I had a couple 6CM rounds that failed to fire this weekend. They were Fed 210m primers. When ejected, the primers didnt look right. Any idea what caused this? The others primers looked fine.
- Thread starter mbeavers1
- Start date
Thats what primers look like that don't go off. They do not have the pressure of the powder charge pushing it against the bolt face. I've had it happen a few times over the years. I don't have an answer as to why.
So, recently I have had it several times. All Federal primers but some were also 205s. I had one large and one small not fire out of maybe 150 rounds. That seems like a high failure rate. Makes me think I caused it, but dunno now. I am using a Frankford Arsenal hand primer. Occasionally, I get a tough one but they usually go in. I am wondering if I may have crushed it, but none of the seated primers showed damage.
Did you pull the bullet and see if there is powder in the case?
Few things.
Temp can be a factor.
Primer seating depth can be a factor.
Energy in your fire control group can be a factor. If you have a lot of lube on your striker, it can slow down the striker.
Sometimes you can just get a bad primer.
Moisture in the case before loading can spoil a primer.
Temp can be a factor.
Primer seating depth can be a factor.
Energy in your fire control group can be a factor. If you have a lot of lube on your striker, it can slow down the striker.
Sometimes you can just get a bad primer.
Moisture in the case before loading can spoil a primer.
This.
And when you do check that make sure that the primers fired, it should be all black and the base of the bullet will be sooty as well if the primer went off correctly.
This is my thought too! I would break down the bolt and give it a good cleaning. And I would pull those bullets and look at that primer. Primers are very dependable but everyones QC got more relaxed during the Obama shortages and many of them never got better. Look to see if the anvil is missing or if the pellet is crushed or missing.
Agree.
In my experience primer failures are kind of rare (not unheard of, but certainly not usual), so the fact that you got a couple within a single batch is a red flag.
The last time that happened to me was with pistol rounds. I had multiple 9mm rounds not go off in a Glock 17. I replaced the striker and some springs, but the failures still happened.
It turned out that the primers were seating just a little too high. A small divot had developed on my progressive press (from years of use) so the primers weren't fully seating on some brands of brass.
I'll disassemble them and repost pics. I haven't cleaned this bolt yet. It is a Defiance action but all the other rounds went boom and looked normal.
They were for sure all at or below the case head and my seating tool adjustment remained the same. I did try to fire the 2x but no boom on the second try either.
I would second the notion of moisture causing primer failure. Before I switched to using a dehydrator to dry my brass, I used to see more primer failures that I think was due to very small amounts of moisture in the case base/flash hole that I did not notice during the loading process. Certainly an easy thing to fix as you troubleshoot this.
JB
JB
What did the primers look like before the second attempt to fire?
Get a nice priming tool like the 21st Century where you can feel the primer bottom out in the pocket to eliminate that headache.
Then make sure the trigger sear isn’t dragging on the firing pin.
Then check the firing pin spring. Some manufacturers put a lighter spring in there to reduce bolt lift effort. You might need a stronger spring.
Seems that most people with this issue are using custom actions.
Then make sure the trigger sear isn’t dragging on the firing pin.
Then check the firing pin spring. Some manufacturers put a lighter spring in there to reduce bolt lift effort. You might need a stronger spring.
Seems that most people with this issue are using custom actions.
Do you understand that the primer seating process involves two steps? Step one, inserting into pocket, and two, crushing the anvil into the compound?
Also pull the bullets and check for powder. Those look like classic no-powder loads.... don't ask me how I know. You can also weigh them versus known good loaded rounds and determine if they have any powder in them.
Also pull the bullets and check for powder. Those look like classic no-powder loads.... don't ask me how I know. You can also weigh them versus known good loaded rounds and determine if they have any powder in them.
Shake the case and listen for powder if not a compressed load.
