Yesterday I got two failure to fires using wolf small rifle magnum primers and I’m wondering where do I go from here? But first a little background. I’m trying to develop a load for my new 6.5x47. I started with RE17, 140gr Bergers and wolf SRM primers. I was using 40.4gr at 2780fps. Some days it would shoot other days it wouldn’t. I switched to H4350, everything else being the same. I worked up to 42 grains of H4350 and I got 2839fps with no pressure signs. I loaded up some more rounds at 41.5gr starting .100” off the lands and worked to .020” into the lands. The very first round I think I got a pierced primer (the primer hole was black, but I could not see through the primer.) The next shot is when I got the FTF, I thought that is odd. I continued to shoot the rest with no problems until my last one that was .020” into the lands. This one too was a FTF.
I’m using a Hornady hand primer and when the brass was new it was really hard to seat the primers. As I was seating them I could feel the primer seat as usual. The 2nd feeling I never felt before. (I normally use a Lee hand primer for my LR primers.) If I pressed harder I think that it was the anvil seating further.
I would normally just try again and see what happens but I ran out of the 140gr Bergers. So I’m asking you guys because this is going to eat at me. The load shot great so I would like to use it. For the various seating depths it shot 3 shot groups from .066” - .371”. Velocity was from 2810fps – 2839fps depending on the seating depth. With the 3 shot groups never going over 10 fps (+/- 8fps)
So far this is what I can think of….
1) The load density was too great with 41.5gr of powder and the small rifle primer
2) This was my 4th reloading of the brass and the primer pockets loosened up. I seated the primers too deep because I was used to having to force them in.
3) I don’t think that it’s the rifle, because it’s a GAP built Surgeon action.
4) I just thought of this… but I dropped two primers on the concrete. I picked them up and seated them….It seems odd that I dropped two with two failure to fires?
5) Just bad primers, I’ve heard of others having hang fire issues, but never any FTF’s. (Because of the primer shortage I bought 5000 of the Wolfs so I would like to try and make these work.)
6) The pierced primer broke something in my rifle?
Any ideas what the problem might be? I never had any failure to fires before so I don’t know where I should go from here.
I’m using a Hornady hand primer and when the brass was new it was really hard to seat the primers. As I was seating them I could feel the primer seat as usual. The 2nd feeling I never felt before. (I normally use a Lee hand primer for my LR primers.) If I pressed harder I think that it was the anvil seating further.
I would normally just try again and see what happens but I ran out of the 140gr Bergers. So I’m asking you guys because this is going to eat at me. The load shot great so I would like to use it. For the various seating depths it shot 3 shot groups from .066” - .371”. Velocity was from 2810fps – 2839fps depending on the seating depth. With the 3 shot groups never going over 10 fps (+/- 8fps)
So far this is what I can think of….
1) The load density was too great with 41.5gr of powder and the small rifle primer
2) This was my 4th reloading of the brass and the primer pockets loosened up. I seated the primers too deep because I was used to having to force them in.
3) I don’t think that it’s the rifle, because it’s a GAP built Surgeon action.
4) I just thought of this… but I dropped two primers on the concrete. I picked them up and seated them….It seems odd that I dropped two with two failure to fires?
5) Just bad primers, I’ve heard of others having hang fire issues, but never any FTF’s. (Because of the primer shortage I bought 5000 of the Wolfs so I would like to try and make these work.)
6) The pierced primer broke something in my rifle?
Any ideas what the problem might be? I never had any failure to fires before so I don’t know where I should go from here.
