6mm CM Primers not igniting

[Peter Laurvick]

Wanted to post a question in case someone has some incite here. I feel like I’m overlooking something easy but have a lot of potential variables.

-rifle is a Ruger Precision Rifle 6mm Creedmoor with a 24” Proof barrel. It was a factory .308 Win that I’ve put almost 3000 round through so it’s good and broke in. While it was a .308 I ran Federal GMM Brass, CCI No 200 primers, Varget and 175gr SMK’s with great result and never had a single issue with reliability. I swapped calibers myself with this 6 Creed barrel by Proof that was used with around 1,000 rounds logged on the barrel. I’ve got the Forester Go/No-Go gauges and it all checks out, torqued down barrel Etc.

First run was Factory Hornady Match 108gr ELD-M putting 9 shots into about 3/4” at 100yds. Just got all my loading components and set up to load my own.

I’m loading Peterson Large Rifle Primer Brass (1x through another gun), CCI No 200’s (same primers I’ve used in the same gun forever) H4350 and Berger 105gr Hybrids. Trying to go with some proven components and powder charges. So I found some awesome nodes between 41.2gr-41.6gr and everything grouped around .6” groups or better all day. But I had two rounds that the primers did not ignite and I don’t know why or how to fix it. One was at 41.5gr and the other at 41.8gr. I will probably keep the node of either 41.4-41.5gr but with having (2) primer failures in (40) rounds is not good odds. I hit both primers twice and still didn’t fire. The brass does appear to have some pressure but was showing slight smears on the brass at a full grain below max

Not sure if I should swap primers to something else, assume it’s just a bad batch or primers (it’s a different lot number than the other stuff I’d been using), investigate something with the rifle, or something else entirely

-First picture is groups fired today.
-Second picture is the 41.5gr primer that failed to fire
-third picture is the 41.8gr primer that failed to fire
-Fourth picture is the factory Hornady Ammo I fired
-Fifth picture is groups I fired today.
-Last picture is the rifle

 

[straightshooter1]

It could be an issue for some bad primers. But, the first thing I'd to is take look at is the depth of the primer pockets. It could be that the anvil is not seated down far enough to make contact with the base of the pocket???

 

[mbeavers1]

I've had the same issue....bet you don't have powder in there . There is no pressure to keep the primer from deforming like that.

 

[Peter Laurvick]

It could be an issue for some bad primers. But, the first thing I'd to is take look at is the depth of the primer pockets. It could be that the anvil is not seated down far enough to make contact with the base of the pocket???

I will say I didn’t measure primer depth but I do prime and set them in a loading tray upside down and visually inspect that none are protruding up and all are at least flush with the base of the case. So I know they were that far at least. I have the other (10) still primed from that same batch I can measure. But based on how many misfired so far even if the other ten all fired I still wouldn’t say the issue is fixed or not, I think I’d need a larger sampling

 

[Peter Laurvick]

I've had the same issue....bet you don't have powder in there . There is no pressure to keep the primer from deforming like that.

That’s a scary thought. Well I’ll pull them here shortly cause idk what else I’m going to do with them and check. I see what you’re saying though. Even with the bullet firmly seated the powder would make significantly less space to allow pressure to build. Well guess I’ll pull these and see what’s up

 

[mbeavers1]

That’s a scary thought. Well I’ll pull them here shortly cause idk what else I’m going to do with them and check. I see what you’re saying though. Even with the bullet firmly seated the powder would make significantly less space to allow pressure to build. Well guess I’ll pull these and see what’s up

I'm curious. What did u find?

 

[straightshooter1]

I will say I didn’t measure primer depth but I do prime and set them in a loading tray upside down and visually inspect that none are protruding up and all are at least flush with the base of the case. So I know they were that far at least. I have the other (10) still primed from that same batch I can measure. But based on how many misfired so far even if the other ten all fired I still wouldn’t say the issue is fixed or not, I think I’d need a larger sampling

Initially, because these are Peterson brass, I was hesitant to suggest primer pockets being too deep where the primer anvils are not fully seated as they're really good quality and consistent. I use Peterson brass along with Lapua and have never had such an issue, but then, I uniform all my primer pockets and primers ARE seated to the same depth (no hand seating and depending on feel). Then I just felt it just something that shouldn't be ignored and would take a look at when the cartridges are pulled and inspected to see what what's going on.

If it's just an issue of bad primers, the timing couldn't be worse, given the state of current supplies.

 

[Peter Laurvick]

I'm curious. What did u find?

Alright I pulled the bullseye. Both had powder. One was dead on what I thought it should have been at 41.8gr. I thought the other was from the 41.5gr batch but it also had 41.8gr. So I might have just stuck them in the box wrong or something. But both had powder. One of the primers looked like it started to ignite and didn’t. The other looks like nothing happened other than the firing pin hit it.

I took a sampling of brass from the same lot with just as much work done before loading and I remembered I didn’t clean the primer pockets. Primer pockets also look pretty corroded like they got wet and sat in it for a while or something. So maybe it was just enough buildup in there to stop them from igniting. I’m just going to run another batch of (50) cases with the same primers and cleaned primer pockets with my wet tumbler and SS Pins and see if it still happens

 

[spife7980]

Corroded? I can see putting primers into wet pockets causing them to fail. While shielding yourself smack them with a hammer and see if that sets them off, it’s one sure way to tell lol.

 

[Peter Laurvick]

Corroded? I can see putting primers into wet pockets causing them to fail. While shielding yourself smack them with a hammer and see if that sets them off, it’s one sure way to tell lol.

The primer pockets not the primers themselves looked way more gunked or almost even corroded. Nothing was wet. But gah I’m questioning everything in my process at this point