headspace problem. Wasn't the gun and more so his lack of understanding plus having a hatred of anything other than bolt actions. Try a different brand of ammo see what you get.
