38 spl duds?

[Old TexMex]

I loaded about 1000 38 spl in mixed brass - 148 gr DEWC with 3.5 gr BE using WSP primers....well about 1 of 20 fails to fire, primer is dented but nothing...first thought was too light hammer spring, but this is happening in all revolvers and Marlin 1894C....the ones that do not fire - never fire with multiple hits from any gun...

Hate to think I have a 1000 rounds with 50 random duds mixed in?

Thoughts

jsmith never said they fired and he didn't hear it, nor that he had a squib, did he? I think he said they never fired. That was my experience too. Couldn't make 'em fire.
I punched fifty out, re- primed twenty more rounds and had two fire... Then I went back to the LGS and was given 1000 replacement.
With the shortages, it's possible, even probable that some junk comes to the top. ...example: I had five boxes of RWS .38sp. 158gr LRN. I COULD PULL THE BULLET OUT WITH MY FINGERS.
When I mentioned it on this very site, not a single response was the actual problem: the rounds hadn't been crimped. I ran them through the crimper ...problem solved. Not every fault is the reloaders ignorance of the mystic art of reloading.

 

[chief38]

I would inspect the primer's in question for contents of the priming compound or lack there of.

 

[Ol'Pappy]

Do the misfires only occur after you have fired a number of rounds? Sometimes when shooting lead bullets I will have a misfire, but I think the chambers get fouled from the bullet lube and powder residue. The fouling keeps the cartridge from seating firmly, and the hammer blow drives the cartridge in further. Usually a second strike will fire, but not always. Take a chamber brush and cleaning patches on your next shoot to see if cleaning every so often helps.

 

[SMSgt]

They're target loads, don't sweat the small stuff. **** happens, and every manufacturer on earth turns out a bad produce now and then. Shoot them, and then break down any that don't fire. I once had two dud CCI primers from the same pack way back when, never had another since.

 

[Clovishound]

I had a similar experience with Winchester SP primers last year. I was new to reloading and suspected primer seating as the problem. Paid more attention to seating, and still had the problem. Switched to another brand of primers, and have never had a primer fail to fire. Still not 100% sure it was the primers, but some would fire on a second strike, some would not fire with multiple strikes, in different guns. Full disclosure, I switched to on press priming at about the time I switched primer brand. My buddy is using the same hand held primer seater that was used to seat the problematic loads. He has not had any problems since the brand switch.