I'm using the Remington 7 1/2 benchrest primers for a 17 hornet. I have experienced several failed to fire cartridges and I'm wondering has anybody else had the same problem with the 17. The primer show they have been struck by the firing pin but no ignition. I'm shooting a new Ruger 77/17 and have not encountered this with any factory loads. The loads are 10gr Lil Gun, 20gr V-Max, and Hornaday cases.

Misfires could be the result of:
- too deep seating of the primer
- over-sizing cases too far down and thereby causing head space problems
- primer not seated deep enough to activate the anvil inside the primer cup.
- thicker primer cups in some rifles cause problems, then it is better to change to a different brand.

In my 30 years of reloading I have mainly used Federal Primers. Never had one failure in several thousands of rounds. Federal Primers has a thinner primer cub compared to other brands. For this reason they set off very easily and are therefore not recommended in semi-auto rifles.

The firing pin strike is probably a bit too light for the thicker (or harder?) cup on the Remington 7 1/2, which is their "magnum" small rifle primer designed for higher intensity cartridges using the small primer (.223, etc.)

I've had similar problems in certain rifles with CCI primers, which tend to have harder cups.

The solution is to switch to a primer with a softer cup for rifles with slightly weak firing pin falls. You can even use small pistol primers in your .17 Hornet if need be.

Thank you gentlemen for the replies. My dies are set to only set the shoulders back by 0.002, One of the rounds that failed, I chambered again and this time it did ignite. There were two fire pin marks right next to each other. I'm using a Lee hand primer so I don't set the primers too deep, I do have some CCI small rifle primers, I will try and see if I have the same results. Thanks again for the help.

Why set the shoulder back at all? The fact that the second firing resulted in a firing pin dimple out-of-center indicates that (unsurprisingly) the rifle's chamber is overly large at the base. If you will neck size-only (don't set the shoulder back or reduce the diameter of the case body) then two good things will happen: Your case will align with the chamber so that your primer will be better centered on the firing pin, and your case head will be held more firmly against the bolt face so that the firing pin strike is more effective.

While the Hornet case is designed to headspace on the rim, rim dimensions vary and rifle manufacturers make the headspace of their Hornets at maximum to allow for the occasional too-thick rim. As with any bottlenecked cartridge, the Hornet works better if sized to headspace on the shoulder (even if it is long and sloping) -- so let the first firing do its work by fitting the case to the chamber and don't undo it by pushing the shoulder back.

Also, there is one more possibility: Check the protrusion of the firing pin with the bolt uncocked. It is possible that it is simply not traveling as far forward as needed. I'm not familiar with the striker set up on the Ruger, but I assume that it is adjustable.

One note........

Since the 17HH, or 17AH, operates at much higher pressures than the parent 22H....I'd stick with rifle primers. The Federal 205M is my favorite.

And.....Lil Gun is "iffy"(wide pressure variations) in 17 Hornets. I'd stick with AA1680.

BTW.....I always fully seat primers to the bottom of the primer pocket.

Hope this helps.

Kevin

I will add, a HIGH primer is a cause of many misfires, the primer moves forward on contact from the firing pin, it fails to ignite.
Even a primer that is flush with the case head may be HIGH, as small rifles primers have more of the anvil protruding from the cup.
The 205M is a great primer in small cases.
If you still have problems, the 6 1/2 Rem primer should fix your problems, BUT, they can pierce when pressures get up there.

Cheers.

quote:

Originally posted by 416RigbyHunter:
If you still have problems, the 6 1/2 Rem primer should fix your problems, BUT, they can pierce when pressures get up there.

Based on the information on Remington's website, I'd steer clear of using the 6 1/2 primer in anything other than the recommended applications. They recommend it for use in cartridges like the 22 Hornet, but nothing higher pressure. I'd hate to see you pierce a primer while following normal loading guidelines. I've bee using the 7 1/2 with no misfires in my 223 (and excellent accuracy, to boot).

I have ecountered this problem using CCI34 primers in a .270 and a a .257. Both were Ruger tange safety mod. 77s bought in 1970. Any other primer fired OK. This lead me to believe that the cocking spring needed a little more umph.
roger

If your primers don't bottom out then you get misfires..If your bottomed out and get misfires, your firing pin is too short. a primer that is seated too high is dangerous, they should be below the case surface..You can test them on a piece of glass, if the wobble you need to seat them deeper..The hand seaters are the devils creation...

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
..The hand seaters are the devils creation...

Bullshit...

Thank You for all the replies. I have taken apart the bolt and cleaned the whole assembly, bolt looks fine. I have set my die to just neck size,now it's off to the range. Thanks again.

I do use Rem 6 1/2 primers in my 22 Hornet. I would NOT use them in a 17 Hornet. They are not the same animal. The 17 has significantly more chamber pressure than the 22.

Now in the 22 Hornet, the little 6 1/2 Rem's are a gift from God.