MISFIRES

mikecarol63

I have a half box of .243 that did not fire. There is a good indent from the firing pin, but the shells did not fire. What could be the cause? They are about 20 years old, and reloads. If I remove the bullets and empty the powder, can I safely remove the primers and reload them? I'm afraid that the primers may go off in my Lee press. Any danger of that? Thanks, Mike

Tailgunner1954

A) try the again, you may have only fully seated the primer on the first attempt.

You shouldn't have any issues with depriming in the press, just go easy and don't slam it. Normal safety precautions apply, of course.

It takes a impact to set of a primer (you can crush one with a vise without setting it off, but it will go bang if you smash it with a hammer). I've deprimed military brass with crimped in primers, and have never set one while depriming (priming with a "origional LEE", provide your own hammer, tool I've set of a few)

mikecarol63

Tailgunner, Thanks. Thats a load off my mind. If I couldn't have de-primed them, I don't know how I would have got rid of them. Mike

Highball

Anything that CAN happen...WILL

Deprime them..but WEAR YOUR SAFETY GLASSES...and keep your body away from the press. Long sleeved shirt...and gloves would be a good idea.
I had exactly ONE primer go off in the press...something I thought to be impossible.

As o the 'why'...could be many things....from lube left in the case, to improper storing.

perry shooter

Hello many years ago on my first attempt at reloading I lubed and sized cases and got case lube on the p[rimers and it KILLED about half of them Just a thought might explain why you had a problem .I have also deprimed cases with no problems but I do wear glasses .

mikecarol63

Thanks to all of you for your answers. Highly informative. I'll be careful and wear safety glasses. Mike

redice

Personally if it was my body in jepardy I would let all the spent cases with power and bullet removed sit in a can of oil over night, just a little bit more security that way. The oil should kill the primers from what I have heard.

Tailgunner1954

Unfortunatly, with the newer laqure sealents they put over the priming compound, soaking with WD-40, oil, water etc dosn't kill the primer. In addition you have to get any oil residue out of the case before you can reliabily reload it (powder contamination)

coledigger4

Since I switched to the RCBS Hand Priming Tool I haven't had any misfires. I also use One Shot Case Lube rather than the pad method. In my opinion it is very easy to ruin a primer with your fingers because of a tiny bit of lube on them.

Highball

Amazing stuff...spraying with WD-40 MAY not dewat all primers....but a tiny bit of lube left in a case MAY migrate into and kill a primer.

Stuff happens. My final reloading procedure, just prior to priming...is to run every case thru clean corn cobs in the tumbler. A glance into the primer pocket, upon priming, ensures that no cob remains in the flash-hole.