Loaded up 200 9mm rounds for the range in my Dillon 650 and had a pretty major issue at the range. Id say possibly 30% of my rounds failed to fire. the primers had clear strike marks on them and im positive the seating depth of the primers is solid. Sometimes the round would sound like it had squibbed and then would go off. id get that distinct "pop" of a squib and then a tenth of a second later the charge would fire. would bad primers do that? or should i toss my powder too? The primers were the 4th or 5th set of 100 out of a 1000ct box. everything is stored in my reloading room in the basement of my house and kept dry but the humidity is on the higher side generally controlled to 50-60% would primers be sensitive to that? it just seems odd to be getting a bad bunch of primers in the middle of a box. If anyone has some idea of whats going on im taking all ideas at this point haha.
- Thread starter nick89rs
- Start date
Re: Not sure where the problem lies.
I do not know if you tumbled your sized cases.But I would check to see if you have some corn cob stuck in your flash holes.
You can put your loaded round on a flat surface to see if you have any primers not fully seated.The high ones will rock back and forth when you touch them.
It is possible that you have an issue with the primers.
I would load some more rounds with different primers.
To rule out firing pin problems .Just shoot some factory rounds in your pistol.
Regards,Mike
I do not know if you tumbled your sized cases.But I would check to see if you have some corn cob stuck in your flash holes.
You can put your loaded round on a flat surface to see if you have any primers not fully seated.The high ones will rock back and forth when you touch them.
It is possible that you have an issue with the primers.
I would load some more rounds with different primers.
To rule out firing pin problems .Just shoot some factory rounds in your pistol.
Regards,Mike
Re: Not sure where the problem lies.
My best guess is tumbling medium crumbs in the flash hole.
Greg
My best guess is tumbling medium crumbs in the flash hole.
Greg
M
milo 2.0
Guest
Re: Not sure where the problem lies.
What powder charge.
Media in the flash holes shouldn't cause this.
You need to pull a hand full of rounds to see if primer ignited.
What powder charge.
Media in the flash holes shouldn't cause this.
You need to pull a hand full of rounds to see if primer ignited.
Re: Not sure where the problem lies.
I agree that media in the flash hole or bad primers is your issue. I'd pull apart some of the squibs and see what happened. You may also not have seated the primer fully. What brand primer, powder charge, and firearm did you use?
I agree that media in the flash hole or bad primers is your issue. I'd pull apart some of the squibs and see what happened. You may also not have seated the primer fully. What brand primer, powder charge, and firearm did you use?
Re: Not sure where the problem lies.
i use SS media wet in a thumbers tumbler everything was very dry with flash holes clean. 5.1gr of hp-38 behind a 115gr projo. it may be worth noting that my powder has been sitting in the 650s measure for a while. maybe a month its kept sealed but that may not be a great storage environment? could a primer go off and not unseat the bullet? Guns used were a Sig 226 and a S&W m&p 9mm some of the off shots wernt fully ejecting from the Sig and the case rims were noticeably black and sooty.
i use SS media wet in a thumbers tumbler everything was very dry with flash holes clean. 5.1gr of hp-38 behind a 115gr projo. it may be worth noting that my powder has been sitting in the 650s measure for a while. maybe a month its kept sealed but that may not be a great storage environment? could a primer go off and not unseat the bullet? Guns used were a Sig 226 and a S&W m&p 9mm some of the off shots wernt fully ejecting from the Sig and the case rims were noticeably black and sooty.
Re: Not sure where the problem lies.
m14- i switched to factory loads halfway through the day and both guns are functioning properly. im also not new to the reloading game im generally just a rifle guy so i know what a properly seated primer looks like. Im starting to suspect that if its possible for the primers to have been detonating and not dislodging the bullet that this is actually a powder issue and that storage of the powder in my 650 is not a good idea where humidity is a factor in my basement. any thoughts on that?
m14- i switched to factory loads halfway through the day and both guns are functioning properly. im also not new to the reloading game im generally just a rifle guy so i know what a properly seated primer looks like. Im starting to suspect that if its possible for the primers to have been detonating and not dislodging the bullet that this is actually a powder issue and that storage of the powder in my 650 is not a good idea where humidity is a factor in my basement. any thoughts on that?
M
milo 2.0
Guest
Re: Not sure where the problem lies.
Are you positive you have enough powder in your case?
It could be moisture, but I don't think so.
Are you positive you have enough powder in your case?
It could be moisture, but I don't think so.
Re: Not sure where the problem lies.
I'm not familiar with a 650; is it a clear plastic hopper? Was it in direct sunlight at all? I've seen powder degrade pretty quickly in direct sunlight.
I'm not familiar with a 650; is it a clear plastic hopper? Was it in direct sunlight at all? I've seen powder degrade pretty quickly in direct sunlight.
Re: Not sure where the problem lies.
My focus would be on the primers. If the powder was "bad" then you'd experience the same issue throughout the batch.
If your cases were cleaned in SS Pins and you're positive they were dry then it's back to the primers. A degraded primer will give a wimpy flame and then it slowly propagates through the powder column.
A good primer will usually blow any small obstructions in the flash hole right out of the way, especially corncob.
Out of curiosity, were you running a sizing die in Station 1 on your 650? If so, that surely would rule out any flash hole obstruction unless you removed the depriming pin.
My focus would be on the primers. If the powder was "bad" then you'd experience the same issue throughout the batch.
If your cases were cleaned in SS Pins and you're positive they were dry then it's back to the primers. A degraded primer will give a wimpy flame and then it slowly propagates through the powder column.
A good primer will usually blow any small obstructions in the flash hole right out of the way, especially corncob.
Out of curiosity, were you running a sizing die in Station 1 on your 650? If so, that surely would rule out any flash hole obstruction unless you removed the depriming pin.
Re: Not sure where the problem lies.
I would prime a bunch of cases with the suspected bad primers and see if they ignite. If you had a problem with the powder you would have had all the rounds either fail to fire or have some really wierd velocity problems with all of them. If you have some that work great and some not at all it ain't your powder. As others have said media in the flash hole may be it but you should see those in some of your other unloaded cases.
I would prime a bunch of cases with the suspected bad primers and see if they ignite. If you had a problem with the powder you would have had all the rounds either fail to fire or have some really wierd velocity problems with all of them. If you have some that work great and some not at all it ain't your powder. As others have said media in the flash hole may be it but you should see those in some of your other unloaded cases.
Re: Not sure where the problem lies.
Do you think the case mouth might be slightly undersized? Maybe they are chambering deeper than normal or moving forward from being struck by the firing pin? BB
Do you think the case mouth might be slightly undersized? Maybe they are chambering deeper than normal or moving forward from being struck by the firing pin? BB
Re: Not sure where the problem lies.
Any GOOD primer should at least dislodge the bullet under it's own power alone. In my earlier days, I had a couple powderless rounds of 45 ACP send 230 gr FMJ's out the barrel of a Detonics Combat Master with a 3.25" barrel. I also use some rubber practice bullets which use only primers and they are pretty badass-penetrating a folded army surplus wool blanket draped over a dowel rod. I'd say it's got to be the primers--now what made the go bad I couldn't say. I don't recall it being mentioned-what brand are they?
Any GOOD primer should at least dislodge the bullet under it's own power alone. In my earlier days, I had a couple powderless rounds of 45 ACP send 230 gr FMJ's out the barrel of a Detonics Combat Master with a 3.25" barrel. I also use some rubber practice bullets which use only primers and they are pretty badass-penetrating a folded army surplus wool blanket draped over a dowel rod. I'd say it's got to be the primers--now what made the go bad I couldn't say. I don't recall it being mentioned-what brand are they?
Re: Not sure where the problem lies.
so it turns out that these were Winchester primers. by trial and error found that it simply was bad primers and called them asking for replacements for the ones i had left. took 2 days to get back to me and when they did my reloading practices were brought in to question it was made clear to me that it was far more likely im just an idiot and dont know how to reload a pistol case than their product actually just being defective due to having something happen in shipping or storage issues or just plain old bad QC. it got to the point where they asked me to ship live ammunition back to them in the mail to prove i had used their product correctly. Pretty big run around for 20 dollars worth of primers i simply wanted replaced. I was never very fussy about my primer brands before but i think ill go out of my way to make sure that no box i ever buy has the Winchester logo on it from now on.
so it turns out that these were Winchester primers. by trial and error found that it simply was bad primers and called them asking for replacements for the ones i had left. took 2 days to get back to me and when they did my reloading practices were brought in to question it was made clear to me that it was far more likely im just an idiot and dont know how to reload a pistol case than their product actually just being defective due to having something happen in shipping or storage issues or just plain old bad QC. it got to the point where they asked me to ship live ammunition back to them in the mail to prove i had used their product correctly. Pretty big run around for 20 dollars worth of primers i simply wanted replaced. I was never very fussy about my primer brands before but i think ill go out of my way to make sure that no box i ever buy has the Winchester logo on it from now on.
