.357 & 38 special primers

Emmett Dunham

I have been reloading for a few years and every time I put together some .357 or 38 special ammo I get some misfire and they are full of powder so it has something to do with primer strike. I have a .357 that has had a trigger job and thought that that was the problem but now I have two other revolvers that 2 in about fifty rounds will not light off. Everything looks good the primers are flush, the case looks good and I have tried at least three different primer types. I need some ideas on what I can do to get consistent primer stricks.

Emmett

charliemeyer007

So how are you priming and with what tool? Make sure your hands are free of oil when touching primers. Don't crush the primers when seating them. Do you scrape the primer pockets every time? WD40 will kill ammo. Try some primers from a different store. It could be the pistols. Try some cheap factory ammo in them.

Emmett Dunham

I am priming these in a Rock Chucker but I have used a Dillon in the past with the same results. I don't use any type of lubracant and the brass is clean. I have not reloaded a ton of this ammo and maybe I need to start keeping track of what I am doing with the primers and see if I can find a good mix. I am also going to take a better look at the rounds that failed to fire and see if I missed something.

Emmett

bpost

I would still suspect a light firing pin strike. Bad primers are very rare. What kind of primers are you using, how are they stored?

perry shooter

loaded over 300,000 rounds since I had a primer misfire found out very earl case lube would kill primers as well as WD 40. . Are your pistols S&W that someone turned out the hammer spring strain screw. [V][:(!][:(] Try Federal primers. they go BANG with very light firing pin strike.

EDIT DO NOT LOAD EMPTY CASES WITH JUST A PRIMER because of the size of standard flash holes and then the lack of pressure with an empty case YOU will most likely lock up the cylinder in a revolver . The primer is normally pushed back in the first part of the primer burn then as the pressure in the case from the powder starting to burn this will cause the case to back up against the recoil shield of your revolver this will cause the primer to RE-SEAT flush with the case head. Without a bullet and powder in the case the primer backs out and nothing to re-seat it thus primer is jammed against recoil shield and cylinder is locked up. [:(!][:(][xx(][V]. If you want to [prove this to yourself] make sure you have a dowel or brass rod to slip into the barrel and the strike this rod with small hammer to drive the empty case back onto the primer.
don't ask how I discovered this[:I][:o)]

243winxb

quote: the primers are flush, Flush is not good enough, they must be seated to the bottom of the cup. SAAMI lists primers to be flush to .004" below flush.

Riomouse911

#1, use a primer pocket tool to clean out the pockets of leftover gunk. This should ensure a clean bottom for proper seating.

Ya, as 243 posted they might be sitting a tad high if they're flush, and the firing pin can push the whole primer down into the cup making the stike seem "light." It also won't hit the anvil correctly against the priming compund to get the fire started. They should be just below the surface of the case head when seated to make sure the anvil is in the right position.

As much as it adds time, I seat my primers with a lee hand priming tool. So far (knock on wood) I've had good seating and 100% ignition with WSP, CCI, Rem and Federal reg and mag primers.

reloader44mag

Run the misfires through again...if the go boom on the second try they werent seated deep enuf...my 2 cents

jaegermister

try priming cases only. Fire them through your revolver, inspect each one for firing pin strike indication. Inspecting primer marks or depth on fully loaded fired ammo does not show you the primer strike or primer reaction due to back force of the loaded round against the firing pin. Try just primed cases. Sound of the primer and ignition time can also be observed firing only primed cases.
I am taking a guess that your primers are being pushed forward deeper into the primer pocket and thus absorbing the firing pin blow. Your cases may have the primer pocket too deep. Just a guess. If such is the case (using the above method) ,you will see the primer driven deeper into the case than what you were able to seat it, and the pin strike depth less than observed on loaded ammo.

Emmett Dunham

Yes the guy did loosen the spring tension of the hammer spring and I adjusted back up after having the primer problem. I will try Federal primers and see what happens. I took a look at the ammo again and two of the brass looked like the primer was too far into the pocket and you could see a very light strike on them. The others looked good nice deep strike no boom. Funny I never have this problem with other calibers just the .357 and .38 Specials but I am going to pay close attention to get it stright. One of the things I am going to do is use the same lot brass this time to see if I get any light stricks after throwing away the defective rounds from the last load. Firing rounds with primers really sounds good but in this case with 5 or 6 out of 150 is a lot of primer popping.

Thanks, everyone


Emmett

tomon

If you shoot 38s in a 357, a ring can build up in the cylinders. If it holds the cartridge out a few hairs, then the firing pin energy is expended pushing the case forward. Try shooting the same rounds again without opening the crane.

machine gun moran

I've seen pseudo-trigger jobs on Smiths which involved not just backing off the strain screw, but cutting the screw and grinding the springs, too. These things produce great trigger pulls, but have produced hammer strikes which would bounce off of primers without lighting them. Surprisingly, a lot of these modifications were on people's defense guns, which is certain to reduce the population in the wrong direction.

If the primers are not poorly seated or otherwise compromised, I would put the gun back to factory spec and start from there.