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Problems with Federal Small Pistol Primers?


scottlep

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Anyone else have recent problems with possible bad Federal Small Pistol Primers?

 

So, for the third time in a row when I am out practicing, I have gotten what sounds like a squib. When I clear the gun and the brass extracts, a full load of powder spills out of the brass and all into the mag and bottom end of the gun (see pictures) and I have to remove the bullet from the barrel with a squib rod. After the first time a few weeks ago I took all that ammo and set it aside and loaded a whole new batch watching extremely carefully that the cases had powder, primers were seated correctly, etc. It also basically ends that practice for the day since so much powder is all in the gun that I have to take it back home and do a full cleaning so it will run correctly again. I am started to get irritated since I have 10,000+ primers that are all from the same lot and a thousand or so rounds loaded with those primers, all of which I would not trust at a match. Just wondering if anyone else has had similar issues? I recall a somewhat well known shooter posting something similar on Facebook back in the fall, but don't recall what primers he was using.

 

Not that it matters, but this is loaded on a Dillon 650 and the gun is a 9mm 2011 Open gun.

 

IMG_1067.thumb.jpg.a87f1a32ea81d2106e7dfae0eb775c91.jpgIMG_1066.thumb.JPG.99af4f56e5e78de3135877550b275c5c.JPG

 

 

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Three things to consider.

 

1. Primers that have too little priming compound.

2. Primer contamination

3. Powder contamination.

 

That the bullet was pushed into the bore says that it fired - to some degree,  If there is too little priming compound, it will not develop enough heat to ignite thje powder charge.  The same for contamination, though contamination has a greater likelihood of causing a misfire , but cannot be ruled out.

 

Powder contamination can result in what you are seeing.  If you are seeing any clumping of the powder (before trying to fire) then there may be some contamination.   The most common contaminants are water or oil.

 

Even with no clumping, there could be something.  Take a small sample of the powder and press it in a folded paper towel.  Leave it awhile, with some weight on it.   After some time see if the paper has absorbed any moisture.

 

Also example the powder from the rounds that you tried firing.  See if it looks a bity melted/fused.  This can indicate that the primer did not deliver sufficient heat to ignite but will not say why.

 

And do contact Federal to report it to them and see what course of action they want to take.

 

Guy

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What did the primer look like when in the case that extracted? Any chance it was upside down? Do the rounds "plunk and spin" in the chamber? Could it be a combination of various problems/issues that combine and look like something else?

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10 hours ago, wgj3 said:

What did the primer look like when in the case that extracted? Any chance it was upside down? Do the rounds "plunk and spin" in the chamber? Could it be a combination of various problems/issues that combine and look like something else?

 

Primer looked fine. As I said, after the first incident I loaded a new batch of ammo. I checked every single round and also case gauged every round in a 50 round EGW case gauge where I checked for high primers, crushed primers, etc.

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14 hours ago, Guy Neill said:

Three things to consider.

 

1. Primers that have too little priming compound.

2. Primer contamination

3. Powder contamination.

 

That the bullet was pushed into the bore says that it fired - to some degree,  If there is too little priming compound, it will not develop enough heat to ignite thje powder charge.  The same for contamination, though contamination has a greater likelihood of causing a misfire , but cannot be ruled out.

 

Powder contamination can result in what you are seeing.  If you are seeing any clumping of the powder (before trying to fire) then there may be some contamination.   The most common contaminants are water or oil.

 

Even with no clumping, there could be something.  Take a small sample of the powder and press it in a folded paper towel.  Leave it awhile, with some weight on it.   After some time see if the paper has absorbed any moisture.

 

Also example the powder from the rounds that you tried firing.  See if it looks a bity melted/fused.  This can indicate that the primer did not deliver sufficient heat to ignite but will not say why.

 

And do contact Federal to report it to them and see what course of action they want to take.

 

Guy

 

If contamination was the cause I would think that I would have way more problems. There is no water or oil kept anywhere near my reloading equipment. My equipment is also in an extremely clean room where I run a dehumidifier to keep the room at about 35 percent humidity. I am loading on a Dillon 650 with brass feeder and bullet feeder. My brass is dry tumbled and I inspect all brass after tumbling to look for cracked cases, rocks in cases, berdan primer brass, etc. The only part of my reloading process that is probably slacking is checking the primers in the flip tray before I load them into the tubes.....which I will be paying much more attention to in the future.

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Are you using hornady one shot case lube?  I had that issue when I used it.  Stopped one shot went to dillon no more light rounds.  

Other people said that couldnt be it but it was the cause of my issues.  However I never had any so light bullet didnt clear but there were some close.....

Edited by mlmiller1
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The facts, as I understand them, are that the primers are firing, but not igniting the powder.  If they were misfiring the bullet would not be separated from the case.  Therefore, either something is preventing the powder from igniting, or the primer is not providing enough flame heat to effect ignition of the powder.

 

Primer contamination, should it happen, can be from the factory.  Insufficient priming compound is definitely from the factory.  It may only be a small percentage of a plate that would then get mixed with a lot of good primers.

 

If we are ruling out powder contamination, that leaves the primers.  Best to contact the factory and work with them to resolve any primer problem.

 

Guy

 

 

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What a mess! 

Seems like the primers are firing enough to stick a bullet, but not igniting the powder charge.   Since you seem certain of the powder itself.    

 

Did you use an additive in the tumbling media?  

Are you using a case lube?  

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Deprimed case and confirmed that flash hole wasn't plugged with tumbling media? Just spit-balling...


How would you do that? To deprime, you have to go through the flash hole, so if it had been plugged, it won’t be after depriming.

I’m curious about One Shot or other case lube too. I had a couple rounds do the same thing years ago. It was the first/last time I used One Shot.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Are you depriming before cleaning?  The only issue I have encountered with Federal primers is that I have run across a couple that were missing the anvil.  I am talking 2-3 primers out of 100k over the years.  From what I see I am thinking more of a powder issue or something in the primer pocket preventing the fire from making it to the powder.  Assuming mixed brass?

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