Was doing some load testing today with the 280 AI and had a WLRM primer fail to fire. I waited a while then tried again, still nothing. I just pulled the bullet and the case had powder in it, and everything was right. Except for the bang part. First time that has ever happened. Sure hope it doesn't happen during elk season!
First bad primer.
- Thread starter jmad_81
- Start date
- Nov 4, 2004
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Jake,
Could it be due to handeling?
How do you handle primers, do you use an auto priming tool?
I share your concern regarding a misfire during elk season!
JD338
Could it be due to handeling?
How do you handle primers, do you use an auto priming tool?
I share your concern regarding a misfire during elk season!
JD338
- Thread starter
- #3
It could have been just a bad primer or it could have been not seated firmly enough in the primer pocket. I had this happen when I first started using Wolf primers. They have a harder cup and the anvil sticks up just a bit more than most primers. I use a Lee hand primer and I have found that if you feel the Wolf primer hit the bottom of the primer cup it is the anvil hitting and you need to put a little more pressure on to feel the cup hit bottom and compress the anvil down on the priming pellet to the primer cup. Always clean and square your primer pockets. I use the primer pocket uniformer to clean my primer pockets and it really does a good job of cleaning as well as making sure the pocket is square on the bottom. The two fail to fire primers I had with the Wolf are the only ones I have had in over 30 years of hand loading. I pull down the those two and removed the anvil on one and the foil piece to see if any priming was in it. It had priming in it. I laid the other one on a piece of mettle and hit it with a hammer and it went BANG. I did try to fire these three times and they would not fire in the rifle. I have had and seen factory ammo that would not fire. Another little thing I have found is with Ruger 77 rifles over time the spring can get a little weak and even though it will leave and dint in the primer it does not have enough force every time to set it off. I have a buddy that is a gun smith and he sees this problem a couple times each year. He replaces the spring and everything works fine.
In 30 + yrs I had not had that,,,until a few yrs ago I had 3 in a box lot of a 1000. It upset me some at the time, as I too would hate for it to happen at the wrong time. In this situation I was just shooting PD's. I did switch to Fed. Match after that, until they got hard to get again. The more I thought about those 3 no-fires,, I came to the conclusion,,, When they are producing millions, a few bad are bound to get through, and that it could have been my fault, even thoough I haven't changed my practices.Just one of those SH thingys with mankind and machines.
dave
dave
DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 37,502
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I have had on a couple of occasions a bad lot of primers. It happens. I was on a grizzly hunt a few years ago and the sixth and final round from my 356 failed to ignite. The bear had already taken five hits, and this was a finishing shot as I approached from the rear. It was somewhat disconcerting as I began to play "What if." Out of that lot of primers, further testing demonstrated that about one in six would not fire. More recently, I had a lot that failed at the rate of one in three. This was a different brand and a different primer all together. Usually, in careful investigation, I have found that reports of misfired primers is due to a tight primer pocket and the primer not seated fully. That is certainly the case in my own situation. If a second pull of the trigger ignites, it is virtually certain that the shooter experienced a high primer. The force of the firing pin striking the primer drove deeper it into the pocket without compressing the anvil. Therefore, it was ready for the second blow to ignite the primer. In other instances, the priming pellet is shattered as the anvil was compressed enough to accomplish this without actuating the initiator. It has become a habit to inspect the primer pocket, truing it, whenever I have a report of primer misfires. For my own work, I take the time to true the primer pockets on new brass to avoid this problem. Residue can build up on brass that has been fired a few times causing the same problem if the primer pocket is not cleaned thoroughly. Nevertheless, there are occasions when primers are faulty. If they fail to ignite across a variety of platforms, it is less likely to be technique and more likely to be the fault of the primer.
jmad_81":2goqyiv8 said:
So I understand this your picking them up to put in the priming tool shell holder? I do the same thing as I use a K&M or Sinclair priming tool but I pick the primers up with a small needle nose pliers around the cup and set them in the shell holder. If your using the RCBS tray for the primers I clean mine every so often also using the needle nose don't have to worry about shaking them upright. Hard to say you could of gotten something on the tray and please don't ask why I use the pliers only takes one time.
If the anvil wasn't seated flush with the pocket bottom, or if the pocket was over sized, it would rock to one side when the firing pin struck.... hence the center of the anvil wouldn't crush the composite. I noticed bulk brass, which I don't use no more, the pockets bottoms are radiused. I use a uniformer to square them off. The anvil needs the support to reinforce the composite. In the past I had cratered firing pin strikes verses a neater strike, uniformed the pocket bottom and the craters went away.
- Thread starter
- #10
Well the primer pockets get cleaned every time. I'll true the pockets tonight to make sure they are right. The primmer got hit good, twice. It may not have been seated all the way. I have never had this happen before, and I have loaded several thousand rounds this way. Maybe I need to do better quality control on my primming steps.
- Oct 30, 2004
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I have had a few but all factory pistol rounds.
- Thread starter
- #13
