Primer pockets.......How loose is too loose?

Bowhunt

Bowhunt

Well-known member
Good evening fellas. I just finished priming 100 Winchester 22-250 cases. I'm using WLR primers and the majority of them seated with very little resistance. The cases have several firings on them and my pet load is nowhere near max. They are loose enough that I decided that I would discard this whole batch after this firing. My question is......how loose is too loose? Should I not load these and just write off these hundred primers or do you think they would be okay for one last firing? Thanks in advance.
 
Way back in time. When Lapua first came out with .22-250 brass. A friend that was at the time the U.S. distributor for Lapua sent me 200 pieces of pre-production for evaluation.

Short video I recorded like sixteen years ago. Showing the difference between Winchester and Lapua .22-250 primer pockets.



I'm still rocking that batch of pre-production Lapua in my .20-250 today.

- DAA
 
I usually scrap cases when depriming. I have had loose primer lock up the AR after firing. Not fun. I use the Lyman deprimer in my SS press, pops out with no force - trash.
 
DAA said:
Way back in time. When Lapua first came out with .22-250 brass. A friend that was at the time the U.S. distributor for Lapua sent me 200 pieces of pre-production for evaluation.

Short video I recorded like sixteen years ago. Showing the difference between Winchester and Lapua .22-250 primer pockets.



I'm still rocking that batch of pre-production Lapua in my .20-250 today.

- DAA
Click to expand...

Thank for the replies. I'm not quite sure what you mean by "leaking". If you mean leaking gasses around the rim of the primer when fired, then I'm not sure as I haven't even dropped powder because I haven't decided if I am going to load them yet. There was'nt much resistance at all when seating them, but I certainly can't tap them back out of the case. Also didn't try seating one with my finger. I have first hand experience that Lapua brass is far superior to these Winchester cases since I have several hundred Lapua cases in several different cartridges, but the Winchester has held up fairly well with standard loads. I don't have a problem pitching cases that are truly spent, but I still have a little anxiety left over from when components were nowhere to be found and want to squeeze every ounce of life out of everything I have. Lol
 
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popper43 said:
I usually scrap cases when depriming. I have had loose primer lock up the AR after firing. Not fun. I use the Lyman deprimer in my SS press, pops out with no force - trash.
Click to expand...
Not a bad idea for a gas gun and cases as common as 223 or 5.56, but it seems to me that I would be missing out on some brass life in bolt guns chambered in more expensive cartridges when using that method 🤔
 
I use a primer go/no go gauge. They have them in large and small primer.

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Bowhunt said:
Thank for the replies. I'm not quite sure what you mean by "leaking". If you mean leaking gasses around the rim of the primer when fired, then I'm not sure as I haven't even dropped powder because I haven't decided if I am going to load them yet.
Click to expand...

Yes, by leaking I mean gasses escaping round the rim of the primer. It's pretty plain to see after firing, before decapping. If you see some leakage, but they still feel okay, back off the load. If you see leaking AND they feel loose. Toss 'em. I just opened about a dozen boxes of ammo to see if I could get a picture of what leakage looks like, but I don't have any leaking currently. It's pretty easy to see though.

- DAA
 
I would say if you see any leaking at all, it's time to be done. "Pierced" primers are worse, but I believe even leaking primers can damage your bolt face due to the jetting of hot gasses.
 
As others mention it's a "feel" thing that you get use to, fire them one last time and scrape them. I'm dealing with the opposite problem right now with some new Remington (cheap) brass that I have to literally smash the primer to get it in! Despite all the pocket prep it's too tight. Been tossing those ones.
 
DAA said:
Way back in time. When Lapua first came out with .22-250 brass. A friend that was at the time the U.S. distributor for Lapua sent me 200 pieces of pre-production for evaluation.

Short video I recorded like sixteen years ago. Showing the difference between Winchester and Lapua .22-250 primer pockets.



I'm still rocking that batch of pre-production Lapua in my .20-250 today.

- DAA
Click to expand...

how many reloads do you have on that brass?
 
I've had Remington 22-250 brass with loose primer pockets after 3 firings. Out of the batch of 100 there were a couple the primer just fell out and wouldn't seat. Several that the primer had some wiggle room. I used those with loose primers for target practice without issue and tossed the entire batch after I fired all of them without issue. I'm sure I could have squeezed a couple more firings out of most of the brass but it just wasn't worth it to me. If you are debating keeping the brass, it is usually a good idea to just toss it and start new.
 
When my Primmer Pockets were getting loose when running some hot loads. I used to squeeze one more firing out of them with using Wolf SR primers . Those Wolf were tighter fit on new brass, than other small rifle primers I ran . I have not bought wolf brand in a while but when I used them they did not seem to suffer my accuracy either.
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