Does anyone pre prime?

Rockchucker

Rockchucker

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Looking for some feed back from the "experts" around here....

There I were! Jan 13th and time for shooting season to commence. New scope and rings + a glades armory extended bolt handle. Expectations sure were high. Initial sight and zero stop set up was pretty straight forward and took minimal rounds (less than 8). Time to knock the rust off and verify I can still keep it between 1 and .5 MOA as that was the running average last year (0.66). Click but no BOOM.... wtf. Verified that I actually chambered a round, yep. Tried firing on the same one again, nothing. Pull it and it appears that maybe, just maybe, that I'm getting light primer strikes. Happens about 12 more times across ~75 rounds,2 different lots. Next range session my brother was with me and I had him attempt to fire the FTFs after me and most of them didn't light off either. BUT, we did install a Rifle Basix trigger in his before hunting season therefore I question if they maybe didn't because of that.... Did a quick range trip Saturday and decided to leave the aftermarket bolt handle on but take a totally different lot of ammo. Didn't have any FTFs this trip. Catching up my paperwork last night I noticed in my reloading log that for the lots I was having issues with were primed in August 2017 and not actually loaded till December 2017. Now, they sat in the gun room (an interior room in the home) "open air" until they were loaded in December so temp/humidity swings were not that large (75 - 60 degrees).

So, I'm really confused.

Did I let them sit too long without loading?

Can an aftermarket bolt handle affect how hard the firing pin is striking the primer?

Or did I just f up and not fully seat some of the primers? Early on in my reloading life this was a problem but hasn't been for at least 2.5 years. Also, if I didn't seat them fully, should it look like a light primer strike? My thinking is no since its sitting closer to the bolt face vs further away.

PLEASE HELP!!!
 
Sitting should not cause a problem if indoors. Oil is the primary enemy of primers.

I wonder what you primer seating depth is and how it varies round to round. I have never had this problem on a rifle, but with pistols, too light a striker spring was the culprit. Primers should be between 0.002 and 0.005 deep. You can check with a caliper using the depth gauge on the end.

Have you changed firing pin springs? How are you priming your brass?
 
I'll be sure to actually measure depth next time it happens. I typically scan them as a group after priming to ensure all look good and none are high. Don't remember/didn't make any notes that anything was amiss.

No, firing pin and springs are stock savage. I prime by hand with a RCBS tool.
 
I pre-prime but I have never (knock on wood) had any problems with them going boom.
 
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Large primers? If so, could you have accidentally used pistol primers instead of rifle? The reason I ask, large primers are different depths depending on whether they are rifle or pistol. (Small primers are the same size regardless of pistol or rifle).
 
Toprudder said:
Large primers? If so, could you have accidentally used pistol primers instead of rifle? The reason I ask, large primers are different depths depending on whether they are rifle or pistol. (Small primers are the same size regardless of pistol or rifle).
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Large rifle. No; although I have the components to reload pistol, I haven't actually started yet. Still waiting on the right deal at the right time on a progressive for that.
 
The Savages can be a problem with the occasional light firing pin strikes. Take the bolt apart and look for a stamped piece that may be binding, I don't remember it's name but the piece will be obvious if it is binding. Good luck.
 
How do you store primers in package?

If they are in a box on the shelf same as primed in a case on the shelf.

May just be a bad lot of primers.



Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk
 
Thank you all for your replies. I didn't think storing primed cases would be a problem either, so I will rule that out.
 
Dale Flinchum said:
The Savages can be a problem with the occasional light firing pin strikes. Take the bolt apart and look for a stamped piece that may be binding, I don't remember it's name but the piece will be obvious if it is binding. Good luck.
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Will do just for piece of mind but I don't think that's the problem. Based on my shooting log I've put about 1500 rounds through this rifle in the past 4 years and never an issue until now. While I've read of the issue, most of the people in my circle are running Savages (both 10/110 and Axis) and I've never seen it.

Based on feedback thus far I'm leaning towards either the monkey doing the priming wrong or a very inconsistent issue with the new bolt handle. I'm going to finish shooting the 40 rds left in the lot with no FTFs with the extended bolt handle. Provided no problems, I'm going to do yet another lot I already have loaded and if no FTFs, then I have to assume the primers were not seated correctly.
 
I’d pull down a couple failures as @Grits suggested and see what is up. Primers might not have anvils, rare, but it happens.

FWIW, I’ve fired brass that was primed in 1979, it set a new benchmark for procrastination, but they all went bang.
 
First, let's go old school: Who remembers when you could buy primed brass? With no hazmat?

I regularly prime brass then put it back on the shelf (ziplock bag, in a can, etc.) and load it later. A week, a month, a year, etc. Always goes bang.
I'd hazard a guess at something else in your reloading process.
 
Toprudder said:
Large primers? If so, could you have accidentally used pistol primers instead of rifle? The reason I ask, large primers are different depths depending on whether they are rifle or pistol. (Small primers are the same size regardless of pistol or rifle).
Click to expand...

Now that I did not know. OK, bedtime. I learned two things today, this, and apparently some people are of a contrary opinion with regards to where I believe I will be spending my after-life.

Glad its not a democracy, as I fear I would be out voted.
 
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MDof2 said:
First, let's go old school: Who remembers when you could buy primed brass? With no hazmat?
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Unless I am wrong, primed brass, and even loaded ammo, can be shipped now without hazmat fees, it is only the loose primers and powder that need hazmat.
 
Toprudder said:
Unless I am wrong, primed brass, and even loaded ammo, can be shipped now without hazmat fees, it is only the loose primers and powder that need hazmat.
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For some odd reason I thought they stopped selling it without hazmat. Admittedly I haven't searched for it or looked to purchase it for years. I recall my grandaddy used to buy. Circa early 80's.

Loaded ammo obviously no hazmat.
 
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Grits said:
Do you tumble your brass? Clogged flash hole?

Did you pull any of the rounds to see what the problem was?
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I do tumble in walnut media. No, I deprime AFTER I tumble to prevent this problem. IMO it adds unnecessary time to the overall process (to get it out of the flash hole) and I've not seen an issue with primer pockets being too dirty on subsequent reloads. I typically only fire 6 - 7 times before I decided to dump them, I don't want any case separation or other issues that comes with getting every last cent out of brass.

I did pull them all. All had powder and the primers all had anvils when I popped them out.
 
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I have some 9mm brass that’s been primed for 3-4yrs I just started loading up. First batch of 100 went off with out a hitch
 
I preprime cases for several different chamberings and store them for years with no problems. The 223, 308, 30/06, and 45 Auto cases are all processed and primed with a hand primer so that I can make sure all primers are seated well. Cases in these chamberings frequently have crimped primer pockets or tight primer pockets that must be opened up a bit, and hand seating assures me that the case has been prepared properly. I have several 5 gallon buckets of 45 Auto brass that has been prepped and primed for several years ready for loading.
 
Rockchucker said:
I did pull them all. All had powder and the primers all had anvils when I popped them out.
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I recently had a dud, and when I pulled the bullet and pushed out the primer, there was no primer compound. Inside the cup was the anvil, and a thin layer of sealer, but no primer compound.
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