reloading question

G

getfoxy

New member
I reloaded 100 30-06 shells. CCI no. 200 large rifle primers, Varget Powder, Hornady 150grain SST bullets.

Of those 100 7 didnt go off. IS this Normal? If not what could have been the problem?
 
No this is not normal. Did you get lube on the primers? Did you possibly bump the shoulder a bit too much? Have you had mis-fires with other ammunition in this firearm?
John
 
No-it's not normal. I had a reload go PFFFT one time but i can't remember not having one go off. I would start by looking maybe at the rifle. Are you getting good solid strikes on the primer from the firing pin?
 
You didn't mention condition of the brass. Old/new? It is possible to seat the primer too deep. Were the primer pockets clean? Flash hole clear? After taking my brass out of the tumbler there is always media that sticks in the flash hole. Primers can get contaminated by lots of things, so without knowing what your process is, I'd start there, but as others have stated, no that is not normal.
 
All strikes are solid, firearm has never ever misfired before, brass was brand new, as far as I know all of the primers were seated to the same depth. Is it possible to get a bad batch of primers? One of the rounds had a delay before it went off. Like an old muzzleloader. Split second hesitation
 
One more thing. I don't understand d what you mean bump the shoulders back. I mean I run it through a resizing die? As you can tell I'm a Newbie. Like to bump a shoulder back 15 degrees, I just don't get it?
 
He means you might have your resize die in too far. It is possible to get a bad batch of primers. I would set them aside and buy another 100 of that same brand and try again. If it is a bad batch, note the lot # and contact the company to let them know. How are you preparing your brass? Are you cleaning them after resizing? If so, how? I spray mine with one-shot and then throw them in the tumbler. Like I said before, the tumbling media sticks in the flash hole and I poke them out. If you are not cleaning them after resizing you might be contaminating them but don't know without further explanation.
 
Quote:One of the rounds had a delay before it went off.

Hangfire would indicate bad primers. Could be old or possibly contaminated during loading process.

Regards,
hm
 
Also, what are you using as far as instruction goes? They're several good books and now I guess DVDs on reloading. They are excellent resources. It is rare to get that many bad primers though.
 
O ok. Well I have been using the same primers a d they worked flawlessly in my 22/250. It was a different batch though, I used some out of that batch to do some 3006 and they were fine. I'm pretty sure my die was adjusted right. The cases were never ran through a tumbler. The brass was brand new and clean. Bought it from the store, lightly lubed it and ran it through the resized just to be sure. I was kind of disappointed. Any ideas on the delayed fire?
 
You guys must gave been typing when I was, what do you mean as instruction? My manuual, and the instruction that came with all of my stuff and a little bit of common sense lol
 
Did you take the bullets apart to make sure that you dropped powder into the case? If the Firing pin actually hit the primer,and nothing happened, Id guess bad/contaminated primers or lack of powder. Let us know.
 
I had a delayed fire when using some CCI Primers myself. Strange thing another member posted here a similar problem around the same time. I couldn`t find a lot # on the large box but the # on the individual box is K010 CCI BR-2.
I had never had one not fire at all, but boy that would sure make me nervous.Hate to unload one that didn`t go off and then have it go BANG! upon examination. Be careful getfoxy and if that happens again keep the muzzle in a safe direction for awhile be fore you extract it.
Anyone else have any other safety recommendations for the young man please share.
 
Originally Posted By: hm1996 Quote:One of the rounds had a delay before it went off.

Hangfire would indicate bad primers. Could be old or possibly contaminated during loading process.

Regards,
hm

Yep. Hangfire would definitely indicate a bad primer or contamination.

You never answered the question ... What kind of rifle? Any pics of these rounds that didn't go off? I'd like to see the primer dents.
 
There are a lot of reasons why a primer fails. The firing pin may dent the primer but not ignite it. I have an older Sako with a firing pin that just doesn't hit the CCI primers, which have a thicker cup, hard enough to ignite them. I use Winchester primers because they have a softer metal and the Sako has never failed to ignite them. I suspect that this is the problem since they work in another rifle.

Another reason could be that when you're seating the primers you could be breaking the wafer inside the primer which renders them useless.

Tests have been done on the contamination of primers with oil or case lube. Primers were soaked in oil and case lube was placed in them and they still worked for a long time afterward. Doubtful that this is the problem and if the primers are seated using the same device for both rifles I would look at the first reason I stated.

CCI Benchrest primers have a harder, thicker cup than standard CCI's.
 
Hidalgo the rifle is a m700 3006. I can get some pics up later tonite. I get off at 11.

Pk1. The same shells would not fire in 3 other 3006s I tried them to make sure it wasn't my firing pin.
 
Thats kind of what I thought pk1 about the primers. I have used several in a different rifle with no problems.
I never had one not fire at all though. Although I`m not perfect, I have a decent reloading routine and doubt that I somehow contaminated the primers.
Getfoxy, can you post a picture of the primer on the rounds that failed to fire?
 
Yea, I`ll check back in later to look at those pictures. I gotta help a little with decorating the christmas tree
smile.gif

Another thing pk1 mentioned about breaking the wafer inside the primer...I have been wanting to upgrade to a better priming tool, but don`t know which one. those Lee Hand prime tools work if ya keep a few spare handles around, but boy there`s gotta be something better. The new Lee unit doesn`t look much better.Checked one out the other day at cabelas.
 
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