Hi all, I am just started reloading a couple of months ago and have learned a lot. I still have a lot of questions. The issue I am dealing with now is that 5 of the last 15 shots I have taken, the primers have not gone off. I never touched the primers, they came out of the package and into the tray for my RCBS hand primer tray. You can see were the firing pin hit the primer but didn't set it off. Another question, are these bullets safe to handle. I have been told NO they are not safe to handle. Can I use my bullet puller or should I just get rid of them? I am using CCI large rifle primers in my new Remington 22-250. I have talked to two guys, one who taught me to reload and they have never had a primer not go off. I am baffled, any info would be great. Thanks

Is the dent in the ones that DIDN'T fire as deep as the ones that DID fire?

I would look, first, at primer seating depth. It sounds like the firing pin is not reaching far enough.

There can be other reasons but, I would start there.

I had something like that just happen not long ago. I m thinking for me I may had something in them to keep from sparking. I too use CCI primers. I did use my bullet puller and popped out the primers and put new in. No problems fallowed.
But the Phil is right, check to see if they are dented like the rest. I have had both mistakes made. Such things happen when your learning. Even people that have been doing it for years may forget to wipe off there hands or even not check the case for lube, or other obstructions.

Where did you get the brass from ?. Was it once fired from YOUR Gun ? Or someone elses

gun ?. By all means check primer strike depth as they should all be the same and in the same

position meaning if the fired cases are center hit , so should the unfired cases .

Are you full length resizing or Neck sizing ?. Some times a problem such as you described

can be from incorrect head spacing IE incorrect case resizing !. Then again a broken firing pin

or bad spring can do it to .

Primers not seated deep enough can cause the problem you've described. If the primer is not seated to the depth of the primer pocket you'll have primer ignition problems. The surface of the primer should be a little below the surface of the case, not even with it. If this is the case, use a little more force when inserting the primer.

quote:

Originally posted by Red C.:
Primers not seated deep enough can cause the problem you've described. If the primer is not seated to the depth of the primer pocket you'll have primer ignition problems. The surface of the primer should be a little below the surface of the case, not even with it. If this is the case, use a little more force when inserting the primer.

Or seated too deeply will crush and crack the compound in the primer. Resulting in a misfire.

One more thing to consider - a fired primer under normal conditions will have a shallower indent to one fired without a charge. So, if your 'failed' primers look the same as the ones that fired, they may well not have been struck hard enough. Causes of that have been covered by the folks before me. Bar one - if your bolt was not fully closed at the time of firing, the firing pin fall could have been dampened enough to prevent ignition. as for handling and contamination by lube and such, don't worry about it - that wasn't the problem. Not unless the primers were crushed as James Kain has suggested - then only can contaminants get into the compound. Make sure the primer pockets are clean and crushing should not occur. Just out of interest, I have fired crush, damaged and contaminated primers - all! The only misfires I have had were when the bolt handle was not all the way down. (Or there was no powder in the case!) Are you sure there was powder in the case? Heaven knows, it's happened to me often enough! I have stood there holding the gun down range for an eternity just in case I get a hangfire. Anyway, pull the bullets and redo them. You'll be fine! (And if not, you won't be around to challenge me!) Just kidding!

Another thing, if you cleaned the cases with corn cob, did you clean the primer pocket and flash hole.

OK now, I must confess - I never clean my cases! I only clean out the primer pocket (just so the new primer will seat properly).

quote:

Originally posted by Red C.:
Primers not seated deep enough can cause the problem you've described. If the primer is not seated to the depth of the primer pocket, you'll have primer ignition problems.

Also, if the first strike seats the primer, a second strike will successfully ignite it.

quote:

Originally posted by Winchester 69:
Also, if the first strike seats the primer, a second strike will successfully ignite it.

Yes, that has happened in the few cases I experienced that. I suspect that in all cases the primer was not set deep enough.

quote:

Originally posted by DUK:

quote:

Originally posted by Winchester 69:
Also, if the first strike seats the primer, a second strike will successfully ignite it.

Yes, that has happened in the few cases I experienced that. I suspect that in all cases the primer was not set deep enough.

Been there!

You could be setting back the shoulder too far when resizing the case. This causes excessive headspace. The firing pin hits the primer, which slides the case forward in the chamber until it finally stops on the shoulder. This condition results in a misfire, as the primer only gets a light indent. This might not be your situation, but something to think about.

I don't mean to be rude but, how in the HELL can you set the shoulder back too far with any reputable brand die? If the F-L die touches the shell holder then it should be within specs. If he were to even use neck sizing dies and crunch the case then the case should not fit into a SAAMI spec. chamber. It sounds like he has a serious head space problem if the primers are not equally indented or a firing pin problem. Also could be a bad batch of brass with holes too deep. It could be a lot of things with no more info than what was given.

Sounds like I have alot of things to check. The brass is factory Remington brass that has been shot an now reloaded twice, only shot out of my gun. I did clean the primer pockets with the wire brush on the end of my Lyman electric trimmer. Also I did try shooting the shells a second time and they still didn't go off. I will have to check if there is a difference in the dents between two. Thanks for all the help, if anyone has any more suggestions with this new info I gave I would love to hear it.

Since it is a new rifle I would guess that it is not a weak mainspring, but you never know.
I would think that a primer not seated deep enough is probably the answer.

The only primer failures I have ever had were with that brand. That being said, 5 out of 15 is probably an indicator that something else is wrong, as mentioned above. Media in the flash hole would not prevent the primer from igniting; a friend here actually experimented with that and found definite incomplete burning of powder, but not total failures. I did not see whether anyone mentioned that seating primers above flush can cause a failure to fire, but the firing pin indentation will not look like an obvious light strike.

quote:

I don't mean to be rude but, how in the HELL can you set the shoulder back too far with any reputable brand die?

There are any number of the HELL ways that the shoulder can be set too far back. If you have a chamber that is cut to maximum spec, combined with a die that is minimum spec, and perhaps compounded by a shell holder that has a thinner lip than the die was designed for (yes, Virginia, shell holder lip thicknesses do vary from brand to brand), then the shoulder could easily be set back far enough to create primer ignition problems.

A common mistake that inexperienced reloaders often make is to simply screw the die down until it bears firmly against the shellholder. This very often results in greater than desirable headspace.

Correct StoneCreek you got it before I could .

I have ask others; Has anyone ever had a primer that was not seated deep enough in the primer pocket

that closed when in battery ?. When struck with a firing pin failed to go off ?.

If the answer too the above questions are Yes CHECK HEAD SPACING !.

If my primers aren't seated flush or slightly below the base my ammo won't chamber .

Now some of my older military Rifles could care less if the primer were half way in the pocket they

would simply drive the pin through it least wise a few times before going BOOM !.

The only primer that I ever had a problem with is CCI and just a couple which failed to go off .

You may want to check the lot call the company and ask if anyone else has complained or had misfires !.

FYI ; Most reloading problems I personally have encountered have been on Belted cases .

Until I figured out why that is !. Not all chambers are created equal !. Nor were the Dies to size them

properly !!.

Sorry you took offense to my asking about shoulder set back there S-Creek, but an experienced reloader would use the same brand shell holder with like brand dies. Or at least I would. Not doing so, I would be suspicious of trouble right off the bat. RCBS tells you in the instructions to run the resizing die down to the shell holder and a hair more to make the press arm cam over, when full length resizing. Second, with that kind of headspace problem it should not be long to start seeing severe case stretch and case seperation, not to mention a noticable difference in force when resizing.

I m glad Rae 59 mentioned that the RCBS directions say to run the die down to the shell holder and then another 1/8-1/4 because thats how I have been doing it. I think I will give the company a call and find out if there were any other propblems with that lot number. Also, today I stopped at the store where I bought the gun and some reloading equipment, we pulled a couple of the bullets and try setting off the primer in a different 22-250 and they still would not ignite. This guy thinks I got a batch of bad primers. Heres another clue to the mystery. Thanks again, I love to learn, keep given me advice. Lightner

Hey Lightdogg,assuming that you are reloading correctly,then your problem should,in no doubt lie with your firing pin spring assembly.I would clean it out first then lightly oil it and the wipe it down.If that doesn't work,replace the spring and pin with the Tubb set-up.Good luck and report back.

quote:

Has anyone ever had a primer that was not seated deep enough in the primer pocket

that closed when in battery ?. When struck with a firing pin failed to go off ?.

No. Nor did I have too much trouble closing the bolt. The bolt just crushed the protruding primer and it fired.
Then I realized I was supposed to remove the crud from the primer pocket.
Actually, I did a lot of loading without any primer pocket cleaning and cannot say I found any difference in accuracy. I did do a comparison. But for a dud primer, I have a specimen in which the anvil is sitting sideways in the primer cup!

Well guys I just scored a brick of Federal Match primer, hopefully I will not have this problem again.

sounds like a head space problem, you could be setting the shoulder back to much when you are full lenght resizing. that would cause the miss firing that you are getting.

Well, I had one gun (ruger) that would not fire off winchester primers. It would only fire off the Federal match primers. (didn't try any CCI)

I had to replace the main spring in the bolt and that fixed the issue as swheeler suggested.

My cousin had a Kimber that would misfire about every 5th time. He thought he had a primer issue, but turned out that gun had the firing pin hole in the bolt drilled at an angle. Took awhile for the gun smith to find that.

Well guys I haven't been on lately to give you an update. Nobody mentioned this as a reason and I figured it out after taking apart the round that the prime didn't go off. Hopefully this can help some of you. After anealing your cases make sure they are completely dry before continuing your reloading process. Yes, I am an idot, but this is why my primers were not going off. Hopefully this will save somebody the headaches I had. Thanks again for all the suggestions.

quote:

. After anealing your cases make sure they are completely dry before continuing your reloading process.

Don't be too hard on yourself. You ain't alone useing cases with fouled primer pockets. Been there done that. roger

it happens - glad you found out what the problem was!