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Ok I was going to start primming some rounds tonight and noticed some pressure being needed so for fear of popping a primer I figured I would ask here before I scare the daylights out of me an my household. I have made sure there is no binding I can go full length without a primer loaded in the cup but with a primer it seems tight it can very well just be me being scared, so worse case what can I expect if it goes pop.

Is your brass from military ammo? Can you see a slight ring indention around the outside edge of the primer pocket? If so, you have brass that had the primer crimped in place and you will need to remove that crimp. Trying to seat a primer in a pocket that still has the crimp can be very difficult and may have undesirable results. There are several tools for that. My favorite is one made by Dillon but there are others out there that work well also. Please note that there is some commercial brass that have the primers crimped in as well. I have picked up a fair amount of Federal 223 brass that has crimped primer pockets. If there is no crimp, you may be feeling normal pressure to seat the primer. Is there anyone near you that has experience reloading that can stop by and give you a reality check on this?

LTUME1978 wrote:Is your brass from military ammo? Can you see a slight ring indention around the outside edge of the primer pocket? If so, you have brass that had the primer crimped in place and you will need to remove that crimp. Trying to seat a primer in a pocket that still has the crimp can be very difficult and may have undesirable results. There are several tools for that. My favorite is one made by Dillon but there are others out there that work well also. Please note that there is some commercial brass that have the primers crimped in as well. I have picked up a fair amount of Federal 223 brass that has crimped primer pockets. If there is no crimp, you may be feeling normal pressure to seat the primer. Is there anyone near you that has experience reloading that can stop by and give you a reality check on this?

here is a pic not a good one, I believe it is surplus brass
http://gabthis.com/images/20131016_193327.jpg

That circle with the crosshairs signifies NATO, usually military surplus. I'm not an expert, but most like needs to be swagged.


Here is something quick I found:

http://squibloads.wordpress.com/reloadi ... crimp-out/


PS. I popped a primer using the lee wack-a-mole reloader the other day, scared the bejebus outta me, was like a small firecracker going off in the house. Bought the lee single stage kit on sale (midway) the next day. Glad the wife wasnt home....... It was a WCC marked nato casing with a small crimp in 9mm

Questions:
How are you priming your brass?
Press ?, what type press?
Hand primer tool ?
Bench mount primer tool?
Die mount primer tool?
etc....

The primer should start in easy enough, then just need constant medium pressure until it seats.
You should be able to "feel" the primer pushing into the primer pocket, then the pressure should go up as the primer is completely seated.

Pull brass out of shell holder and look and feel it. It should just be a "tad" under flush.
If so...You got'er done.
Look at factory loaded ammo primer depth as a guide.

If you feel a lot of pressure without any sensation of movement of the primer, STOP and look whats going on.
It could be upside down,sideways or wrong size primer, or the pocket may have been staked ie. military type brass.
If the primer is staked, you need a completely different process. (Ask us how when or if this happends )

100% MUST DO THIS.... Wear safety glasses at all times when handloading/reloading.

If a primer ignites while inserting it into the pocket, (You have safety glasses on at this point..RIGHT?)
It will POP kinda sharp and loud...but not as loud as a bullet being fired out of a pistol.
It will startle you..just be calm, walk outside and yell..!!! (Thats what I do...it helps )

99.9% of the time it will be a harmless pop. This has happened to me several times in many years.
Usually it's MY FAULT for not paying attention.
I have read that in a press mount primer system with a tube feed, that several of the primers had a chain reaction. This "could" be kinda bad.
But, I do not know of anyone this happened to in many many years.
I'm sure if all the conditions were perfect, it may happen.
Just don't dwell on it and get loading and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

After priming a bunch of them, it will seem perfectly normal to you.
Just practice and use safety procedures when loading.

Don2

suthdj wrote:
...
here is a pic not a good one, I believe it is surplus brass
http://gabthis.com/images/20131016_193327.jpg

Yup. Surplus military brass. Swage or lightly chamfer the primer pocket.

It seems it was mostly me after I told the wife there might be a pop I put on my eyes & ears and went to work. It did take a bit of force even after chamfering them, I even managed to put one in backwards.

Don't feel bad about putting one in backwards. Hornady did that with some 6.5 Creedmoor match grade ammo I bought a couple of years ago. Sent them a picture of that round and they said they would replace it but that never happened. I eventually pulled the bullet, dumped the powder, knocked out the backwards primer and loaded the round back up.

LTUME1978 wrote:Don't feel bad about putting one in backwards. Hornady did that with some 6.5 Creedmoor match grade ammo I bought a couple of years ago. Sent them a picture of that round and they said they would replace it but that never happened. I eventually pulled the bullet, dumped the powder, knocked out the backwards primer and loaded the round back up.

WoW,,,Thats the first time in many years I have heard of factory ammo with upside down primers...Hornady no less..!! ( And Match Grade to boot ! )

Hmmmm....The match grade ammo guys at Hornady must have been having a bad Friday morning with a Holiday weekend plus a hot date waiting for a wine and dine weekend on a payday..!!

Seems like they would have done everything in their power to FIX the problem.
It's ONLY their reputation hanging out to dry.

Just my 2¢ and my opinion though...
Don2

Don,

It was worse than that. After I pulled the bullet, I weighted the powder charge just for grins. It was about 2 grains above max. I told them that when I called about the primer issue. They told me not to fire any more of that ammo until I heard back from them. They wanted the lot number off of the ammo box so that they could talk to their lab. A few day later, they called back and said it was ok to shoot what I had. I had weighed other rounds (loaded) in that batch and found some that weighed even more (but I don't know what the powder charge was as I was not pulling any more bullets). They told me not to worry about it and go ahead and shoot the ammo. I have and did not see any pressure issues. Tells me that either the max charge listed for the 6.5 Creedmoor is very conservative and/or the Savage Long Range Precision Action is very strong. I load my own from that brass and weigh every charge now. Hornady did hit a home run with the Creedmoor.

LTUME1978 wrote:Don,

It was worse than that. After I pulled the bullet, I weighted the powder charge just for grins. It was about 2 grains above max. I told them that when I called about the primer issue. They told me not to fire any more of that ammo until I heard back from them. They wanted the lot number off of the ammo box so that they could talk to their lab. A few day later, they called back and said it was ok to shoot what I had. I had weighed other rounds (loaded) in that batch and found some that weighed even more (but I don't know what the powder charge was as I was not pulling any more bullets). They told me not to worry about it and go ahead and shoot the ammo. I have and did not see any pressure issues. Tells me that either the max charge listed for the 6.5 Creedmoor is very conservative and/or the Savage Long Range Precision Action is very strong. I load my own from that brass and weigh every charge now. Hornady did hit a home run with the Creedmoor.

I understand.
But, they use special powders you and I can't get. They have their own blend made special.
Any measurement you made without knowing exactly what powder they used would not be accurate.

They did drop the ball as far as the primers and also fixing your problem. Ammo is not cheap any more, I would expect some sort of action on their part.

Don2

Don,

On the Creedmoor, they use standard components (H-4350 powder) and put the loading information on the box so that anyone can recreate the original factory load. That, along with their reloading manual, is how I knew that the charge was over max.

Yes, I was a little disappointed that they never followed up on replacing the bad round. I reload so I could fix the problem but at more than $1 plus per round, I expect it to be correct.

John

LTUME1978 wrote:Don,

On the Creedmoor, they use standard components (H-4350 powder) and put the loading information on the box so that anyone can recreate the original factory load. That, along with their reloading manual, is how I knew that the charge was over max.

Yes, I was a little disappointed that they never followed up on replacing the bad round. I reload so I could fix the problem but at more than $1 plus per round, I expect it to be correct.

John

Didn't know that.
Ok, well you did great then.
I still don't understand their lack of interest.

Kinda makes you wonder about their quality or quality control methods .

Don2