Misfire Today- You'll NEVER Guess Why

[sw282]

Shooting my 657PC 41 Magnum l had a MISFIRE...

Never say Never, but l got one today at the range...

Tried the RD 3 times. Still NOTHING. When something

like this happens l get a bit rattled.. At least NO KABOOM..

l come home and get out the old bullet puller and disassemble

the round.. Out falls bullet and powder. Leaving primed case..

Next l knock out the primer.. No charred or blackened primer..

Still nice and shiny inside...Looking closer l don't see the yellow

primer mix.. Taking vise grips and paper clip l pry the little

anvil out.. l cant believe what l see.. Primer cup is EMPTY..

NO PRIMER MIX.. Not seen this one in 40yrs of reloading..

They were CCI 300 LP primers purchased back in the Fall..

Guess l will give CCl a call tomorrow. Maybe post a pic...

Anyone on the forum ever had EMPTY primer????

 

[franzas]

I've had misfires, but those rounds ended up in my 5 gallon .38 special bucket to be pulled apart at a later date.

From what I've read on this forum and others, an empty primer does occur from time to time. Don't sweat it and keep on loading!

 

[muddocktor]

I pulled apart a misfire Win Ranger 45 Auto round that my SIL had happen to him and the cup only had 10-20% of the primer cup having any priming compound and none under the anvil area. So yes, it does happen.

EDIT: Moral of that story is that even factory ammo can and will malfunction.

 

[colt_saa]

I have had a primer with no anvil

Let's face it....no company on the planet can produce 100% perfect items 100% of the time.

 

[fredj338]

Its rare with quality primers but happens.
At 2015 idpa nats, i had a round with no powder? Factory Cci Blaser brass.

 

[Bob R]

40 years and this is a first, seems like you had a pretty good run. Chalk it up to the fickle finger of fate.

bob

 

[K Frame Keith]

I once found a Winchester 5.56mm with the primer seated upside down, with the open primer cup facing out. It came out of a factory fresh case of ammo.

 

[jaymoore]

I seem to remember a Bianchi Cup event where the match was decided due to the lack of a flash hole in the case of a factory loaded cartridge used by the 2nd place finisher.

Have not yet run across an empty primer cup but have lost count of the number of .22 rimfire rounds that had no priming compound!

 

[SMSgt]

Why would you call CCI over one lousy primer? Do you expect them to send a replacement?

 

[m657]

Have on hand a factory loaded 45-70 with perfect primer indent, did not fire.

Intend to take it apart some day.

 

[sw282]

Why would you call CCI over one lousy primer? Do you expect them to send a replacement?

What if it were a shot on a trophy White tail?

Or a shot to save the LIFE of a family member?

''One lousy Primer"?? You can bet I WILL!!!

 

[SmithNut]

I once found a Winchester 5.56mm with the primer seated upside down, with the open primer cup facing out. It came out of a factory fresh case of ammo.

Back in 2000, two friends and I went to Tanzania on a Cape Buffalo/Plains Game hunt.
On our last day there, the top guy at the camp asked if we would like to assist in culling some zebras ( ) Of course we were happy to assist. Later in the day, we ran across a few and my buddy lined up his Winchester M70 chambered in .375 H&H on a nice zebra, pulled the trigger and all we heard was pffffttt..! I had him put his rifle against a tree as it sounded like a hang-fire, and finished up on the zeb with my rifle. When the shooting was over, we checked his rifle, and low and behold the round had a primer loaded backwards This was with factory new Federal Premium Safari ammo, which cost (at that time) about $80/box.
Funny that we got half way around the world, hunted for 10 days, etc., and it was never noticed until he was in the moment.
It's just a good thing he wasn't facing down a buffalo at the time....!

 

[Boudiepitbull]

I'm glad the primer didn't suddenly wake up and surprise you while you were poking at it...

 

[505Gibbs]

I'd imagine many of us have seen a video on the making of 22 rimfire ammo that seem to be coming out like a machinegun on steroids I can only imagine what the primer machine is spitting them out at!
Stuff happens!

 

[Big Cholla]

Ray Chapman

I seem to remember a Bianchi Cup event where the match was decided due to the lack of a flash hole in the case of a factory loaded cartridge used by the 2nd place finisher.

Have not yet run across an empty primer cup but have lost count of the number of .22 rimfire rounds that had no priming compound!

There very well could have been a Bianchi Cup match as you described, but I will bet that the stories got mixed up since the original Bianchi Cup was held at Ray Chapman's Training facility in Missouri. The real story is true; Ray Chapman had won the world championship in USPSA/IPSC competition and the next year was in the running to win his second. IIRC, the match was being held in South Africa. He was sponsored by Winchester/Western Ammo and they furnished all his 45 acp ammo. In the very last event Ray was within a few shots of winning when he had a failure to fire. The time it took him to clear the malfunction was all it took for him to drop to second place and to lose to the first place guy. Later Ray took the offending round and broke it apart. It had a live primer, good powder, correct everything except there was NO flash hole punched between the primer cup and the powder chamber. Ray carried that piece of brass around in his pocket and pulled it out and showed it to everyone. As said before, "No manufacture has ever made 100% of anything absolutely perfect." Ray made it part of his training and told us many times, "Be prepared for anything in a gunfight".

 

[Rule3]

What if it were a shot on a trophy White tail?

Or a shot to save the LIFE of a family member?

''One lousy Primer"?? You can bet I WILL!!!

I thought this was going to be a Boycott CCI Thread!

Well this reminds me of First World Problems, I hope you recover!

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN2WzQzxuoA[/ame]

 

[S&WIowegan]

Once in my 30 years of handloading, I found a Winchester small rifle primer with nothing but the cup. I was filling primer tubes at the time and caught it before it went in the tube. I was going to tell Winchester about it but it really wasn't worth the time. Kept it as a souvenir.

 

[Arik]

What if it were a shot on a trophy White tail?

Or a shot to save the LIFE of a family member?

''One lousy Primer"?? You can bet I WILL!!!

Trophy deer? Don't care.

What if the guy managed to get that gun of you and goes to pull the trigger and nothing happens, giving you enough time to do something!?!?!

Lots of what ifs. Practically endless!

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[Dillyp]

this is why I carry a revolver. many a man has died from slide racking.

 

[M E Morrison]

Shooting my 657PC 41 Magnum l had a MISFIRE...

Never say Never, but l got one today at the range...

Tried the RD 3 times. Still NOTHING. When something

like this happens l get a bit rattled.. At least NO KABOOM..

l come home and get out the old bullet puller and disassemble

the round.. Out falls bullet and powder. Leaving primed case..

Next l knock out the primer.. No charred or blackened primer..

Still nice and shiny inside...Looking closer l don't see the yellow

primer mix.. Taking vise grips and paper clip l pry the little

anvil out.. l cant believe what l see.. Primer cup is EMPTY..

NO PRIMER MIX.. Not seen this one in 40yrs of reloading..

They were CCI 300 LP primers purchased back in the Fall..

Guess l will give CCl a call tomorrow. Maybe post a pic...

Anyone on the forum ever had EMPTY primer????

Yep, one time, at least twenty years ago. That's why I inspect them on the flipper BEFORE i load them into the tube.