Has anybody noticed an issue with CCI primers lately? Specifically SR no. 400's? I was loading a couple thousand .233's for my bro-in-law yesterday and we had a few come out that the primer wasn't seating properly. (1st picture). My first thought was I had equipment issue (loading on my Dillon 650XL) so I tore it apart, cleaned it up and all but the problem still was there. I decided to look at the primers so I opened up a new sleeve and sure enough, 7 out of 100 the anvil wasn't pushed into the cup squarely (2nd pic). My thought is that when they went to start into the case it caught the ligand cooked the prime sideways. I've loaded 10's of thousands of rounds on this press and yes, the prime pockets were de-swagged and uniformed. Just wondering if anybody else has noticed this. 
- Thread starter harleytuner
- Start date
Your swage didn’t open up the mouth of the primer pocket enough. The crimp is still a sharp edge which is catching the cup of the primer.
He did say that he opened a new sleeve and 7 of the 100 looked like that. If they are like that in the sleeve, obviously a manufacturing issue.
With the price of primers now days, I'd get the lot number off the box and contact them. Take pictures to email to them.
That was my initial thought as well, after I went through and picked out the ones where the anvil was in crooked I never had an issue. Loaded about 700 more like that. Like I said, I've loaded thousands of rounds on this thing, never had an issue with the stage not being opened enough. They were all de-swagged AND then uniformed
That is correct, after I started separating the bad ones I never had an issue. I've had this press for 7 years and have probably loaded 25-30,000 rounds of 233 and thousands of 9mm an 45's as well. Grant it I shoot long range so most of my stuff i do single stage, but I'm by no means new to this.
Go through another sleeve and collect any other bad ones. Take some more close up photos like the one you posted. Note the lot number and contact CCI. They need to be notified of the bat lot #'s. They should take care of you.
This is one of the worst ones. The others aren't quite as bad.
Lot is J15B401. Anybody know how to pull a date from it? Luckily he only had 5 sleeves. Moved into a new brick and so far so good
ive had this happen with pistol primers and what i figured out was the retaining wire/spring on station #2 was adjusted in/towards the shell plate to far and pushing on the cases to hard causing the cases to tip inward....once i adjusted that all the cockeyed primers stopped.
That’s what it should look like if your cases have a heavy crimp. The photos in your first post were not cut, it’s easy to tell when you can still see the crimp lip.
I do agree you should contact CCi but be prepared for them to tell you that they are fine and it’s 100% your fault. Their customer service is holier than thou
I’d say, take a primer you think is messed up, and press it into the case you just posted with the crimp cut out (not swaged) and it will seat and fire without issue
"J" = September
"15" = 15th day of month
"B" = 1996 or 2020 (depending on what the box labeling looks like)
The First letter in the Lot# is the Month of manufacture:
A=January, B=February, C=March, D=April, E=May, F=June, G=July, H=August, J=September, K=October, L=November, M=December
First two numbers in the lot# is the Numerical day of the month: 01-31
The second letter in the Lot# is the Year of Manufacture:
A=1995, B=1996, C=1997, D=1998, E=1999, F=2000, G=2001, H=2002, J=2003, K=2004, L=2005, M=2006, N=2007, P=2008, Q=2009, R=2010, S=2011, T=2012, U=2013, V=2014, W=2015, X=2016, Y=2017, Z=2018, A=2019, B=2020, C=2021.
They skip "I" and "O" as it's too close to "one" and "zero".
I don't know how it was done before 1995.
"15" = 15th day of month
"B" = 1996 or 2020 (depending on what the box labeling looks like)
The First letter in the Lot# is the Month of manufacture:
A=January, B=February, C=March, D=April, E=May, F=June, G=July, H=August, J=September, K=October, L=November, M=December
First two numbers in the lot# is the Numerical day of the month: 01-31
The second letter in the Lot# is the Year of Manufacture:
A=1995, B=1996, C=1997, D=1998, E=1999, F=2000, G=2001, H=2002, J=2003, K=2004, L=2005, M=2006, N=2007, P=2008, Q=2009, R=2010, S=2011, T=2012, U=2013, V=2014, W=2015, X=2016, Y=2017, Z=2018, A=2019, B=2020, C=2021.
They skip "I" and "O" as it's too close to "one" and "zero".
I don't know how it was done before 1995.
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Awesome thanks!! They are the newer style boxes so 2020.
A buddy and I were talking about issues like this popping up. With production at mass capacity and demand not slowing down, I expect to see more QC problems in the future.
I will say those primers are not in to good of shape, I would also check the primer station locator tab, the spring loaded arm that holds the brass in station #2. If it is tight pressing on the case, it will tip the brass in the shell holder, also make sure the slot that holds your case in the shell plate are clean, and allowing the brass to insert all the way.
Also make sure your shell plate is not warped, or binding though a full rotation, When you snug the center bolt, rotate shell plate by hand for several full rotations, I seen a few that rotate free for 3-4 stations, then get a slight bind on one, if this happens, loosen the center bolt i tiny bit, until you get free rotation though all 5. The shell plate needs to click and stop just right for station 2.
Have you checked the tool head alignment with the Dillon tool?
In your first picture, you can see the edge of the primer caught on the outer edge of the primer pocket. The high anvil on the messed up primer should not even be in close contact/Touching anything at this point of the primer being inserted into the case.
This is kinda telling me
# 1. case/Shell plate was not centered over the prime station,
#2 the brass was tipped from the loaded are pushing on it,
#3 brass was not swagged good enough.
lastly I see the ones in you pic, appear to be finished rounds, My question on this is how fast are running this press, I can clearly feel a primer not going into the case on my machines, and know right away their is a seating problem with the primer and can stop my stroke well before it smashes a primer that bad. It appears you did not feel this, or just maybe powered though with out stopping to look for an issues? (hope Not) It takes a lot more force to smash the primers like in your pick then it dose to just seat one.
I also did read that when you took all the bad primers out, that the problem went away, But still think you could fine tune the press a little to help with the issues i see in the pics.
Also make sure your shell plate is not warped, or binding though a full rotation, When you snug the center bolt, rotate shell plate by hand for several full rotations, I seen a few that rotate free for 3-4 stations, then get a slight bind on one, if this happens, loosen the center bolt i tiny bit, until you get free rotation though all 5. The shell plate needs to click and stop just right for station 2.
Have you checked the tool head alignment with the Dillon tool?
In your first picture, you can see the edge of the primer caught on the outer edge of the primer pocket. The high anvil on the messed up primer should not even be in close contact/Touching anything at this point of the primer being inserted into the case.
This is kinda telling me
# 1. case/Shell plate was not centered over the prime station,
#2 the brass was tipped from the loaded are pushing on it,
#3 brass was not swagged good enough.
lastly I see the ones in you pic, appear to be finished rounds, My question on this is how fast are running this press, I can clearly feel a primer not going into the case on my machines, and know right away their is a seating problem with the primer and can stop my stroke well before it smashes a primer that bad. It appears you did not feel this, or just maybe powered though with out stopping to look for an issues? (hope Not) It takes a lot more force to smash the primers like in your pick then it dose to just seat one.
I also did read that when you took all the bad primers out, that the problem went away, But still think you could fine tune the press a little to help with the issues i see in the pics.
No kidding. I guess some of us worry more about those primer "Kabooms" when reloading....
All good tips. I'm running the bearing upgrade on the shell plate mounting bolt, I had replaced the spring and the indexing arm a few months back, all that seams fine now. My brother in law was running the press when the the issues happened. Not sure how much pressure he was using. I'm not sure how CCI inserts the "anvil" when they make the primers, looking down on them it appears that the bad ones may be out of round which would cause them the catch the lip up the prime pocket. Not sure if that if from the anvil being installed "skewed", possibly to much compound in the cup not allowing the anvil to be fully seated??? Irregardless, all the brass was processed at the same time, I just finished loading 600 more rounds from a different lot of primers and had no issues.
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Ever Blow one up? We had 2 torch off at the shop, I usto work for a ammo loader, we ran 650s for pistol ammo and 1050s for rifle. I caught a swaged 45 ACP brass once and torched off a close full tube of LP mag primes. Boss thought it was quiet funny, till about a seek later he torched off 3/4 or so tube of SP primers loading 40. I gained A LOT of respect for primers in bulk after that, the damage was quiet impressive.
Yep!
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