Starline brass with a primer?

[chrisf8657]

Hi guys.

I bought a 500 pack of Starline 9mm cases direct from them.
When I was preparing to prime the cases, one would not take a primer. I flipped it over to discover a SPENT primer in the case!

Um....any ideas how this happened?

 

[longdayjake]

does it look new? measure the opening and see if it is the same as the others. The primer pockets on new brass should look just as pristine as the rest of the brass. What do they look like?

 

[chrisf8657]

I don't see how that matters, but the pocket in the one with the free spent primer included looks like it's been decapped at least once, but the inside of the case is clean like new brass...

 

[depoloni]

Nobody inserts a spent primer into a case for any reason I can think of, factory or otherwise - but then again I don't work at the factory.

If the outside diameter of the mouth of the case measures .380" or very close to it then it must have just had a primer fired popped off in it for some reason. If the mouth of the case measures much more than that on the outside it's very likely it's been "actually" fired.

In either case it's suspect and warrants a call to starline as to what the deal is. If nothing else an explanation should be had, if not some sort of correction.

 

[Walkalong]

Call Starline, they will take care of you.

 

[Mal H]

If the case is like new brass, then that primer did not go off in that case. Primers under no pressure are very sooty. The inside of the case would be dirtier than a normally fired round.

It sounds like a fired primer got into the system somehow. What priming method do you use, chrisf8657? Is there any chance at all that it might have gotten in there after you received it?

 

[dwave]

I am kind of thinking like Mal. If there is no soot or anything inside the case I would have to say that maybe you accidentally did load a spent primer. Just a thought.

 

[moxie]

Well, that is a mystery, and a call to Starline may be in order. In addition, this reinforces the practice of running new brass through a sizing/decapping die to make sure the brass is, well, correctly sized and that no primers are present, before going any further. This also gives one the opportunity to inspect each round, even though it's new, and determine whether it's suitable for reloading. Once in a while new brass comes through with a mal-formed primer pocket or flash hole. Used or new brass can pick up a piece of crud that might plug the flash hole. New or used, gotta check.

 

[Mal H]

I definitely agree with moxie. Manufacturers can and do make mistakes, and those mistakes get sold to their customers. Every piece of brass should at least be glanced at before using to be sure it is ok to use.

Here's a photo I just took of an R-P 380 ACP case from a lot I bought several months ago. Notice anything wrong with it? If I had primed it without looking, obviously the round wouldn't fire, but what if I were reloading SD ammo (which I don't, but the "what if" still applies)?

 

[Galil5.56]

what if I were reloading SD ammo

Exactly why I do load every bit of my own SD ammo, and part of that procedure is to inspect everything X3, loaded one at a time. Even normal progressive reloading gets a visual done on all cases inside and out. I also can't imagine anyone loading cases you did not size yourself, SD or otherwise where a broken decap pin would hopefully get your attention.

 

[3sixbits]

It sounds to me like someone was doing a primer test with that case and it got mixed in somehow? Some years ago, I bought over 10,000 Federal new brass that was bough for scrap weight value. It was all unfired new brass used in their primer test program. All the brass was as clean as a hounds tooth inside and out. All still caped with the spent primer.

 

[rcmodel]

what if I were reloading SD ammo

No flash hole!
I got one of those in a 5.56 LC GI issue round in 1969!

rcmodel