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Loose primers?

B

Bbowl1

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Oct 14, 2012
76
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Portland, Oregon
.308 Lapua brass 5x fired annealed at 3x - rem700 bolt

From the beginning of this batch (first time I have used Lapua) I noticed the primers seat really easily.

Now that I'm loading the 5x brass they are VERY easy to seat. Almost no resistance. Does this mean my brass is done? Will I get issues now blowing out primers etc? I haven't had any issues with the brass otherwise, no splitting, head seperation etc.

I haven't done anything to the primer pockets besides a little hand tool to clean, it doesn't effect the sides just scrapes the residue around the flash hole. I can't imagine that this is the problem. I only get black out, no brass particles.
 
Bbowl1 said:
.308 Lapua brass 5x fired annealed at 3x - rem700 bolt

From the beginning of this batch (first time I have used Lapua) I noticed the primers seat really easily.

Now that I'm loading the 5x brass they are VERY easy to seat. Almost no resistance. Does this mean my brass is done? Will I get issues now blowing out primers etc? I haven't had any issues with the brass otherwise, no splitting, head seperation etc.

I haven't done anything to the primer pockets besides a little hand tool to clean, it doesn't effect the sides just scrapes the residue around the flash hole. I can't imagine that this is the problem. I only get black out, no brass particles.
Click to expand...

You're blowing your primer pockets out, due to high pressure.

What is/are your specific loads?

Chris
 
Sorry should have included

43.0 varget
175smk seated .027 off lands
Win LR primers and cci br2
Lapua brass trimmed 2.005

Primers look a little flat but I am well under max

Out of a ga precision built 700, mike rock barrel

 
What is the size on your case necks.

Loaded rounds vs. fired casings

If it's a GAP, I am sure it has a match chamber which is tighter. If your case necks don't have enough room to expand in the chamber to release the bullet, it will drive up pressure.

What brand primers? (Winchester?). Switch to Wolf/Tula as they are slightly larger.
 
I have found Winchester primers to be small compared to GM210M or the CCIBR2 ,
I also have found that CCILR mag primers to be a good substitute for the Win's
 
"Primers look a little flat but I am well under max"

Well under max, compared to what?

No chart or source of data can tell you what "max" is. Your rifle will tell you what is max. And, your rifle is telling you that you are at max. Maybe on a warm day, more than max?

You can continue to use your load and waste brass, and perhaps shorten barrel life, or drop the charge by a half a grain or so and most likely, your performance won't suffer significantly. BB
 
Could neck sizing only have something to do with it? I full length sized before I loaded 1st time and neck sized each time after that.
 
17874 said:
What is the size on your case necks.

Loaded rounds vs. fired casings

If it's a GAP, I am sure it has a match chamber which is tighter. If your case necks don't have enough room to expand in the chamber to release the bullet, it will drive up pressure.

What brand primers? (Winchester?). Switch to Wolf/Tula as they are slightly larger.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's the issue as my fired brass easily let's A bullet slide in and out, not tight at all. In fact I though the necks might be expanding too much.
 
The Lapua brass I have is on their 20th loading and just like you say, primers seat easier than when they were new.
There is no evidence of gas leakage around primer and no erosion on bolt face.

My load is 47gr. varget (max), 155 scenar and 210m primers = 2940fps with a 20in. barrel

I think you will be fine until you notice any gas leakage around primer or they won't stay in.
 
advance said:
I have found Winchester primers to be small compared to GM210M or the CCIBR2 ,
I also have found that CCILR mag primers to be a good substitute for the Win's
Click to expand...

+1 on the Winchester LR primers being a little smaller than my usual GM210Ms. I shoot nothing but Lapua brass myself. I can usually get 10 loadings or better with a warm loading of IMR-4064. I run 43.8gr under a 178 Amax @ 2.850" out of my 20" tube. On another note, I have noticed 15-20fps more with the Winchester LR primers vs. the GM210M. That can be enough to move your MV away from the sweetest spot for your barrel.
 
Bbowl1,

Second gigamortis and advance on the WLR primers. Winchester used to plate them but when they quit plating them they did not increase the punch die diameter to compensate for the lack of plating. You may wish to try Wolf primers instead of the WLRs.

HTH,
DocB
 
DocB said:
Bbowl1,

Second gigamortis and advance on the WLR primers. Winchester used to plate them but when they quit plating them they did not increase the punch die diameter to compensate for the lack of plating. You may wish to try Wolf primers instead of the WLRs.

HTH,
DocB
Click to expand...

Primers can sure be finicky. I have a .25 06 that performs best with WLR primers, a 7mm 08 that prefers CCI 200 , my 308 prefers CCIBR2.
I haven't used any wolf components. Do you find them to be consistent? Which domestic starter would you say they closely replicate?
I have found the Wolf .22 40gr match extra to be the perfect pill in my CZ452 varmint
 
During my priming process any case that allows primer seating with no resistance gets tossed into the recycle bin. Any case that gives minimal resistance gets a big red strip e across the case head. This lets me know it gets one more firing before getting recycled.
 
mj36639 said:
During my priming process any case that allows primer seating with no resistance gets tossed into the recycle bin. Any case that gives minimal resistance gets a big red strip e across the case head. This lets me know it gets one more firing before getting recycled.
Click to expand...

(this guy has his shit together)
 
Have you monitored your velocities? Maybe your performance isn't medium? If you are blowing primer pockets, that's not a "medium load". You shouldn't feel cheated just because you can't stuff a couple more grains of powder in your cases. Some rifles, some barrels are faster or slower than others, that's life. What you read in the book is a general guideline, not what everyone should expect and I doubt that changing primers will allow you to load two more grains. It's simple, drop your load incrementally, and you should get at least ten reloads from Lapua brass. BB
 
mj36639 said:
During my priming process any case that allows primer seating with no resistance gets tossed into the recycle bin. Any case that gives minimal resistance gets a big red strip e across the case head. This lets me know it gets one more firing before getting recycled.
Click to expand...

+1 on this as I do the same. With that being said, I am on maybe 18-20 firings on Lapua 308 brass, no annealing and so far pockets are just starting to loosen up.
 
I haven't chronod them unfortunately but I have watched my scope values to hit at various distances 100-900yd and I'm 2650, right where it should be for my charge. I am starting to think the lee neck size die I went with for the batch is the culprit.
 
Next cycle through I used cci br primers. They had plenty of resistance seating. Also no signs of flattening with them either.

Must just be the win lr. I use win sr with my 6.5 grendel Lapua brass and haven't had any issues. I'm only on 2x through though, we will see 4x 5x. I don't think I started noticing anything with these until 3-4x
 
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