CCI Small Pistol Primers the absolute worse! Help

OK GUYS SORRY FOR YELLING BUT I FOUND THE PROBLEM!!!! THE ISSUE WAS NOT CCI PRIMERS IN SPITE OF THEM BEING VERY HARD. THE LYMAN HAND PRIMER NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU PRESS, IT IS NOT SEATING THE PRIMER ALL THE WAY. AFTER SEATING A PRIMER AND PUTTING IT ON A HARD SURFACE, THE BRASS CARTRIDGE ROCKS BACK AND FORTH BECAUSE IT IS STICKING OUT OH EVER SO SLIGHTLY, CAN'T TELL WITH NAKED EYE UNLESS YOU REALLY LOOK FOR IT. I NOW USE MY HORNADY SINGLE STAGE PRESS WHERE THE PRIMER SEATER I CAN USE SOME LEVERAGE AND PROBLEM SOLVED. BOTTOM LINE LYMAN SUCKS
 
I'm glad to hear you figured the problem out. The machine I like to prime with is the RCBS bench mount priming system. It gives a very positive feel for you so that you know when every primer has bottomed out. Even though I use a progressive press for my pistol cartridges, I still rather prime off the press with my RCBS priming system.
 
Wrong bottom line

Your primer seating problem is operator error, you don't know what you are doing. Your Lyman priming tool might be out of adjustment, worn components, or you have weak hand strength.

When you "pop" a primer on the Hornady press, you will start a rant about Hornady presses aren't any good. Your problems aren't the end of the world, or a major quality problem at a components manufacturer, but simply you made a mistake and are responsible for what didn't work.

Not all the answers are on YouTube or the internet. There are multiple excellent reloading manuals available. The instructions for your Lyman primer or the Lyman reloading manual would provide insights to your priming problems.

We can't collectively teach you everything about reloading or shooting. Reading and asking questions without condemnation, will solve a lot problems. Making mistakes is also a LEARNING experience, not the end of your tiny universe.

Primers are supposed to be seated below flush. Some cases have tight primer pockets. Some primers may be a tiny bit over size. The population of primers and cases is in the trillions. The largest primer probably won't fit into the smallest primer pocket, and the smallest primer won't stay in the largest primer pocket, but no primer (or very few) stays in an AMERC case when the bullet is seated. That is why collectively, again, reloaders throw away AMERC brass.

Be safe out there. And you still haven't bought us a cup of coffee.
 
During the Summer months, I participate in a PPC league, firing approximately 6000 rounds year, all double action in my S&W Models 14, 19 and 66. Try to use Federal exclusively, but will use Winchester in a pinch. I save the CCI primers for my Ruger Single Actions with the heavy hammer. For me, Federal small primers have most reliable ignition when shooting a revolver double action.
 
but using whatever brass I find on the range floor to reload

this is my first impression of what may be the problem...I reload only my own brass....so I know the history of use....and use a hand primer to "feel" the primer seat.....and I have never had problems with CCI primers
 
Your primer seating problem is operator error, you don't know what you are doing. Your Lyman priming tool might be out of adjustment, worn components, or you have weak hand strength.

When you "pop" a primer on the Hornady press, you will start a rant about Hornady presses aren't any good. Your problems aren't the end of the world, or a major quality problem at a components manufacturer, but simply you made a mistake and are responsible for what didn't work.

Not all the answers are on YouTube or the internet. There are multiple excellent reloading manuals available. The instructions for your Lyman primer or the Lyman reloading manual would provide insights to your priming problems.

We can't collectively teach you everything about reloading or shooting. Reading and asking questions without condemnation, will solve a lot problems. Making mistakes is also a LEARNING experience, not the end of your tiny universe.

Primers are supposed to be seated below flush. Some cases have tight primer pockets. Some primers may be a tiny bit over size. The population of primers and cases is in the trillions. The largest primer probably won't fit into the smallest primer pocket, and the smallest primer won't stay in the largest primer pocket, but no primer (or very few) stays in an AMERC case when the bullet is seated. That is why collectively, again, reloaders throw away AMERC brass.

Be safe out there. And you still haven't bought us a cup of coffee.

The hand press is brand new and last year I used the same hand press(not the one I presently own the last one the plastic guide got seared off when a primer went sideways while pressing) with no issues. On occasion I would get a light primer strike but that would be rare.

To answer your other question, yes i am pressing firmly and after seeing the primers not fully seated gave a second try pressing same primer still wont push it all the way in. So I put the same cartridge back in the hand priming tool and gave another try this time making sure I was pressing very firmly and hard. The primer was still not getting seated. Maybe the hand press tool metal rod that pushes the primer in was manufacturered just a tad too short don't know

I have read on another forum lyman hand press requires their own shell holder. Not sure ic that is rumor but will verify with them in the morning. I cannot imagine a shell holder from various companies would make a difference thought all shell holders have the same tolorances.
 
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OK GUYS SORRY FOR YELLING BUT I FOUND THE PROBLEM!!!! THE ISSUE WAS NOT CCI PRIMERS IN SPITE OF THEM BEING VERY HARD. THE LYMAN HAND PRIMER NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU PRESS, IT IS NOT SEATING THE PRIMER ALL THE WAY. AFTER SEATING A PRIMER AND PUTTING IT ON A HARD SURFACE, THE BRASS CARTRIDGE ROCKS BACK AND FORTH BECAUSE IT IS STICKING OUT OH EVER SO SLIGHTLY, CAN'T TELL WITH NAKED EYE UNLESS YOU REALLY LOOK FOR IT. I NOW USE MY HORNADY SINGLE STAGE PRESS WHERE THE PRIMER SEATER I CAN USE SOME LEVERAGE AND PROBLEM SOLVED. BOTTOM LINE LYMAN SUCKS


No, that can't be, In your title you said CCI Primers are the "ABSOLUTE WORST"


Gee what else could it possibly be???:confused:
 
No, that can't be, In your title you said CCI Primers are the "ABSOLUTE WORST"


Gee what else could it possibly be???:confused:


CCI is the hardest so I guess in that catagory I was not wrong. When I posted this Hornady and other manufacturers told me CCI was hardest and to try Federal so that was the only thing I had to go on
 
CCI is the hardest so I guess in that catagory I was not wrong. When I posted this Hornady and other manufacturers told me CCI was hardest and to try Federal so that was the only thing I had to go on


"hard" or soft doesn't mean a thing when you say "the worst" :rolleyes:Billions of them have been shot and work just fine.

Primers are extremely reliable little things, there is no fault with CCI or any of them.


If you don't seat them right none of them will work.


It's NOT the primer.
 
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I have a couple thousand WW large rifle primers that are hard to seat. Very hard to seat. Like, break-your-primer-tool hard to seat. I bought them about 30 years ago. Still have them.
They are the only primers I've ever had an issue with.
 
CCI is the hardest so I guess in that catagory I was not wrong. When I posted this Hornady and other manufacturers told me CCI was hardest and to try Federal so that was the only thing I had to go on

What a lot of folks here are going off on you for is the thread title itself. If you had labeled it " CCI Small Pistol Primers, having problems! Help" instead of what you posted you wouldn't be getting snarky answers. Because it is very rare that you get even one defective primer from any primer manufacturer, much less a whole batch. And hardness or softness has little to do with seating the primers, just lighting them off in your handgun. Like you said, you found that your Lyman tool wasn't seating the primers all the way down, which is why you are having problems and not the primers itself.

And as a note of information, you will definitely find differences in the shell holders in height. I have some by different manufacturers in the same caliber and they might be 10-20 thousandths difference between them and could affect your primer seating with your Lyman hand primer. That's why I like the RCBS bench mount priming system so much as that isn't a problem because of the way it works the difference in the shell holders doesn't matter. The RCBS priming system isn't cheap, but it will give you a lifetime of service and quality priming. I bought mine back in the 80's and it's still going strong. This is the priming system I am talking about: <<<<LINK TO RCBS BENCH MOUNT PRIMER>>>>
 
Lightened springs will lead to misfires if lightened enough. WHen I lightened the actions on my revolvers, I found it necessary to switch from CCI to Federal primers. On revolvers, it is also possible for the strain screw to back out. This will also cause misfires. Check it for tightness. It should be screwed all the way in.
 
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+ 1 on the RCBS Bench Mount Priming tool . Been using mine since 1973 & it still works just fine + gives a " feel " that a press or other tools I've used just do not . I use different primers from CCI , Fed , Rem & Win . I use what has worked best for me in each application . Handgun cases I don't uniform primer pockets & rifle cases I do unless they're Lapua or Norma plus flasholes are drilled . Costs more but saves prep time .
 
Primers have to seat to the bottom of the pocket, not flush. With mixed brass, that can be the problem. Push harder, they wont go off.
Or seat by hand. In the sixties, I believe, I read in The American Rifleman, which I believe at that time was a conservative and AUTHORITATIVE source, that the best way to seat primers was to seat by feel, rotate the case 180 degrees, and again apply the same pressure. I have never, by any evidence, broken priming compound, and I have never had an ignition failure with hand-seated primers. I try to stick with CCI primers, but I have used others. For a while I had a couple of revolvers improved by Austin Behlert. No problems with those, either.

I don't know everything about primers, so I am hesitant to make a grand pronouncement, but I seat primers by what I consider "the NRA way," and I have never had a problem. I consider this a significant hint.

P.S. I have always used the Lee hand-priming tools, but there are a few others. The main thing is that you can feel the primer being seated. Almost all normal people can do this, certainly any who should be reloading. The key is Fred's first sentence above.
 
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Seat those primers until they hit the bottom of the pocket .
Ease up on the lever and spin the case 1/2 turn in the shell holder and press the primer in again to make sure it's fully seated and not cock-eyed .
This cured all my "light strikes" and "hard primers"...try it .

Little hand primers don't develop a lot of power like a press so you have to pay attention to how deep the primers are goin in.
Gary
I apologize for posting some of the same later on. I had not yet read your post.
 
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My experience with the Lee hand priming tool (the original round tray model) has been that if you have to rotate the case to fully seat the primer, the tool is worn and eventually won't fully seat a primer even if the case is rotated. I've done the rotation procedure with the Lee, but don't recall doing it with a new tool. I never wore out one of the later Lee square tray models; just threw them away because they didn't work very well to begin with.

With all-steel hand priming tools (at least the ones I've used), rotating a case to fully seat a primer has not been necessary.
 
The difference in hardness with CCI primers is slight, and if any gun has issues with then, you need to fix your gun. High CCI primers, smashed CCI primers, they've always go Bang for me.
 
OK SORRY FOR THE CAPS. BUT MY FIRST LYMAN HAND PRESS THE HANDLE WOULD NOT EXTEND UNLESS I PULLED IT MANUALLY. THE SECOND LYMAN HAND PRESS I JUST FOUND OUT THE ROD THAT SEATS THE PRIMER MUST BE OFF BECAUSE IT IS NOT SEATING THE PRIMERS ALL THE WAY.

I BOUGHT ANOTHER LYMAN(THIS IS THE 3RD ONE) AND THIS WORKS PERFECT. IT SEATS THE PRIMERS ALL THE WAY WHERE THE ONE PRIOR TO THIS UNIT WASN'T. ALL IN ALL IT WAS LYMAN DEFECTIVE PRODUCT I BOUGHT.
 
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