I was trying some new powders in my 300 WSM the other day just to see if my gun liked one better than the other. I was using H4350, and tought I'd try some Reloader 19, and some H414. Everything was fine except the H414. I loaded three went out back, and took a shot. I heard the firing pin hit the primer, and about a second later it went off. I thought it could be a bad primer, so I tried another. Same thing. The H414 was about a eight months old, and my reloading bench it in the basement, with a dehumidifier running. Could this have been damp powder?

Charliebuck--

The problem is with the primer. It's called "hang fire".

It has three causes....old primers, contaminated primers, or primers not seated all the way.

I heard one shooter blame it on case cleaning media stuck in the flash hole but I tried 20 rounds and couldn't duplicate it.

Jbelk, I would tend to agree with you, but I loaded other shells with other powders, and the same lot of primers without the delay.

Charliebuck,
Low load density in large cases will cause what you describe as "delayed ignition" and worse. I had an experience with WW760 in my 3006. I was using a starting load with a 165 grain bullet seated out as far as I could seat it (Springfield throat is LONG). When I touched off the first round it was "soft" sounding - a very slight delay. When I fired the next round it just popped and then after what seemed forever (1 or 2 seconds) there was a very loud boom! It was bad enough that I stopped shooting and took the gun to my gunsmith to have it checked over. The case head was expanded and the body was split. This was not an over-charge but a detonation. Be careful.

PaulS

I have very recently experienced this exact same thing in a Mosin Nagant 7.62x54R with some old surplus Russian ammo. Kinda un-nerving to say the least huh? I pulled some bullets & there was corrosion around the flash holes (berdan).

[ 01-17-2003, 17:39: Message edited by: Bear Claw ]

I've only experience hang fires with one batch of primers, ever. Those particular primers were of unknown age and circumstances, but had been sitting primed in unloaded brass for a number of years.

Your problem may be showing up with the spherical powder (which is usually a little more difficult to ignite), and is likely also present with the other powders, but the "delay" is just not enough for you to detect. Bottom line: You have some bad primers. Chuck them and start over with fresh ones.

I had sampe problem with H BLC-2 in an '06 with published starting loads and Rem primers. It is the only place I have experienced the problem.
C.G.B.