XL650 - Small Rifle Primer Failure rate

[Trekkie]

Hi -

I've had my XL650 for a few months, and haven't had a ton of time to work it. So consider it 'still new'.

This is my 'third round' of ammunition through it. I am loading .223 from used brass that I've shot once from factory loaded ammo I purchased, usually American Eagle in the black box in lots of 100.

I am having what i think is a larger than normal 'failure' of the primer into the primer pocket and looking for advice.

If I do a 'batch' of ammo, out of about 150 rounds, maybe 20 have some time of primer issue. The primer either is missing/fails to seat when the ammo gets through the press, or in more rarer cases it's in the pocket, but either at a horrible angle, or in a few instances just 'not in all the way'. I can usually tell when this happens, as there is a rather 'crunch' feeling when I push the press handle back to seat the primer.

In most cases the kinetic hammer will dislodge everything correctly. There are a couple pieces of brass I'm not sure what to do in that the brass is empty and the primer is goofed up somehow, and not sure what the best way to remove the primer is.

I'm wondering if anyone has some tips on what I am doing incorrectly here. I am trying to decide if it's a 'how I put the primer in the tube' issue, or something else.

What path should I take?

Thanks.

[Bkreutz]

Contact Dillon is the best advice I can think of.

[RGBSTI]

I would say that's it is probably crimped primer pockets ,Ive went to cleaning all primer pockets and putting a slight

chamfer on them most pocket cleaning tools will do this , this has eliminated my priming issues

Randy

[jmorris]

If the primer pocket looks like the one on the right, you need to cut or swage the crimp out until it looks like the one on the left.

[Sarge]

Crimped pockets for sure!

[dolton916]

Just push out the damaged primer in the first station just go and slowly. Check your pockets and swage them.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited August 12, 2015 by dolton916

[rodell]

Be sure your press is solidly mounted. Primers can become misaligned if it is not.

[anm2_man]

Yes - A press that isn't bolted down, or a bench that moves, will cause primers to jump. Some times they go sideways, some times they jump out, etc. Also how about a SMOOOTH stroke. No herky jerkys - smooth going down, smooth coming up - followed by a semi firm seating of the primer. NOTE if it won't go in easily, DO NOT force it. Pull the shell out and take a look. If the primer looks correct, put the round back in and see if it will go in there. If not, maybe it has a crimped primer (that is for a different discussion). The press could be out of time, but I doubt it with a NEW press. If the primer is sidways, it was caused by vibrations. See Above. If there is NO primer there, you may have a primer feeding system issue. Please see the FAQ's at the top of this forum about that. I just finished priming 6,000 rounds with 2 failures (probably was going too fast) on my XL650. Donot forget - SMOOOTH Strokes is the key.

[jmorris]

All of that is good advice but the reason I said look at the crimped pockets is because your using American Eagle brass (made by Federal) all I have ever seen is crimped.

[hceuterpe]

Before you do anything, just take a picture of one of the headstamps and post it in a reply...

[NatureBoy]

I was having similar primer issues with .308. A fine member here squared me away with the following advice:

1. the knurled silver cap on top of the primer magazine should be screwed down just enough to make contact with the tube, and no more. I was over tightening causing it to bind

2. put a spend .45 ACP case on top of the primer rod to give it a little extra weight.

After doing this all of my primer issue went away.

Of course, none of the above will make a hill of beans difference if you're not swaging your crimped brass.