650 Primer Detonations

[gm iprod]

I appreciate all the replies. I can see that Federal primers are the primary culprit. As time goes on and more people see the poll, I may be able to get an idea on what calibers seem to go bang the most.

thanks again,

dj

Just reread this after the talk in the other thread.

57.5% Federal blowups v's 42.5% Winchesters is hardly a predominance. It may have something to do with the amount of Federal Primers being used. I sell Federal Primers at a rate or 4 : 1 v's Winchester, surprisingly enough the ratio of blowups is about 3 : 2. Therefore for every 5 blowups Winchesters are twice as likely to be the primer in use. I honestly think that blowups are hardly the fault of the primer. Thats like blaming kids for paedophilia and guns for gun crime.

[Seth]

How many of the blow ups were from WAILING away at reloading? I got my 650 a couple of month ago and can see how it would be easy to get smacking on the machine without carefully seating primers.

I've had a few go in sideways without detonation, but I never force them. They either go in with little fuss or I pull the brass. I HAVE noticed that NT .40 brass is finicky.

S.

[mlmiller1]

Well, I voted but I didn't "blow up" my 650. I detonated a primer. It wasn't seating quite right & you know how every once in a while won't go in smoothly. Well my usual process is to reach over & turn the brass a tiny bit. I was in the process of doing that & for some stupid reason, my right hand decided to slam down on the handle. BAM! That will get your attention, for sure! It was my fault, all my fault, & no one else's fault. I had my left hand almost over the top of that piece of brass & for a second, I was sort of afraid to look at it. Didn't even blacken the fingers, fortunately, just tingled a little.

It wasn't the press's fault, it wasn't the primer's fault, it wasn't even the brass' fault. It was me. Nothing anywhere was wrong but the primer just wasn't going in quite right. It didn't harm anything on the press or the brass. Just my nerves. It was a very good lesson to learn & hopefully someone else can learn from reading this without having to scare the peewaa out of themselves. DON"T slam the handle!!!!

MLM

[larry cazes]

Has anyone had the whole primer magazine detonate on either a 1050 or 550? 650 seems to be the culprit on this....

[gm iprod]

Larry,

In the last three years that I can recall accurately, we hav ehad two guys blow the 1050 primer system to bits and about 5 RL550's.

All were unclean machines and guys who were in a hurry and just crunched it in. Well surprisingly there was a loud noise and flying plastic. The two 1050's blew the primer as it was pushed across to the case (the primer had turned a little within the slider (dirt) and blew when the machine hung a little on dirt in the track and the nut on the handle gave his all.

The 550's were all from twisted primers and improperly adjusted primer arms. The primer usually caught and was slammed home.

[nhglyn]

I had my 650 go kaboom on me a few years ago. Was loading 38 Supers with Winchester primers and 4756 powder. Lit off about 50-60 primers in the tube and scared the crap out of me. Glasses were on so only damage was the dent in the ceiling. Dillon replaced everything and I was good as new in less than a week.

[DougCarden]

I had some OLD 38 special brass I got for a song......

The ends of the primers would punch out and left a ring in there.....what happens when you force a primer in a smaller hole......you guessed....scared the bejeezus out of me. Blew the rod and about 20 primers, no big deal. I checked everything over and didnt pick up the ring part until the third one. ....Then the press fit magazine tube was loose from the lower assy.........just the way it was designed by a really smart person!

I then deprimed every last one of those buggers and inspected them before loading them. Lesson learned. It wasnt cheap buying the replacement parts, but you pay for the thoughtful designs on the machine that keeps you safe when you make mistakes!

If you dont pay attention to the what the machines tell you you will have problems, period. It doesnt matter what machine you use........

DougC......<who went to the 1050s cuz I didnt like the priming system on the 650 I had.....LOL>

[Tom S.]

I use Winchester primers, and have never had one go off in my 650. Years ago, I did have a Federal go off in a Lee Pro 1000.

[gm iprod]

I blew a Lee Pro 10 (sorry I refuse to use 1000 except for feet below ground you'd bury it) to bits deliberately. I was loading some 38Special on a freinds press at his house and bleating about how crappy it was, when I felt a primer catch. So I leaded away from the press and shoved real hard and KABOOM.

I should have warned him, as he was working right next to me, but hey I just wanted to see how fast a 6"3" 270lb man can run.

[cnjaxx]

I blew up two primer tubes on my 650, and I use Winchester primers. Both times, It was my fault. My problem was, that I really didn't fully understand the operation, nor was I up on the adjustments. Dillon sent me the new primer systems, and walked me through the operation. I have since reached reloading nurvana, reloading thousands and thousands of all types of rounds.

Another thing is that you will develope a feel for the lever when you really get into it. You will actually know when something isn't right just by the feel, when you push and pull the lever.

Hang in there. When you get over that initial learning curve, You'll find that you won't be blowing up primer tubes (not saying that it won't happen) and you will find, that your money was well spent.

[Ground Loop]

I'm not sure a primer detonation in station 2 (under the case) would actually cause the tube to detonate. The primer is wrapped on all sides and the bottom in steel, so the energy would tend to be up into the shell casing. Little if anything should get to the adjacent primer and/or jump back the 5 or 6 primers to the bottom of the tube.

Oh yes it can happen. I had it happen last night (12/15) on 9mm, Winchester SP primers with range-found brass.

EDIT: I was mistaken. I had Winchester primers on the bench, but it was actually still silver Federal primers in the hopper.

One primer didn't seat centered, and I neglected to "abort".. going too fast, I know. From the looks of it, it sheared the primer rim. I smashed it and KaBoom.. the primer in the shell went off, then all the ones in the disc, and then the tube. So yes, it can happen, and I'm now back to wearing hearing protection while loading.

I kept the shell and can post pictures later if you're curious. It was on the upstroke.

Edited December 18, 2008 by Ground Loop

[Middle Man]

[

One primer didn't seat centered, and I neglected to "abort".. going too fast, I know. From the looks of it, it sheared the primer rim. I smashed it and KaBoom.. the primer in the shell went off, then all the ones in the disc, and then the tube. So yes, it can happen, and I'm now back to wearing hearing protection while loading.

Yep, wear those safety glasses! My KaBoom was more or less similar to the description above. It cooked off about 70 CCI SPM primers in my 650. All the primers stayed within the steel tubing and the primer mechanism...the plastic follower rod and the plastic arm on the low primer sensor is another story. I was leaning to the left to place a new bullet when I pushed the lever too hard with my right hand. I'll chalk it up to a learning experience.

[BillD]

I set off maybe 95 primers in my 650. Fed LP in .45acp. The primer system was a little out of adjustment. Dillon fixed me up with a new system. I asked them about it and he said, Fed primers, it happens.

On a funny side note, my GF was sitting in the garage while I was reloading and when they went off, she was convinced I'd managed to shoot my self with my 650.

[lucasb67]

Hi dear shooter friends,

the reason is the various hardness of the primers, federals are softer than others ... also pistol primers are softer than rifle

federal pistol primers are softest, then winchesters, then cci and fiocchi ... then rifle ... this thing let federals aid gun light percussion but need more care using presses

to much hard pushing is the problem and we can resolve using "delicate" primers like federal ones when we have a lot of experience

I prefer cci also SR that doesn't create percussion problem in my gun, and I think cannot create to any gun correctly setted