CCI Small Pistol Primers Failed to Ignite

[buckshotshorty]

Probably weren't fully seated,first hammer blow set them,second fired em.

I agree! I think you hit the primer on the head!

 

[fredj338]

3 out of 110 reloads using CCI primers did not go off today. Second time they did. First time that ever happened. I'm a new reloader so I guess it happens. Still have about 500 rounds of the original batch left, most with CCI primers. I do recall buying Winchester once when they were out of CCI.

Push harder. The primer must bottom in the pocket to fire. It isn't going off during seating, push harder.
Fwiw, I am in the not cleaning primer pocket camp. I. More than 250k rds over nearly 40yrs of reloading, I have had maybe 4-5 rds not fire do to a high primer. Push harder. If the primer bottoms on a thin layer of carbon, it's still gonna fire.

 

[M3Stuart]

I had the same issue with 550's once. New Starline brass. Called CCI. They said that the odds of a primer-caused failure to ignite are like one in several million. They said to try seating them deeper. I did. It worked perfectly. Never had an issue since.

 

[mikld]

Probably weren't fully seated,first hammer blow set them,second fired em.

I agree. This is the case 98% of the time especially with newer reloaders (or a change in equipment)...

And ferget "below flush dimensions". Just make sure the primers are all the way to the bottom of the pocket!

 

[Moe Mentum]

Three things that cause primers to fail :

1 Not seated, a primer needs to fully bottom out to activate itself.
2 Light firing pin strikes, usually from a striker firing pin, or defective
firing pin
3 Defective primer ( unusual, but it happens)

 

[mikld]

Three things that cause primers to fail :

1 Not seated, a primer needs to fully bottom out to activate itself. Prolly 95% of the time
2 Light firing pin strikes, usually from a striker firing pin, or defective .
firing pin. Mebbe 4% due to modified guns.
3 Defective primer ( unusual, but it happens). Prolly less than 1% of the time.

I have been reloading 30 years and used mostly CCI primers, with Winchester coming up second and a few thousand (one or two) others. I can't remember more than 2 FTFs that were from a dud primer...

 

[andyo5]

Have you lightened your mainspring tension lately?
CCI primers are among the hardest in the industry. I switched to Federal primers for revolvers with lightened trigger pulls for just that reason. Failure to ignite the primer.

 

[rwsmith]

No middle ground?????

"I never clean primer pockets"
"Why not clean pockets?"

I just clean them when I think they need it.

 

[MattO]

I bought and loaded some Small Pistol Magnum CCI 550 primers. These things seem to be made out of the hardest possible material. I have a model 19 that has been slightly modified, and a Ruger SP101 that has a very slightly lightened trigger pull, and neither will fire these primers 100% of the time. I've just purchased some Federal Small Magnum pistol primers to see if this fixes the issue.

 

[NJM15]

Something else to consider is that every hand primer I've ever seen uses a Toggle Linkage to provide the leverage need to seat even a "tight" primer. Because of this there is very distinct limit to the stroke of the hand primer. As a result a case with a deeper than normal primer pocket or a "short" drive pin in the hand primer can result in primers that aren't fully seated.

I would suggest you take note of the headstamp on the cases that misfired, because if it is an issue with a particular brand of brass you can avoid them. If you find that misfires are a continuing issue with a variety of case brands you may want to contact the manufacturer of your hand primer.

PS; in an effort to combat the misinformation and rumors that are constantly quoted as fact I can tell you that at one point I had all my S&W revolvers tuned to an 8.0 lbs DA trigger weight. At that weight both Federal and CCI Standard primers functioned with 100% reliability in Double Action. However, when I tested some Remington UMC I had a misfire rate of about 65%. So, I would not say that CCI has the hardest common primer, Remington does. As a result of this testing I now have retuned all of my S&W revolvers to a 9.0 lbs DA trigger weight.

However, I will note that CCI Magnum primers are harder than the standard pressure primers. Something I discovered when I picked up a used Dan Wesson 15-2 with an aftermarket mainspring. In that revolver the 38 specials ran fine in Double Action but when I changed to 357 Magnum with CCI550 primers 1/2 of the rounds wouldn't fire in Double Action. BTW, the Dan Wesson now has a Factory spec mainspring and a DA trigger pull I would estimate at about 13.5 lbs. On the plus side it's a very smooth trigger and with a quick even pull it's not as bad as it sounds.

I mistakenly loaded 9's for my Sig 226 with magnum primers (CC )and several failed to fire., the pin wasn't leaving a good impression .
I have had similar problems using benchmark primers in my .223 rounds,i believe they are harder then regular small rifle primers.

 

[daverich4]

Have you lightened your mainspring tension lately?
CCI primers are among the hardest in the industry. I switched to Federal primers for revolvers with lightened trigger pulls for just that reason. Failure to ignite the primer.

My experience has been exactly the same. I load on a RCBS 2000 with the primer stop removed so I can feel the primers bottom out. When shooting single action with both a Model 14 and a 15 they go bang every time. When shooting double action (which has a shorter hammer stroke) I get a noticeably light primer strike every couple of cylinders full. Sometimes pulling the trigger again makes them go, sometimes it doesn't. I have yet to have a light strike in either of those guns with Federal primers.

 

[just plain joe]

Since 1972 I have used CCI, Winchester, Federal, and Remington pistol and rifle primers in many thousands of hand-loads. I cannot remember the last time I had a "failure-to-fire". Most of what I would think to say has already been said in the prior postings.

Just make certain that you seat the primer a little below flush. You should be able to feel this by passing your finger over the primer/primer pocket. In this way a part of the primer, I believe it is called the "anvil", is stressed and provides more reliable ignition.

If you don't remember anything else from these postings, PLEASE, don't ever try to re-seat the primer of a loaded cartridge.

Hope this helps.

JPJ

 

[Krogen]

We've all heard for years that a failed first strike followed by a successful second one indicates a poorly seated primer. The theory goes that the first strike completed the seating and the second fired. I submit that the primer cup isn't seated any deeper by the first strike, but that the anvil may be. The anvil is dislodged and contacts the bottom of the pocket and the pellet is then compressed the firing pin indentation and the bottomed-out anvil. So, the second strike is now successful.

 

[moxie]

I don't clean primer pockets because I don't think they need it. I tried it when I first started reloading but as mentioned above, the amount of "dust" generated didn't seem to make the effort worthwhile.

I hand prime with a Lee Autoprime.

I use CCI, Winchester, Federal, or Remington, whichever is cheapest at the time.

In 27 years I've never had a failure. Not once. Pistols, revolvers, and rifles.

 

[cl998]

I have been having this issue with a Performance Center 327 2" snubby (357mag). Oddly the light primer strikes only happen when I am using the 8 shot moon clips. If I load straight into the cylinder I dont have a problem. A second hit always seems to ignite them, even with the moon clips.

And of course it is only an issue with my reloads, Hornady factory loads seem to ignite without issue. I will pay more attention to the primer pockets but some of the brass was new starline.

Now, my 627 V-Comp fires the same rounds in moon clips without a problem.

 

[Calliope]

Primer pocket fouling doesn't seem to build up from multiple uses. I've never cleaned a pocket and some of my .357 brass has seen dozens of loads. I wonder if the primer flash blows out the fouling from the previous load.

Some pockets can be quite deep. I have a dial indicator and cartridge gauge setup to measure my finished rounds and some primers are as much as .010" below flush when seated.

After having issues with some Tula primers not going off, I switched to priming with an RCBS Ram prime on top of my press. It gives you great feel of the primer bottoming out and no more failures with Tula or CCI.

 

[oldfart64]

A lot of reloader's say...I never clean the pockets. I always clean them so no crud will stop them from seating all the way to the bottom of the pocket, easily. I just don't understand the " never clean " philosophy .
Gary

I believe it is called laziness.. IMHO

 

[Calliope]

I believe it is called laziness.. IMHO

You dig up a 2 year old thread just to call people lazy?

Weak.