[Demos]

Hi guys,
I've loaded 30.06 for a while and some 8mm Mauser and I went to test my first loads of .223 and had several duds. In working up charges, the first 20 shot without fail. Over the next 20, about 15 failed to fire. After those 15, I shot 45 PMC Bronze without fail. All of the reloads used the same tray of new WSR primers, poured into the same primer flip tray, picked up with the same tube, primed on the same Hornady LnL AP, all cases were lubed with Hornady case lube, delubed with a cloth with a small amount of rubbing alcohol, and all had solid hits on the primer.
Any opinions on what could be causing this?

Thanks,
Demos

[eam3clm@att.net]

Did you try to shoot the ones that failed a second time? The only time I had one fail to light off, it was not seated all the way. This includes wolf and tula primers. what gun are you shooting them through?

[parker51]

Happened to me a couple of times and found out it was caused by no powder. Not sure how I missed putting powder in those rounds on a progressive but I did. The primers fired just fine. As asked above, did you try shooting the round a second time? If not, that is the first thing to try as the primers might not have been seated deep enough initially.

[ArchAngelCD]

Did you try to shoot the ones that failed a second time? The only time I had one fail to light off, it was not seated all the way. This includes wolf and tula primers. what gun are you shooting them through?
This sounds like the right track...

[ReloaderFred]

The primers weren't seated all the way to the bottom of the primer pocket, so the primer moved forward when struck by the firing pin, cushioning the blow. Primers need to be seated .004" below flush, or as close to that as you can get. Otherwise, the anvil won't be set in the primer and the pellet of priming compound won't get crushed, which is what ignites it.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Demos]

Hi,
I attempted to fire them all a second time (and a few a third), thinking it might have been weak hits, but none went off. Also, I can't imagine I missed powder in any, let alone that many, but I'm planning on pulling all of them anyway and I'll confirm that in a few days.
If it simply ends up being a matter of not seating them all the way, does anyone know a way to get a Hornady LnL AP to rise up a little higher, or should I start uniforming my primer pockets to make it more consistent?
Thanks for the input,
Demos

[Ky Larry]

I got a pack (100) of bad CCI primers a few years ago. About half wouldn't go off with repeated strikes. I got a pack of Win LR primers a few years ago that caused a proven load for my .30-06 to string 3-4" vertically (underignition).Of the billions of primers produced each year, there are bound to be a few duds. I'd try some of the same brand primers with a different lot number. Also, make sure the primer pockets are clean and the primers are fully seated. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Blue68f100]

Hi,
If it simply ends up being a matter of not seating them all the way, does anyone know a way to get a Hornady LnL AP to rise up a little higher, or should I start uniforming my primer pockets to make it more consistent?
Thanks for the input,
Demos

My press has over 20k loads through it. And created a pretty dimple but was still seating primers ok. To generate more force you can grab the front support for leverage. There are several ways to approach this. You can just simply put a thin piece of steel where it's hitting. Or you can do a more permeate approach. I drilled and tapped the base to take a set screw. The set screw head is just the right size to fit the primer plunger stem. To go this route you will need a short bit, 90 deg drill, starter and bottom hole tap. I used SS set screws 1/4" long #8 x 24tpi. The set screw head sets 1/64" above the base. I did use some blue loctite to lock it in place.

I posted some pictures on a thread several years ago when I did this. So doing a search on my ID should bring it up.

[SlamFire1]

I had a self created problem. I reamed the primer pockets too deep in my 308 LC match brass. Worked fine in my M1a but caused misfires inside my M70. I took that brass, with firing pin indentations from the M70, and shot the stuff in my M1a. Worked fine except for one case.

You can see the fired brass and the misfired brass in this picture.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/SlamFire/Reloading/IMG_1603ShallowprimerimpactsbyWinheavybyM1a.jpg

I took that one case and knocked out the primer. I put the primer on a stove burner with a cast iron pan over the whole. The primer went bang!

I believe that the primer cake may get busted with firing pin strikes that are not powerful enough to set the cake off.

CCI has stated that high primers are the most common cause of misfires. The anvil has to be set firmly on a hard surface and the primer cake pushed into the anvil.

[Cornerpost]

Demos, I have the same problem with my LNL. Hornady says they're working on redesigning the press, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that happening anytime soon.

You can re-engineer your press, as Blue68f100 did, or just prime off press. I use a RCBS hand prime. That way I know it's seated all the way! Plus I'm not exhausted after 200 rounds of trying to seat them on the LNL AP. 70# of force is what Hornady claims it takes to seat a primer fully. My hand prime doesn't take that much force to get the job done. Good luck!

[KeithET]

Did you use brass that had crimped primers by any chance? If you don't remove the crimp completely you can have problems seating new primers. Just checking.

KeithET

[dickttx]

I had a problem once, a week or so ago, where the primers were not fully seating on my LnL. I was pretty embarased when I finally realized than the cap screw holding my shellplate had loosened a little.

[eam3clm@att.net]

The primer anvil will make a small dimple into the press with enough use. I superglued a dime to the press where the anvil hits. It was not causing a problem, but I wanted to fix it before it did.