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I had a wake up call a couple days ago. I was watching TV and priming some freshly trimmed 223 cases with my Hornady hand primer.

I am no expert reloader, but I'm not a novice either. I have reloaded more than 15000 rounds in the past two years alone.

I was grabbing brass with one hand, and priming with the other. One piece of brass seemed to resist the primer a bit, so I squeezed a little harder and BOOM! The primer detonated!!


I always make sure the case mouth is pointed away from me, but when it did not seat as expected, I must have tilted the case toward my face a bit. I saw a bright flash and char-broiled my finger. It was like setting off a firecracker in your hand. I was immediately thankful that I had my glasses on when this happened.

This is only the second ND of a primer I have had. The first one was undoubtedly my fault. I set that one off with a deprimer die, when I first started reloading.

So what happened? Did I forget to swage the primer pocker? Did the primer go in sideways?

Upon further inspection, I noticed that the primer was still flat on the outside and did not have dimple from the hand primer.
I think it was a defective primer. Maybe the brass was soft. Maybe it was not the correct diameter. I may never know.

Bottom Line= WEAR YOUR SAFETY GLASSES AT ALL TIMES WHEN RELOADING!

FYI

It was Lake City Brass and Winchester SRP.

ddstuder wrote:Bottom Line= WEAR YOUR SAFETY GLASSES AT ALL TIMES WHEN RELOADING!

I agree.

ddstuder wrote:I had a wake up call a couple days ago. I was watching TV and priming some freshly trimmed 223 cases with my Hornady hand primer.

I'd suspect a crimped case.

I would tend to agree with you,,,however, when I punched out the primer the next one fit right in without exploding.

I guess it is possible that the first attempt could have swaged it for me.

I'm just starting to reload.
Thanks for the heads up.

Hey Moby,

I like your signature line!

And yes! Always wear your eye protection!

When it went off I felt a bit of residue hit my face!

Primers make quite a pop don't they!?!?!? I sometimes get careless when running my reloading press and leave off the safety glasses...but priming is one thing I NEVER do without eye protection. They are the one thing I expect to try and hurt me someday while reloading.

CDH wrote:Primers make quite a pop don't they!?!?!? I sometimes get careless when running my reloading press and leave off the safety glasses...but priming is one thing I NEVER do without eye protection. They are the one thing I expect to try and hurt me someday while reloading.

I've had several POP on me while priming, not that big of a deal unless you have gum in your mouth and bite your tongue as it happens..!!!

Yes, that actually happened...The bite hurt more than the POP..!!!

Don2

ps..What helps me to wear safety glasses is that I have 5 pair, one on each bench within easy reach at all times. That way I have no excuse & can't get lazy and not look for them.
Whatever works for you.
Like an old shop foreman use to tell someone who was not wearing their glasses...." Do you have a seeing eye dog picked out yet?"

I have never set one off, but I prob will now :)
maybe i'll start wearing safety glasses :O

ddstuder wrote:Bottom Line= WEAR YOUR SAFETY GLASSES AT ALL TIMES WHEN RELOADING!

I'm glad your okay & TOP NOTCH post & Thank you for sharing !

So many times I have seen friends/family load up without any eye protection. Some might not do it because its a hassle, not a completed round, makes you look funny . . . . I would think not having your vision is more of a hassle, anything that can "pop, has a charge" - firearms related is worth having eye pros on. I feel uncomfortable not wearing eye pros while reloading.