Fail to Fire

[Louro]

Guys,

 

I loaded 100 the other day, went to the range and I got few FTF (4). I Was shooting Extreme Bullets 124 gr and went to Extreme Bullets 115, the only bullet available when I placed the order. If I try to fire the round again the round will fire, only in one occasion the round failed to fire for the second time. I'm reloading 6 Grain of HS6 and CCI primers CCI brass, reloaded in Dillon 650.. The Gun is   a G34. Any Idea of what can be the problem?

 

 

[anonymouscuban]

Did you measure the primer seating depth? Sounds like that may be the issue.

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[zombywoof]

Symptoms of high primer. Seat correctly.

[Don_B]

Yes it sounds like high primers. The first hit from the firing pin seats the primer and the second will usually fire it. 

[Louro]

3 hours ago, anonymouscuban said:

Did you measure the primer seating depth? Sounds like that may be the issue.

No, If that is the problem how I will fix it? I push the handle forward pretty firm.

[Guy Neill]

If you have remaining loaded ammunition, check the primers.  You may be able to feel a high primer by running your finger over it, or set them on a flat surface and see if they wobble (indicating a high primer).  Alternately, place a straight edge across the base of the cartridge and look for light coming under it and the case as it's held up by the primer.

 

If you have high primers, you will need to press even more firmly to completely seat the primers.

 

A fully seated primer is normally 0.003" - 0.005" below flush with the case.

 

 

[stick]

10 minutes ago, Louro said:

No, If that is the problem how I will fix it? I push the handle forward pretty firm.

If you are loading on a XL 650, it's easy to check 2 things:

1)  Raise the handle a few inches with your right hand.  With you left hand tap on the shellplate.  If the shellplate has any bounce or spring in it, then it's too loose.  Tighten the shellplate until it's hard to index, then loosen 1/8 of a turn to ensure the shellplate indexes smoothly.  

2) check the primer plunger to make sure it's screwed in all the way.  I think it's a 9/16 wrench, but don't quote me on it.

[travail]

Another suggestion, did you happen to change primers? Or make any changes to your gun? I had a similar issue that I chased forever that ended up being I had too light a trigger to ignite the primers I was using and had to switch primers and start reloading. Prior to that I was using factory ammo and had a failure rate closer to 1 in 20. 

[Louro]

Gentleman,

 

Thanks for all the information. I will check the primers in the remaining loaded rounds. I will check the press too.

 

Travail, I have never had any problems with factory ammo.

[ddc]

44 minutes ago, stick said:

If you are loading on a XL 650, it's easy to check 2 things:

1)  Raise the handle a few inches with your right hand.  With you left hand tap on the shellplate.  If the shellplate has any bounce or spring in it, then it's too loose.  Tighten the shellplate until it's hard to index, then loosen 1/8 of a turn to ensure the shellplate indexes smoothly.  

2) check the primer plunger to make sure it's screwed in all the way.  I think it's a 9/16 wrench, but don't quote me on it.

 

I've had the primer plunger back out on me twice over about 6 or 7 years of 650 ownership. Results in high primers for sure.

First time was very obvious. Second time was much more subtle.

(We are talking about a 650, right?)

[Louro]

Yes, 650.

[HesedTech]

Only three reasons for failure to fire, primer not seated properly, light strike, or a bad primer.

 

Not seated is a reloading issue.

Light strikes could be a bad spring, not matched to hardness of primer, or some other mechanical gun issue.

Bad primer could be manufacturing defect, contamination or brass issue that distorted the primer somehow. 
 

BTW, was your gun fully in battery?  Sometimes a high primer will cause the slide not to fully engage in battery. 
 

That’s about it, others will probably have some good ideas. 

[hello0o0o0o]

I’m having the same high primer issue with my 650.

Please do NOT reseat the primers on the live rounds!
Set those aside for training.

Prime an empty case, mess with a few things and reprime it harder. Keep in mind the primer should not be flat with the bottom of the case but recessed into the bottom

[Louro]

Well, I got a chance to check yesterday. It looks like some primers are not set properly. I check with a caliper and some were .03 and other are not recessed, but flush to the brass. I check the shell plate and is good. I did us a wrench and tighten the plunger.

 

HesedTech, the gun was in full battery.

 

Helo0o0o0o, I will not  try to reseat the primers. I know this  is a big No No.

 

I reloaded few rounds and will try this weekend to see how it goes. Thanks everyone for the much needed help.

 

Lou

[ddc]

On 8/5/2020 at 8:31 AM, Louro said:

Well, I got a chance to check yesterday. It looks like some primers are not set properly. I check with a caliper and some were .03 and other are not recessed, but flush to the brass. I check the shell plate and is good. I did us a wrench and tighten the plunger...

Lou

 

Possible experimant: Measure enough cartridges so you can get a sample of about 10 cartridges where the primer is flush and a sample of 10 where they are as recessed as your machine will do. Take 'em to the range and let 'em fly. Compare results. Make sure that the seating depth is the issue and not something else.

 

My 650 seats to barely flush. Maybe 0.02 deep or thereabouts. 

 

Question: You mentioned you tightened the plunger. Do you recall how much tightening was necessary?

Edited August 6, 2020 by ddc
clarified

[Louro]

I will say less the 1/4 " if that makes any sense. But the nut did move. I got around 100 rounds to try this weekend. I marked the one that looks to have high primers. If I get a FtF it will be easy to identify.

Edited August 7, 2020 by Louro