Hole in primer

bsally

Shot my first ever batch of reloads for .357 mag yesterday. Shot about 200 rounds, and one of them has a hole in the primer. It is a light load, no pressure signs, the primer is still seated properly, and it is the only one that is like this. Is this a primer problem, ie. defective, or something else. Thanks for the help.

SALLY
Committee member-Ducks Unlimited

mrbruce

It could be a bad primer, but there is generally a good reason for a pierced primer. Are you POSITIVE it was a light load, it's hard to tell after they have been fired.
Where all charges weighed ?
Did you double check the powder levels before setting the bullets ?
If all these point to a yes, it probably was a primer problem.
Send it to the factory and have them check it out.


Gun control is hitting what your aiming at.

bsally

The load was only a few tenths of a grain over the starting load. The Lee powder measurer sucks, that is it is not very consistant. I have weighed every single cartridge I have loaded.

SALLY
Committee member-Ducks Unlimited

bpost

Check the front of the firing pin for a burr... I had a .45 doing that many years ago, after a few light strokes with a hard sharpening stone it stopped. Also, there may have been a particle of dirt from the firing session that got dead smack in the way of the firing pin. Then you got a little hole. I see it happen every so often and it has never concerned me as long as I knew the load was reasonable.

bsally

Thanks, was kind of how I was thinking. I am absolutely confident in the load. But, being fairly new I wanted to be sure. Thanks again.

SALLY
Committee member-Ducks Unlimited

bpost

quote:Originally posted by bsally
Thanks, was kind of how I was thinking. I am absolutely confident in the load. But, being fairly new I wanted to be sure. Thanks again.

SALLY
Committee member-Ducks Unlimited


Now....if you happen to get the hole (or holes) in the primers and need to pound the emptys out with a mallet you can assume the load is a bit steamy for your gun....been there did that too!

Kdub

Had a batch of Remington 9 1/2M primers one time that occassionally would develop a small hole right at the curve of the primer cup. No signs of overpressure and wouldn't do it all the time. Tossed them and never had a problem with any other brand and the same loading.

Sure hate it when that happens and it etches the bolt face.

Keep off the Ridgeline

RadCat

Sometimes, when making reduced loads you must be very careful not to mis-dispense a "too light" load. Most manuals caution you about this, as it can have a similar effect as a "double load". This is usually true about very fast burning powders like "Bullseye".

If you are using a Lee Perfect measure, mounted in a die body for direct dispensing, make sure you are using the correct spacers, and adjust it to operate with a full "arc of travel" to make sure it gets and dispenses a full measured load every time, and do not overtighten the side tension screw. Is you are using the measure "blocks", you must be consistent at the end of the cycle strokes, being "snappy" at the end of your strokes. Lee machines use this final "snap" to advance and position the primers and "shake/loosen" any bunching powder in the chutes.

Iconoclast

Radcat, the condition to which you refer is Secondary Explosion Effect, or SEE, and has only been observed in low charges of slow burning (e.g. IMR 4831) powder in voluminous cases (e.g., .300 H&H). Doesn't pertain with fast burning pistol powders.

bsally, one possibility not mentioned is that you *may* have had a primer which wasn't properly seated and was a tad high. Even when loading w/ the Dillon, I always run a finger over the base of each cartridge to feel the relationship of primer height to base. You will notice the high or crushed primers.

"There is nothing lower than the human race - except the french." (Mark Twain)