Oh Man, bad batch of primers.....

[rwsmith]

The last batch of 30-06 I put together obviously has a bad batch of primers in them. It MAY be the rifle but ones that shoot, really shoot. The duds have a firing pin dent right in the middle.

I've run across a bad primer a few times in 40 years of reloading but I had about 10 duds out of this box of 20 that I made. Now I have to try to shoot them and collect the duds and dismantle them. They all fit the Wilson gage perfectly so I know they aren't too deep.

[OKFC05]

Haven't had that problem since the arctic cold turned the grease to glue in my model 70. I'd remove, clean and lube the striker just in case.

[DWalt]

How old? The only dud primers I have ever experienced were from very old ones, and not many of those.

[SMSgt]

The only two dud primers I've had in my life came from the same pack of new primers. Just bad luck.

[rwsmith]

Originally Posted by OKFC05

Haven't had that problem since the arctic cold turned the grease to glue in my model 70. I'd remove, clean and lube the striker just in case.

I'm going to check the gun thoroughly, but I had some failures in a friend's Garand, too. All of the rounds fit perfectly in the Wilson Gauge. I striker might be gunked up, but it's definitely NOT frozen. I was HOT out their today but at first we had a breeze, then we had wind.

I think I've had about 3-4 duds in 35 years, up until now.

[rwsmith]

Originally Posted by DWalt

How old? The only dud primers I have ever experienced were from very old ones, and not many of those.

They could be anywhere from a year to about thirty five years old, but they've been stored correctly. I've used zillions of primers over that time and never saw failures like this. I'm going to check out the gun, but I think I know where to point fingers.

[M E Morrison]

Do you inspect to be sure the anvils have not fallen out? That has happened to me on occasion.

[Nevada Ed]

If the lube job is ok......
check the tip of the firing pin for damage or wear.
If the weapon is old, it might need a new spring to replace a tired one.
My Winchester M70 needed a new spring five years ago. Factory one finally gave out.

Since a dud with another weapon, I an looking more at a bad bunch of primers......
but you never know.

[chief38]

While I've been lucky and haven't run across any "dud" primers that I've reloaded, I can attest to quite a few dead primers in Remington Factory loaded ammo! Happened with two boxes of .35 Remington in a M336 Marlin and a box of 30-30 also in a Marlin M336. Switching ammo (to Federal) solved both problems. PS: nothing at all wrong with either rifle - just bad primers. Approximately 75%of that ammo were duds due to bad primers! Sent back to Remington and got usual apology letter and a check.

PS: also had a few .38 Specials fail to go bang (also Remington) years ago and IMO their Rimfire is pretty much bottom of the barrel as far as I am concerned.

Needless to say I am NOT a Big Green fan!

[Frank46]

You didn't say what brand/model of rifle you experienced the primer failures with so just maybe you have some old dry oil or grease inside the bolt that may be slowing down the firing pin to the point it's not hitting the primer as it should. Any good gun cleaning solvent or kroil should clean out any grunge that is inside the bolt. I shoot military surplus rifles and first thing I do is disassemble the bolt and clean inside it and the firing pin assembly and lightly lubricate it. Sometimes the amount of old dried out grease or oil that comes out will leave one to wonder how it managed to fire is amazing. Firing pin springs do not last forever replacements are available. And finally primers, I hate to say it but think quality has slipped over the last few years. When you make many millions of primers sometimes quality control sometimes takes a back seat to producing the amount that the manufactures do. Maybe contact the manufacturer of the primers and explain the problem. And lastly, do you clean the primer pockets prior to reloading?. Hope some of this helps your problem. Frank

[MichiganScott]

Originally Posted by Nevada Ed

check the tip of the firing pin for damage or wear.
If the weapon is old, it might need a new spring to replace a tired one.
My Winchester M70 needed a new spring five years ago. Factory one finally gave out.
.

Same thing happened to me a few years ago. Is it possible that the primers are not seated all the way to the bottom of the primer pocket? Often the first strike of the firing pin will shatter the primer compound while fully seating the primer and it will not ignite with the second strike.

[kryten67]

I had the same issue as MichiganScott.

[m657]

I've had a few batches over the years of bad anvils on LPP. The real shocker was a few years ago I came across a 'deal' on some WW2 era 45acp. After discovering about 50% fail rate, the source refunded my $ and reported these rounds were dismounted from old machine gun belts.

Still have a few cases left after disassembly. These primers all have slightly dome shape rather than flat top when mounted in case.

I don't load many rifle rounds. Have discovered a couple of factory fresh oddities....one 45-70 with full firing pin dimple in otherwise new factory pack of ammo.

Looking forward to hearing the resolution of this problem, please post findings.

[catadjuster]

Originally Posted by kryten67

I had the same issue as MichiganScott.

I wondered that as well until I noticed that the OP had tested in a Wilson. However, it may be that some of the primer pockets may have been reamed at some point and are now "deeper" than spec? How do the cases with failed primers compare in primer depth to unfired cases I wonder. Otherwise, it pretty much has to be some bad primers.

[growr]

Is it possible to chamber the "duds" into another proven reliable rifle chambered for 30-06 and see if they will fire....if they fire in different rifle it is not a primer issue.

Randy

[H Richard]

I have never had a dud primer in a rifle load, over 35 years of reloading. I have had a pistol load dud, but it was with a factory load. I would check the rifle.

[M E Morrison]

Originally Posted by m657

I've had a few batches over the years of bad anvils on LPP. The real shocker was a few years ago I came across a 'deal' on some WW2 era 45acp. After discovering about 50% fail rate, the source refunded my $ and reported these rounds were dismounted from old machine gun belts.

Still have a few cases left after disassembly. These primers all have slightly dome shape rather than flat top when mounted in case.

I don't load many rifle rounds. Have discovered a couple of factory fresh oddities....one 45-70 with full firing pin dimple in otherwise new factory pack of ammo.

Looking forward to hearing the resolution of this problem, please post findings.

Belt fed 45 ACP - HMMM

[rwsmith]

Savage 110 rifle. I'll check the firing pin assembly. I did have a couple of failures with my friends Garand from the same batch.

Winchester primers - I've take to using Winchesters almost exclusively. I've used CCI, Remington and Winchesters mostly. I've had very little trouble in almost 40 years, but then a string of duds.

I'm sure the primer depth is fine, but I will actually measure them to be sure. I made some high primer pistol rounds when I first started reloading and haven't done it since. I've been using a Lee Hand primer and can feel the bottoming out besides seeing/feeling that the primer is recessed a few thousandths into the pocket.

This batch of brass was used, but it was cleaned thoroughly. I have a tool IF I need it, but I hardly ever need it.

I'll be coming back with some answers.

[scattershot]

OP stated that the duds had a firing pin imprint in the primer. My guess would be old primers that got contaminated sometime along the line with oil or such, and misfired.

[rwsmith]

Originally Posted by scattershot

OP stated that the duds had a firing pin imprint in the primer. My guess would be old primers that got contaminated sometime along the line with oil or such, and misfired.

If not inside the house they were in an ammo can. The box looked brand new, no stains or any indication of moisture/oil or any contaminants.

[growr]

May have been some of those primers that are only good for a year and then they are X-dated like milk that is past it's expiration date...your primers just expired!!!

Randy

PS. Just being a joker here

[m657]

"Belt fed 45 ACP - HMMM "
it made me wonder too....although 'the things I don't know would fill a book'....LOL!!!

[Iowa Fox]

Why don't you pull the bullet & powder on a couple. Then set the primed case in whatever you use to prime and see if you can feel the primer seat when you nudge it.