Federal primers damaged my striker

[sqeeler]

Meanwhile I have circa 42k through my Glock 34, and 23k through my Glock 17, the vast majority of that handloads with Federal primers, without a single problem.

im not arguing about the round count through your guns, thats great, as well as i have run 25,000 through my G-19 in a 4 month period a few years ago getting ready for the Area 2 down at RIO. I was stating that i personally have had an issue with federal primers as well as a trusted friend has had the same fate , but YMMV

[hal1955]

I have fired a boatload of Federal primers in a G17 and a G34, all 9mm major, 8.0 grains of HS6 with a stock striker, no issues and no pierced primers.

[waktasz]

Wow. I shoot 200 gr bullets loaded to factory short out of a Glock with Federal primers and never had a problem.

[Duane Thomas]

I was stating that i personally have had an issue with federal primers as well as a trusted friend has had the same fate , but YMMV

As indeed it does. I have to believe there's some other factor at work here than the primers. Think about it, would Federal be loading their factory ammo with primers that are going to damage a Glock - or anything else, for that matter? The fact that they are - and have been for decades - turning out millions of rounds a year without Federal primers developing a reputation as gun eaters indicates there is not generally a problem there, yes?

My first instinct would be to look at the powder as being the culprit. Makes me wonder what are the pressure and burn characteristics of Power Pistol. Just curious, why did you choose this particular powder, anyway?

Also, you had only put 300 rounds of Federal primers through your gun when you noticed the damaged firing pin tip. It's highly unlikely - impossible, actually - that those last 300 rounds with Federal primers were what damaged the gun. Rather I'd be looking at the tens of thousands of rounds (I assume) you had fired before with different primers but (again I assume) the same powder and load.

[Duane Thomas]

As I think about it, also it does occur to me that .40 S&W ammo tends to have a very fast pressure spike. The fact that I can fire umpteem tens of thousands of rounds through my 9mm Glocks with Federal primers - or anything else - with no firing pin damage doesn't necessarily mean you can do the same thing with a .40. You may just have to live with the idea of replacing your firing pin on a regular basis as a part of normal upkeep if you're going to have the round count that serious competition shooters do, with Major loaded .40 in a Glock.

Is the damage limited to the firing pin, with no reshaping or enlargement of the firing pin hole through the breech face?

[rr4406pak]

I've had to replace the firing ping in my Glock 35 after about every 5000 rounds.

The firing pin wears down and is almost rounded when I take it out to replace it with a nice new "pointy" one.

It still fired fine with the "rounded" pin (no misfires ever), it just made me nervous to see it was so visibly worn down.

[sqeeler]

I was stating that i personally have had an issue with federal primers as well as a trusted friend has had the same fate , but YMMV

As indeed it does. I have to believe there's some other factor at work here than the primers. Think about it, would Federal be loading their factory ammo with primers that are going to damage a Glock - or anything else, for that matter? The fact that they are - and have been for decades - turning out millions of rounds a year without Federal primers developing a reputation as gun eaters indicates there is not generally a problem there, yes?

My first instinct would be to look at the powder as being the culprit. Makes me wonder what are the pressure and burn characteristics of Power Pistol. Just curious, why did you choose this particular powder, anyway?

Also, you had only put 300 rounds of Federal primers through your gun when you noticed the damaged firing pin tip. It's highly unlikely - impossible, actually - that those last 300 rounds with Federal primers were what damaged the gun. Rather I'd be looking at the tens of thousands of rounds (I assume) you had fired before with different primers but (again I assume) the same powder and load

So were straight here , nowhere in my post did i mention using powerpistol powder or only haveing fired 300 rounds... Im using a mid range charge of 4.1 grains of titegroup , and fired over 1,400 rds with close to 75- 100 rds having pierced primers. Just to prove it was the primers and nothing else i loaded a 100 rds each with winchester, federal , and cci and went back to the range and sure as $h:+ at least 5 of the federal primers pierced with no problems whatsoever from the others. Like i said earlier YMMV, but i have fired tens of thousands through multiple glocks using primers other than federal and haven't had an issue . Now i have fired a ton of federal large pistol primers with no problems what soever , it seems to be in the higher pressure 9mm where the problems exist. I also have fired my fair share of rounds through my guns as thats what it seems to take to make Grandmaster. L. Buce A-49204

[sqeeler]

I was stating that i personally have had an issue with federal primers as well as a trusted friend has had the same fate , but YMMV

As indeed it does. I have to believe there's some other factor at work here than the primers. Think about it, would Federal be loading their factory ammo with primers that are going to damage a Glock - or anything else, for that matter? The fact that they are - and have been for decades - turning out millions of rounds a year without Federal primers developing a reputation as gun eaters indicates there is not generally a problem there, yes?

My first instinct would be to look at the powder as being the culprit. Makes me wonder what are the pressure and burn characteristics of Power Pistol. Just curious, why did you choose this particular powder, anyway?

Also, you had only put 300 rounds of Federal primers through your gun when you noticed the damaged firing pin tip. It's highly unlikely - impossible, actually - that those last 300 rounds with Federal primers were what damaged the gun. Rather I'd be looking at the tens of thousands of rounds (I assume) you had fired before with different primers but (again I assume) the same powder and load.

Correct me if im wrong here, but doesn't federal use 200 magnum primers in there factory loads????? I actually have some federal 115 9bp jhp loads in my 17 as i type this and the primers are gold not silver like the 100's you buy for reloading.

[Duane Thomas]

I was referring to the OP's post:

I bought my first 5k federal 100 primers and shot about 300 in my G35 which is stock except for a KKM barrel. the load was a 180 P.Delta at 1.135" power pistol at 6.3gr mixed brass that has about .418"-.420" crimp and the 100 primers.

after shooting about 100 in practice and 200 at a match I took the gun home and noticed that the trigger pull felt gritty

[Duane Thomas]

Correct me if im wrong here, but doesn't federal use 200 magnum primers in there factory loads????? I actually have some federal 115 9bp jhp loads in my 17 as i type this and the primers are gold not silver like the 100's you buy for reloading.

I just checked a flat of Federal No. 200 Small Pistol Magnum - even though I was already sure, I just wanted to ascertain I wasn't having the memory equivalent of a hallucination - and they are indeed silver just like the No. 100s. I have never even heard of, much less seen, a gold colored primer in Federal ammo, only in Winchester. Not saying you're wrong, I just may be about to learn something.

[sqeeler]

Correct me if im wrong here, but doesn't federal use 200 magnum primers in there factory loads????? I actually have some federal 115 9bp jhp loads in my 17 as i type this and the primers are gold not silver like the 100's you buy for reloading.

I just checked a flat of Federal No. 200 Small Pistol Magnum - even though I was already sure, I just wanted to ascertain I wasn't having the memory equivalent of a hallucination - and they are indeed silver just like the No. 100s. I have never even heard of, much less seen, a gold colored primer in Federal ammo, only in Winchester. Not saying you're wrong, I just may be about to learn something.

unless i got a really screwed up box of ammo mine are factory federal 115 gr 9bp jhp and i have several boxes of these that are the same

[Duane Thomas]

Huh. Interesting.

[hal1955]

Maybe you have a headspace problem.

[Glockcomma]

I've had this happen a lot with Fed. primers mostly with 9mm Major Glock open guns. I think it's a combination of soft primers and a sharp striker, some are a little more pointed than others. Then once you have punctured a few the gas flame cuts the striker and makes it even sharper until finally it deteriorates it to the point where it's junk. I completely eliminated the problem by going to Winchester primers. I like that their is a soft or sensitive primer available and I would use Federal all day long in a revolver or a minor power factor Glock with a light trigger and without a sharp striker.

[JOHNNYGLOCK]

I have had this happen with Power pistol and Tite group in .40 as well as 9. My 9mm with tite group is only 4.1gr with 124gr bullet and my .40 is 4.6gr with a 180. Clearing up any doubts that this was a problem before I made the primer switch, let me just say I clean my glocks way more often than is needed, about every 300rds, when I am board, and not just a barrel cleaning I do a 100% break down and clean everything, in part because its just so easy to do this with a glock and also to look for signs that something needs replacing.

Now to federal factory ammo. I have a Federal "Ammo & Ballistics Catalog" and it has all 9mm JHP and FMJ as having 200 SPM primers and for whatever reason there 124gr and 147ge TMJ as having 205TMF primer. In a .40 all JHP use 100 SPP, FMJ 200 SPM primer and TMJ 205TMF. .357SIG all 200, .38special/.357mag all use 100. This catalog is from 2009 and it may be different today.

I still use Fed 100 for my 9 in the glock with light striker springs, also use them with my Berretta 92FS with no problems. I switched back to winchester caps with my .40 loads because no matter what I did with my G35 and my .40 load the G35 would pierce the Fed 100's

[GForceLizard]

I've had this happen a lot with Fed. primers mostly with 9mm Major Glock open guns. I think it's a combination of soft primers and a sharp striker, some are a little more pointed than others. Then once you have punctured a few the gas flame cuts the striker and makes it even sharper until finally it deteriorates it to the point where it's junk. I completely eliminated the problem by going to Winchester primers. I like that their is a soft or sensitive primer available and I would use Federal all day long in a revolver or a minor power factor Glock with a light trigger and without a sharp striker.

Excellent theory.

[Duane Thomas]

Most of my 9mm Glock loads have been with the Federal No. 100s. Having said that, about a year ago I switched to the Federal No. 200s simply because my chrono told me I was getting MUCH tighter SDs with the SPMs.

[sqeeler]

just checked 3 more boxes of my stock and found that ALL my federal 115 9BP loads have GOLD primers , WEIRD

[LPatterson]

I have flaged this subject because I am using Fed 100 in a Limited G24 and Fed GM200M in a G24C and with my powder selections I have not had any problems with light weight strikers and striker springs. Admittly I am still under the 3000 mark so I may not have reached the problem level. As an old Quality Control Analyst I would start looking for some sort of head spacing problem. Have all the primers been seated to the same depth? Some brands seat to a different depth on a 550 than on a 650/1050. Personally I use a RCBS hand primer seating primers ~ .007 below flush measured with a digital caliper.