Bad Propellant?

[Ishallbie O'Cullkillin]

I had a primer fail to detonate last time out. The load was a 168 Amax over 43.5gr H4895, CCI BR primer. I pulled the round, and saw that the H4895 had formed into small chunks, and some of the chunks had granules that were yellow. The ammo is 3-5 years old, stored in my garage in plastic cases, no climate control, concrete floor. What happened here?

 

[High Binder]

Re: Bad Propellant?

Did you pull some from around it in the case or did they all fire except that one?

 

[Pat M]

Re: Bad Propellant?

? tumbling media

 

[Ishallbie O'Cullkillin]

Re: Bad Propellant?

All other rounds fired. The yellow granules were indeed propellant that had changed color.

 

[High Binder]

Re: Bad Propellant?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MattK287</div><div class="ubbcode-body">All other rounds fired. The yellow granules were indeed propellant that had changed color. </div></div>

If all the other ones fired and were in the same case and from the same lot of powder, I'd be inclined to say that there was water or some other contamination in the brass case itself and not a powder powder problem.

 

[rjmara]

Re: Bad Propellant?

+1 ,maybe lube contamination?

 

[BK7saum]

Re: Bad Propellant?

Did the primer ignite? I've had faulty Wolf primers that failed to ignite a slower burning powder. The charge was on the light end with a little void space in the case. The primer ignition caused the powder to turn yellow/orange and clump, but apparently was not hot enough to ignite the powder.

Just another possibility...

BLK

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: Bad Propellant?

In my own experience, a primer flash hole that are blocked by a tumbling medium crumb is the primary culprit for misfires.

While I've never seen powder granules that turned yellow, I certainly accept the possibility. Another possibility would be taggant particles included in the powder. The ones I've found are usually red.

When you decap the case, try to trap the primer and check to see if it appears black inside. That would tend to indicate that it actually ignited.

Greg

 

[kaiwei]

Re: Bad Propellant?

The charge was on the light end with a little void space in the case.