Primer POP

[truck driver]

I was reloading some 45acp this afternoon and had a Fiocchi pistol primer go bang while seating it in a casing on my Dillon 550B.
This the first time in 62 years of reloading that I had this happen.
I received minor powder burns on my right forearm and my right ear is still ringing an hour later.
I guess I can consider myself lucky since it could have been worse with powder in a casing right next to it. The Winchester shell case diverted the explosion up into the decaping die.
Got a phone call off to Fiocchi right after it happened and waiting to get a response back from them.
You can see from the pictures of what's left that it had started into the primer pocket before it went off. I had the handle all the way up in the seated position and that's when it went off.
Glad I wasn't using a hand primer seater at the time or there could have been a more serious reaction and possible a higher chance of more injury.
I had loaded 700 of this lot of primers and they all fit snug in the primer pockets so I was taking my time seating them.

 

[JD338]

First off, glad you are OK. I never heard of that happening but you just never know.

JD338

 

[truck driver]

First off, glad you are OK. I never heard of that happening but you just never know.

JD338

Thanks JD, in 62 years of reloading this was a first for me and hope it is the last. I still have 900 of these primers left and will be wearing hearing protection when I use them to reload.
I have crushed a few that have turned sideways in the Dillon primer feeder cup and not have them detonate so I'm careful to watch the primer coming out of the feeder tube. I have adjusted the shell plate, so it doesn't drag on the primers and flip them which was a learning experience with the 550B since it's not noted in the manual. This primer didn't flip but was being seated straight into the primer pocket and the seating stem was clean as can be seen from the flat face of the detonated primer.

While I was writing this Fiocchi CS called me and as expected they took no responsibility for what happened saying it was maybe operator error. But was sorry I had a mishap.
Might be a good excuse not to buy any more of any of their products.

 

[bkordon]

Glad you're okay. May want to add safety glasses to the hearing protection. How does the primer pocket look? Curious if the primer got snagged. I use a Dillon reloading setup as well and am always interested in other people's experiences with their machines. I use the Square B for pistol calibers, and with that machine, powder is fairly close to the priming station.

 

[Joec7651]

As stated, glad you’re ok first off. I’ve heard people say it’s happened to them but never experienced it personally. I’d say carry on as you are, and contact the manufacturer. Use a different lot of primes until you get direction from the manufacturer. I’ve had some turn sideways in the primer pocket but they didn’t ignite.

 

[RL338]

Glad you’re ok. Never had it happen to me , though I’ve read about happening to others.

 

[DrMike]

I've never experienced this. I do require that everyone enrolled in a course I am teaching must have eye protection. Just in case.

 

[hunter24605]

Yikes! That could have been much worse. Glad you’re ok. That’s a sphincter tightener!

 

[truck driver]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I do were a magnifying visor over my glasses which acts like safety glasses because it is wider then my glasses and gives me almost full coverage.
I measured the primer cup thickness and the Fiocchi's is .016" and Federal metal thickness is .013". I didn't measure WW or CCI but .003" seems to be significant to me since it makes the Fiocchi harder to seat.

 

[sako2]

Glad your okay.

 

[300WSM]

Glad you are ok... 10001 percent glad for that.

I am sure your reloading prowess is just fine. Fiocchi would never admit to such a thing as being a one off...

that said if this happens a few more times and word gets out they will address it and this is the kind of thing that can't literally kill their very juvenile, as in new, primer production.

I would like to add something and you might think about this..

I do disagree with your statement about using a hand primer or it could have been worse.

This is one of the exact reasons I USE A HAND PRIMER because every case I prime is tilted away from my face. and upper torso. That way if ignition happens it is directed in a safe location. I have no worries of the unit I use holding together and keeping the case right in place.
Some new brass has some pretty stiff...or perhaps TIGHT is a better description...and requires some extra force to get that seated.

90 percent of my loads are fed gm215m primers which are by far the hottest primer produced. The other 10 percent is large pistol mag and CCI#41 and #34

Again I am glad you are ok but maybe look into a good strong hand priming unit and tilt those cases away from you.
I assume you are loading in a progressive fashion thus hand priming would slow that operation down....

Saying again glad you're ok