Out of the last 300 or so .223 reloads I've shot I've had 3 misfires. I know it's tough/impossible to definitively diagnose over the internet - but I'd be interested in thoughts.

Context: I'm a fairly new reloader. I've been doing it for a couple of years. I've probably loaded and shot about 1,500 rounds of .223 reloads. My typical load is 55gr Hornady FMJs, H335 powder and CCI Magnum Small Rifle primers. The gun is an M&P 15 Sport. BTW - I don't track what batches of primers go into what reloads. My misfires came from different reload batches. In my method a batch is 50 rounds. So these all might of come from the same primer brick - but I don't have a way to determine that.

Technically I've had 5 misfires since I started reloading. The first two, after extracting the round, the primer had a VERY SLIGHT dimple. I rechambered the round in both instances - and they fired just fine. I chalked those up to not-completely-seated primers - figuring the first firing pin strike set the primer in the cup, and the second strike caused it to fire.

The 3 recent misfires, though, the primer strike has been obviously very solid. Very deep mark from the firing pin - right in the center of the primer.

I have to say it seems the chances that CCI made errors is lower than the chances I made an error. What else could this be besides bad primers? Let's take a theoretical reloading error.....for example......tumbling media is caked in the bottom of the case and I don't notice it. And let's say the primer fires. I'd at least hear something. It might be a squib. But that kind of error wouldn't stop the primer from igniting.

Do folks have ideas of what I might be doing wrong to cause this?

Thanks.

OR

Thanks for the info. This, though, is particularly interesting. In general I don't touch the primers with my fingers. I use an RCBS hand priming tool. Occasionally one will flip over after the cover has been put on and in order to right it I take the cover off....and turn it over with my fingers. I also once spilled a tray of 100 on the floor - and I picked those up by hand. I wonder if these misfires could be from that package.

Thanks.

OR

First, and this probably doesn't have anything to do with your problem but I'm curious. Why use mag primers? There is absolutely no reason for it and it is not specified in any published data I can find for H335.

Second, what kind of brass are you using? Is it crimped? Have you ensured the crimp is fully removed?

Third, what method are you using to seat the primers? (I see you use the RCBS tool. Good.) But how are you checking EACH is fully seated?

The tumbling media thing is a red herring having nothing to do with whether the primer fires. And if the primer fires you will know it.

I suspect you have a seating issue, but can't be sure until you answer the above questions.

It is remotely possible that there is a firing pin issue. Have you completely disassembled the BCG including the bolt itself and ensured the firing pin and channel are totally free? Does the pin protrude correctly from the bolt face when pushed fully?

__________________
USAF, 69-92
Vietnam, 72-73

You didn't mention how you reload. If your rounds fired 2nd try I'd wager not fully seated primer. Me personally never had rifle primers failure (I reload on dillon 550)

Unless you are someone with very sweaty hands I think it's unlikely that simply picking up a batch of primers with your bare hands would cause this. Primers are actually constructed in a way that protects the priming compound rather well from basic handling.

Since I've recently had to shim the center pin on my RCBS hand primer due to it becoming worn I would question how many rounds you may have primed with your hand primer. In my case I would guess that I had between 10 and 15 thousand rounds primed before I noticed issues due to poorly seated primers. In my case the problem was misfires on the first strike on 38 special reloads and one reason the issue showed up with my revolvers was because the actions have been tuned to a 9 lbs. DA trigger weight. However, since shimming the center pin in my RCBS hand primer these revolvers have returned to being 100% reliable. BTW, the shim thickness used was 0.010 inch and it was a bit of a challenge to make a shim this tiny. Sometime down the road I'll probably just purchase a new hand primer and retire this one.

Note, my estimate on how many rounds have been primed is due to a 1 quart ziplock bag being completely filled with primers and another ziplock bag being half full. Somewhere on the net I read a post by someone who indicated that it takes 10K primers to fill a quart sized ziplock bag.

My Speer manual calls for Magnum primers on all ball powders. (At least for .223 loads.)

I used mixed range brass - some scrounged from the range and some truly once-fired I've gotten from friends. I've been removing the crimp when necessary. Maybe I'm not doing it enough / well enough.

I have one primary and one secondary method for checking complete primer seating: First, I go by feel. I feel like (I thought) I developed a feel for when it is driven home. But maybe that feel is misguided. Second, I tend to run my finger over the case head after I pull it out of the shell holder to feel that the primer is below the head surface. I've done this mostly worrying about slam fires (which I've never had) but also for full seating.

The tumbling media thing was meant as sort of a red herring. I tried to imagine some scenario where a mistake like that could be made. But I agree - the primer would still go off.

Just to be clear: I only rechambered and attempted for a second time a fire when the primer was very lightly dimpled. For the ones that had deep firing pin marks in the primer I threw them in the dud bucket. I didn't attempt again to fire them. So maybe they would have fired.

I just cleaned the rifle this past weekend. This was the first outing since that cleaning. The gun in total probably only has 4-5K rounds through it. If I were a betting person I'd bet my reloading process was more likely the issue than than the gun. But that being said - I'll have a look at the firing pin / bolt issues you describe.

If it happens again I'll try a refire. And I agree - I might have a seating issue. I think I only tend to scrape out the pockets if I see a lot of carbon in there. Maybe I should do it on every case as a matter of course.

Thanks for the ideas.

OR

If not seated well enough a firing pin can push a primer deeper into the pocket which absorbs the impact energy, appearing as a 'light strike'. Make sure you primers are bottomed out in the pocket.

__________________
"He was kinda funny lookin'"

The fact that your first two "misfires" fired on the second attempt pretty much confirms your own diagnosis of the problem those cartridges had. The only other explanation I could think of would be a weak firing pin hit that somehow got stronger on the second attempts . . . like a marginal spring that couldn't overcome some dirt and then finally did.

Your recent three displayed good primer strikes. Only a few possible explanations I can think of . . . (1) bad/contaminated primer compound, (2) missing/defective anvil, or (3) something that prevented the anvil from crushing into the primer material.

(1) Rare, always possible, but not likely to be caused by momentary and reasonable handling of the primers.

(2) If you dropped the primers on the floor, there is a distinct possibility the anvil can fall out. While I've not had that happen with anything but Tula primers, it is possible.

(3) Don't know if this is possible . . . but if there were a piece of material (or a ring of crud) in the primer pocket that cushioned the solid firing pin impact (eg between the edge of the primer case and the bottom of the primer pocket), maybe that could prevent the anvil from crushing into the primer compound.

If/when you get another misfire, try a second time (as you said). If it still doesn't fire, take it home and carefully disassemble it. Slowly decap the (still possibly live) primer and see if you can determine what went on in the primer pocket.

Is there an anvil? Anything else suspicious? If the primer looks good (compared to a fresh one) clean the primer pocket, re-insert the primer, chamber the otherwise empty case, and try to fire it.

Anyhow, that's what I would do

Disassembly and clean the bolt and leave dry (no oil) when re-assembly.
Scrub and clean rifle chamber
check firing pin and spring.
clean and inspect primer pockets.

I recently had three 40 S&W rounds that were loaded with Winchester small pistol primers not go off. Primers were hit very solidly just like the ones that did go off. Best I can tell these were simply dud primers. No problems before this and none since. If you can reasonably rule out "operator error" it was most likely a couple bad primers from the factory.

If the OP is using mixed headstamp range brass, the feel seating primers will be different between brands and the depth of the primer pocket will vary. My guess is it's a seating issue.

The primer pellet may shatter when the firing pin seats the primer to the bottom of the pocket. If that happens, it may or may not ignite when struck a second time.

The only difference between the CCI-41, commonly recommended for loading 5.56 NATO ammunition, and the CCI-450 small rifle magnum primer, is that the CCI-41 has what CCI refers to as "NATO sensitivity". I started using the CCI-450 when I shot high power competition and now use it for everything .223. As long as you start low and work your way up, it's not a problem.

Cleaning primer pockets has proven to me to be a waste of time.

I had a batch of CCI lr primers with a high failure rate from the early 90's, maybe 5 out of a hundred. Nothing since then.

__________________
Front sight and squeeze

Most likely a problem with the weapon and not the ammo.

Thoroughly clean the bolt and don't oil it.

Lightly lube the rest of the weapon after a good cleaning.

__________________
NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUN

Otis,

From your post #7, it looks like the culprit might be not fully removing the crimp. This results in the primer "feeling" like it has bottomed out when it really hasn't. Suggest you work on that.
Cleaning primer pockets won't help, IMO.
Yes, get the bolt apart and clean and lube properly. This could be a culprit for some of the failures.

I'm looking at p. 197 of Speer #14. CCI 400 is listed first, 450 second, with an asterisk for #41. The 450 is just an option, not mandated.

Have fun.

__________________
USAF, 69-92
Vietnam, 72-73

I've always lubed the bolt, firing pin and everthing else in the BCG, per tech data.

What firing pin spring? ARs don't have them.

Never have cleaned primer pockets. Never had a dud.

See p. 22:

https://www.armsroom.com/files/m16.pdf

__________________
USAF, 69-92
Vietnam, 72-73

Agreed. However in the load tables on the subsequent pages some loads used the magnum and others used the regulars. H335 (and the other ball powders in the list) used the magnum primer. That's why I used it. (i.e. I didn't see indication from the manual that using the non-magnum was recommended/acceptable......although I've heard anecdotally that regulars work just fine with any of those powders.)

Thanks.

Otis,
In your original post you said you were loading 55FMJ. The * relating to magnum primers is for different bullet weights. Don't overthink this. Use p. 197 & p. 202 for 55 grainers. Forget about the other pages. But, yes, you can use the 450s, but don't need to. Either way, that's not the cause of your failures.

__________________
USAF, 69-92
Vietnam, 72-73

I know this is getting off in the weeds and use of magnum vs not is not the cause of my failures.....but pg 202 in my Speer #14....which is for 55 gr bullets.....has the magnum "*" next to H335 - which is the powder I'm using. The page for 55gr bullets definitely has powders that were tested using magnum primers.

You'll probably never know for sure. It's either dud primers, contaminated primers or improperly seated primers.

Be sure you're not contaminating them with left over case lube or some wet cleaning solution. Be diligent about seating the primers. If all else fails, switch brands and see what happens.