CCI Small Pistol Primers Failed to Ignite

K

kbm6893

Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
6,822
Reaction score
7,322
Location
Pennsylvania
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.
 
Register to hide this ad
Any more details?

  • Revolver?
  • Semi-auto?
  • Did you try firing them again? [Edit: I think that's what you mean by "second time they did", right?]
  • Are you sure they're seated fully to the correct depth?

If they went off after the 2nd time, they probably weren't seated fully.

Lots of things can lead to failure to ignite. And sometimes it's just a bad primer...
 
Last edited:
S&W 67-1 4 inch. And I am pretty sure they were seated right. I use a hand priming tool And check them before I put them in the bucket. I guess they could have been off a hair, but doubt it. And yes, they fired the second time I pulled the trigger on them.
 
kbm6893 said:
S&W 67-1 4 inch. And I am pretty sure they were seated right. I use a hand priming tool And check them before I put them in the bucket. I guess they could have been off a hair, but doubt it. And yes, they fired the second time I pulled the trigger on them.
Click to expand...

As they fired the second time you did not have them seated properly as in seated all the way. It happens with hand primer tools. You know I do not clean primer pockets but you may have had some crud in the pocket, I doubt it though, Just did not push hard enough.
 
Rule3 said:
As they fired the second time you did not have them seated properly as in seated all the way. It happens with hand primer tools. You know I do not clean primer pockets but you may have had some crud in the pocket, I doubt it though, Just did not push hard enough.
Click to expand...


Hmm. No biggie. Just range reloads. I'll check better in the future.
 
Hey it lets you check your trigger pull with out even knowing that a friend slipped a dummy round into the mag for you. Rather a complete surprise. Don
 
You SHOULD be able....

You should be able to feel the primer bottoming out with a hand primer. And the primer needs to be below the head of the case by a few thousandths.

CCIs are about the hardest of the common primers, but I never had a problem with them. Could it be that your strain screw is backed out a little, giving you borderline light strikes.
 
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.
 
Last edited:
Some folks don't clean the primer pockets and have no problems. I always clean mine so I can be sure to get a proper seating of the primer.

Never had a failure to fire first time.
 
CCI

I've only had one CCI primer fail to ignite in the last 30 years.

When the primer was removed and checked there was no primer pellet under the anvil. There was a paper like material under the anvil which gave the appearance that the primer was ok.

I have experienced an unusual anomaly with some primers in the .327 Federal.

The primers were seated properly but failed to ignite with a first strike.

Checking other reloaded cases I found that I could feel a deeper re-seat when
running them back through the Lee auto prime.

I let these set for a time and then tried to re-seat them again and it felt as if they had slightly backed out of the pocket.

This is the first and only time I have noticed that a primer has possibly and slightly need a third re-seating.

Never happened before, ever. Cases were once fired and all primer pockets were scrapped clean.

Why has this just happened now after thousands of reloaded rounds have been sent downrange, without a problem, in multiple calibers.

My gut tells me it is the cases that are the problem. Does the anvil have enough spring tension to push a primer cup backwards?

It is still a mystery to me and the cases are Starline and they look perfect.

It just proves that even a seasoned reloader can have something unusual occur.

BLM
 
I have found CCI primers to be more difficult to fully seat than other
brands so I quit buying them. I only had one fail to fire in a handload
but I always tried to make sure they were fully seated. Solved the
problem by switching to other brands.
 
kbm6893 said:
I checked the screw. Tight. Should I reseat them? Never did that to a loaded round.
Click to expand...

You can, I would not. Light strikes still could be the problem so playing with loaded ammo may not help.

I had a 45 acp that my Lee progressive press missed the primer, so no primer at all. I put one in and it went off. BANG! at the press, bullet left a small imprint on the ceiling and the case blew out. No big deal except the noise, no one hurt.

Perhaps switching to a different brand will solve your situation.

David
 
My two cents worth:

Many, many years ago I had two dud primers, both CCIs, both from the same package. Would not fire despite repeated attempts. Never a problem since.

I used an old Lee hand primer until the "toggle" Scooter mentioned wore out and the primers would barely seat flush, would not seat below flush. Every single primer fired fine in a variety of handguns and rifles.

A light strike is just that--a light hit that makes a less than normal dent on the primer face. That is a firearm issue, not a primer issue. I think too much--based on my experience--is made of high primers and them being seated by the first strike. I haven't seen nor experienced it happening in 40 years of reloading.

My suggestion is next time you get a misfire, check the indentation on the primer and compare it to other cases that did fire and see if it is noticeably different. If so, look for a gun issue, perhaps gunk or brass shavings in the firing pin chamber.

If the indentation is normal, you may have experienced a less sensitive primer. We'd all like 100% reliability in primers, but fact remains that that isn't going to happen.

Or you found the elusive high primer after all!
 
I just loaded some 38 special last night...(6/16/15)
the CCI500 were tight and the Federal primers just slid in, easy as pie.
Pockets were cleaned with a screw drive tip filed to fit, with no crud left in the case and minimal pressure.

Maybe the company's equipment is starting to wear a little and the O/D of the primers are "Growing"?
 
gwpercle said:
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
Click to expand...

Perhaps because it is a waste of time. I load and shoot pretty much every handgun caliber and 4 rifle, I tumble my brass with the old primers in there. Then I resize and load. I can not recall one instance of a primer failing to fire due to a dirty pocket,

I have some very light triggers on some guns and sometimes a hard primer like Wolff will not go bang But that is the hammer spring, It will work with Win, CCI, Federal.

I did try cleaning 357 mag brass once over a clear glass bowl. The amount of "dust" from 50 cases was so insignificant it's a waste of time.

Bench rest guys obsess over everything so for the few rounds they shoot sure, clean them.

I am not cleaning pockets of 1000, 9mm cases:)

Some guys like to do and if it feels good, then it sure doesn't hurt. I am not winning any money or trophies.:D
 
kbm6893 said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
Last edited:
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.
 
arjay said:
Probably weren't fully seated,first hammer blow set them,second fired em.
Click to expand...
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!
 
Last edited:
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)
 
Moe Mentum said:
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.
Click to expand...

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...
 
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.
 
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.
 
scooter123 said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Fiocchi and GFL .357 brass and CCI small magnum pistol primers
Replies
21
Views
2K
SLT223
SLT223
H
Russian Primers
Replies
4
Views
1K
SlamFire
S
R
Bodyguard/Underwood Light Primer Strikes
Replies
21
Views
725
GnarlsR2
GnarlsR2
J
Model 19-9 misfire/failure to ignite
Replies
16
Views
918
Taj
Taj
P
.357 Mag Pressure Signs: How Sticky is Too Sticky?
2
Replies
46
Views
3K
rosewood
rosewood

Latest posts

Back
Top