Primer Detonation In Xl650

[XD Niner]

I’ve read a few posts about primers detonating in an XL650 but didn’t think it would likely happen to me. I found out how wrong I was last night.

I was loading .38 Supers using small rifle primers on my press. I have loaded a couple of thousand of these rounds with no problem over the past few weeks and had loaded over 200 rounds last evening before the excitement began. However, for some reason, I was having trouble with the casings entering Station 1 properly. They would slide in fine but not align perfectly with the decapping die. About one in five required a slight nudge with my finger. I realized later that I was also having about 1 in 15 primers inserted on their side but did not notice it at the time.

I removed the shell plate and cleaned out the entire area thinking that might be the problem. I did not remove the primer system and clean around it.

I then ran another dozen rounds or so when POP!! I thought at first that only one primer had detonated but when I took the primer system apart (carefully, believe me), I found that all the primers in the disc and at least some in the primer magazine had gone up too. There were probably 50 left in the magazine. I now have a nicely welded disc/magazine assembly.

I am happy to say that the magazine shield did its job perfectly. The blast was contained and went straight up. The primer early warning plastic follower rod in the magazine tube left a small mark in the garage ceiling and I found the a large portion of the plastic switch lever across the garage in another location. It appears that all the damage was confined to the primer early warning system, primer feed magazine and tube, and the primer disc.

I still don’t know what set off the primers. I think it may have been a bit of metal or dirt jamming the primer disc or resting atop the primer seating punch but that is only conjecture on my part. The lesson learned was to disassemble and clean these components too at the slightest hint of a problem.

I was wearing my safety glasses at the time as I always do when reloading so no problem there. However, I didn’t have any hearing protection on so my ears did ring for a bit.

By the time I had everything dismantled and had assessed the damage, it was just before 9:00 p.m. EDT. That meant it was just before 6:00 at Dillon’s offices in Arizona. I called them and they are sending out an entirely new primer system and early warning system today. They are also sending a new case insert slide and cam. We also chatted for a while about possible causes but did not arrive at any firm conclusion. While I am unhappy and a bit concerned about the detonation, you just have to love Dillon’s no BS warranty and responsiveness.

Since the major purpose of the BE forum is to facilitate learning by all of us, I wanted to pass on my experience. Maybe one of you can shed some light on the potential root causes. More importantly, I wanted to remind everyone who reloads to wear their safety glasses because you never know when something like this may occur. I will also be wearing my shooting muffs from now on when reloading.

Edited March 27, 2007 by XD Niner

[zhunter]

Glad you are OK.

I see Chris is reading this post, impatiently waiting for the UPS man today!!

[nhglyn]

XD Niner,

Glad to see you were wearing safety glasses. Same exact thing happened to me and I too posted so others would learn. ALWAYS, I repeat ALWAYS, wear safety glasses while reloading.

Thanks for passing on your experience. If enough of us victims of an XL650 KB pass on our experiences, then maybe we can help prevent a serious injury to someone else.

[glooooock]

XD niner

I ordered the parts to repair mine for the same thing . I have a gut feeling its the primer punch length or shape . My Brand X press has pushed them in side ways / upside down , it has never had one ignite .

Some wrote round the edges slightly , My 650 feels like I could push the primer through the case head at times ( or at least enough travel to do it ).

Dillon says to check the indexing , once set the only thing that changes that is dirt /powder under the shellplate . Jamming the detent balls. Once you see slight crescent marks on the primers , your on the highway to hell.

[Chris Keen]

Hmmm ...... in the past I have never been one to wear saftety glasses while reloading ........ I will have to change my evil ways!

Edited March 29, 2007 by CHRIS KEEN

[Flexmoney]

Dillon says to check the indexing , once set the only thing that changes that is dirt /powder under the shellplate . Jamming the detent balls. Once you see slight crescent marks on the primers , your on the highway to hell.

That makes sense in XD Niner case here. He was reporting issues with alignment already:

I was having trouble with the casings entering Station 1 properly. They would slide in fine but not align perfectly with the decapping die. About one in five required a slight nudge with my finger.

And, that also appeared to be showing up at the primer station:

..I was also having about 1 in 15 primers inserted on their side but did not notice it at the time.

I believe Dillion has an alignment tool available to check/fix this ??

[shred]

"about one in five", could be one dinged up or dirt-containing slot on the shellplate as well, so I'd check that as well. I had one slot get just slightly off on my 1050 and it took marking the shellplate and watching carefully to figure out which it was.

[mscott]

I've seen too many of these threads to not wear safety glasses any more. What brand of primers were you using?

Edited March 30, 2007 by mscott

[XD Niner]

Winchester. I use those exclusively in all sizes and have never had a problem before.

[mlmiller1]

I blew one in my 650 a few weeks ago. First one ever, out of maybe 100k reloads. It didn't seat well & I felt it, so I hammered down on the lever a bit too suddenly. Pow! It sure makes you jump & funny stuff happens to your insides. Then you realize you are safe, your fingers are safe, your eyes behind your safety glasses are safe, so you move on! hahahaha. Since mine was already seated in the brass, it didn't blow any of the others. It was exciting, though, & if I go out & look at my press, I put on safety glasses. I've crushed dozens, maybe hundreds of primers back in the Lee press days & never had one go off but I didn't slam down the handle, either. Duh! I won't do that again. MLM

[BNorth]

Hmmm ...... in the past I have never been one to wear saftety glasses while reloading ........ I will have to change my evil ways!

Yep, me too.

[MichiganShootist]

Maybe hearing protection too