Light primer strikes when round is chambered?

Duckslayer12

Duckslayer12

New member
My complete rifle is a RRA Midlength A4. It seems all the rounds I chamber will have light primer strikes before fired. I can't think this is normal or a good thing. Is this common in AR's or do I need to get this checked by a gunsmith? Left to right. Silver Bear, American Eagle, Federal bulk, and Handload.

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Yes it is normal. The firing pin in the AR is free floating, and will contact the primer as the bolt carrier group slams home. It is why we don't use soft primers in AR's
 
AR's all have a floating firing pin. It just sits in the bolt carrier group and is held in place by inertia.

They all do that to every round they chamber. CCI makes extra hard military primers that are supposed to reduce the likelihood of slamfires, but they are very unlikely to begin with.

Just follow good gunhandling procedures and keep it pointed in a safe direction when you make ready. If you're like almost everyone else, you'll never have a problem.

As a matter of fact, I have rounds that have been chambered, ejected, and rechambered multiple times. The "dimples" don't seem to deepen and they're nowhere near deep enough to set off the round.
 
The CCI's or Win SR work fine, make sure you get your primers set as deep as they will go, or you'll definitly get a slam fire.
 
I noticed my handload had a bigger dimple then the rest. I will make sure to seat them as deep as I can next time. Usually I just seat them till they are flush with the bottom of the case.
 
I use CCI 400 and they show that dimple. When I hunt I make sure I don't load the same cartridge twice on the top of the magazine.

Federal Match 205M primers are great but stay away from Federal 200 primer. It has the thinnest cup out there.
 

Yes, this is normal. ALWAYS keep your muzzle pointing in a
safe direction, when charging any firearm, but especially an
AR-15, AK-47 and variants, SKS, etc. As posted, you may want
to go with thicker primers, but nothing is fool proof. So
expect an AR-15 to slam fire. I have a hole in the steel roof
of my shop from a 6.8 the went bang when I was cycling ammo
through it, testing a repair. I have a bunch of dummy ammo
loaded for testing now.
blush.gif
I have had two slam fires
with AR-15s, both loaded with softer commercial primers, and
fortunately I was observing the rules of firearms safety.
Both times I may of had a bit of butt pucker!

Squeeze
 
Originally Posted By: Duckslayer12I noticed my handload had a bigger dimple then the rest. I will make sure to seat them as deep as I can next time. Usually I just seat them till they are flush with the bottom of the case.

I always seat primers to the bottom of the primer pocket. Otherwise inconsistent ignition may result. I also use the Federal 205M and was somewhat worried about it at first but found a chart of primer hardness ratings in which the 205M was right in the middle of the pack. I practice good gun handling, seat my primers firmly to the bottom of the primer pocket, and quit worrying about it.
 
Originally Posted By: Duckslayer12Would Federal Match Primers be too soft for reloading?


In an AR, Yes. To soft and thin.
I have personally had blown primers using Federal Gold Metal Match,
GM205M Primers.
Have also experianced Peirced primers with Winchester SRP, but only slightly peirced, none blown.
I have switched to Rem. 7.5 and CCI primers, no issues at all.
 
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As you can see the cci 450's , br4's and reming. 7 1/2's have a thicker cup. The fed 205m's are next in line. Wolf primers are also thicker. There is no hardness difference in primer cups. Stay with the thicker ones if you can
find them. The 450's and br4 were the standard primer for ar loading up
until the crunch a few years ago.
 


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