Yesterday while shooting my 223 remington, I had a misfire with my reloads. Instead of a large bang it just went pop. I extracted the case and it had a good primer hit however the case was still full of powder and the bulet just moved about a half inch down the barrel. The powder which was still in the case had clumped together. I had to shake it out of the case. I also had to use a cleaning rod to removed the bullet from the barrel.

My load was 24 gr. H335, 55gr FMJBT, CCI SR primer and once fired LC brass. I have never had this happen in my many years of reloading.

Could the case contained some contaminate which rendered the powder unable to ingnite? Could something been wrong with the primer?

Thanks, JoeG

Sounds like the powder was moist or damp in some way. Did any of the powder burn or did the Bullet move with the force of the primer only? VERY STRANGE!!!

You may have one of two problems. a blocked or partially blocked flash hole.Could be a piece of polishing media or some other material.Second is a weak or partially contaminated primer.

I had the same thing happen to me this year, first time ever! In my case it was one round with 53 grains of Reloader 7 in my 405 Winchester with a 210 grain bullet. I do believe that somehow this round absorbed moisture as all the others went bang without a hitch. Very frustrating while out at the range.

[ 07-27-2003, 20:24: Message edited by: MSSmagnum ]

The first thing that comes to my mind is that moisture was some how in the case. Do you'all tumble or vibrate your brass, that usually will ensure a dry case. Could some water from condensation have fallen into the case from a cold beverage you were drinking while loading?
If the bullet only went a couble of inches into the bbl the promer was ok, the powder just did not ignight. It must have been contaminated in some way.

I was in a hurry to test some new loads and I had not trimmed all this brand new lot of brass to a same length and the crimp was a little inconsistent. I believe that this one round must not have been crimped as well as the others and it was able to draw moisture. It has been VERY wet here this summer.... I have not had the problem since, hope i never do again!! What a PITA!!

MSS,
That would have absolutly no effect on ignition, your powder was contaminated prior to loading..

Do you live in a humid climate and load in a humid location? moisture in a case can get there many ways. Obviously the primer moved the bullet as it only went a couple of inches and thats ordinary for a primer. Check you powder can, it may be sweating.

Thats why I always carry a piece of dowel to the range for me, I have gotten stuck a few times having to pack up early because a squib. Of course the one's I had where my fault when loading 45acp on a progressive, occasional you miss a powder drop.

I had loaded fifty rounds with forty-nine working fine and even getting some excellent accuracy. The misfire occurred about round number twelve.

The primer did pop however not enough to ignite the powder to any degree. I don't think humidity was a problem.

The brass was purchased once fired, cleaned and deprimed. I resized and trimmed.

Powder was just opened and fresh. I checked the keg again this morning and it seems fine.

I was sure glad I had a way to get the bullet from the barrel since the range is about sixty miles from home.

???

[ 07-28-2003, 02:00: Message edited by: JoeG ]

Ray,

BTW, it has been VERY wet here this year. That said, i check every can of powder before loading for any signs which would tell me that the powder is being contaminated. I have not witnessed a problem yet. The pound of Reloader 7 that i had this problem with is now completely gone, didnt have a problem with another round.

Bad primer. A friend had this problem with his 44mag he ended up taking a dowel when hunting. He didn't want to believe that it was the primers .When I finally convinced him to dump that box of primers he had no more problem. The primers were too weak to ignite the powder but had enough power to push the bullet out of the case.

Mete; Do you recall the brand of the bad primers? derf

Some years ago I lived in an apartment which was very humid and once had the same trouble. Looking at the powder I found that some grains were of a yellowish colour, perhaps absorbing water from the air itself. Threw the whole can down the drain and end of misfires.

You mentioned that the brass was cleaned. You don't suppose that maybe a small amount of the cleaning media got left in the case!
It could happen! A small amount of media in the bottom of the case could insulate the powder enough so that it wouldn't ignite, and cause the misfire and just shove the bullet out of the case. Just a thought!
I have found lots of stuff in my .223 cases when it comes reloading time, sand, lint, sawdust, etc. I always put my brass in a loading tray and hold the tray over a good light and look down through the cases to ensure that there is nothing in the cases before they are primed!
Good luck: Chuck

Joe and MSSmagnum: If you chew tobacco while you load, be more careful where you spit.

MSSmagnum, haven't you heard of murphy's law ? My friends problem occured 20 years ago, can't remember brand .But QC problems can happen to any brand.

Sounds like one of my misfires . . . two of which happened the same day (I have only had 4 since 1966)it was from a piece of walnut media in the flash hole.

Amazing that something so simple could stop ignition and yet CLUMP the powder, but it does!

LouisB