Click... and nothing

Primer looks like it was fired or water damaged. Pop the anvil out and see how it looks.

Could you have seated a used primer? I did that once!

Did the powder pour right out?

I notice a green coloring around the primer pocket. Could be a form of chemical reaction or rust that could have rendered the primer useless.

You seated a used primer. I get it...you don’t remember. But that’s what you did. Nothing but a “click”, and it’s a spent primer. Evidence points to YOU installing a used primer by accident. I’m not sure why you even made a thread??

Inspect the rest for used primers then shoot some more. If it happens again don't try to fire again eject, inspect, and take a pic for us. If anything seems different on firing check the barrel before firing again.

edit, did primer smell? I have seen some really old corrosive primed cartridges fail to fire that when tried pulled apart just smoked a little no flash but still had strong smell.

illinoisburt said:

That's purely lighting.

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federal also uses blue/green sealant on some if not all cases...id have to go dig thru my cases to see if I can find any other colors, but I KNOW ive got blue/green.

It LOOKS like a used primer to me. Ive never seen a round NOT go off if the primer went, unless there was an issue with the powder, and those were on REALLY bloody old .38s.
Theres usually SOME pop even with an empty case, and I expect you'd see some burning of the powder at least.

That is 100% a FIRED primer! And yes, even the powder in a case is soaked, you will get a really nice loud “POP” from the primer. And the OP said there was nothing but the click from the firing pin/striker tripping. I will say, perhaps a fired primer came in the new pack you had. Factories test their own primers every day afterall?? Can’t say there is no way one of THEIR own spent primers could make its way into new packaging somehow, right? Although it’s more likely it’s on of the OP’s spent primers...still a valid possibility.

But the one thing I’m will to say FOR SURE: If indeed, there was NO “bang”, or “pop”...and just a “click”, then it was without a doubt ALREADY a fired primer before loading & was simply not seen. WHOS spent primers , whether factory’s or OP’s is a question no one can answer.

I guess it could have been an already spent primer, but a lot of things have to go wrong for that to happen.
First, a spent primer has to not end up with the rest of them.
Then this spent primer has to somehow get mixed up in the supply of new primers.
Then this spent primer has to go unnoticed while being manually placed onto the primer ram - since that is how the OP primes.

My money is on a bad primer from the factory. Rare, sure. But in this case it seems the most likely.

If the primer had gone off, there would not have been a "click". Even with ear protection, you would have heard the " "pop"and even if it somehow didn't ignite the powder, it would have dislodged the bullet. Perhaps it was somehow defective and only delivered an extremely low level burn to minimal priming compound. Looks like a normal fired primer, but I don't know what an abnormal fired primer would look like. This is why we keep the bolt closed on an FTF round for 30 seconds or so. Maybe you seated a spent primer, maybe it was defective and didn't have enough priming compound to ignite smokeless powder. But maybe it could have, with a delay. Wait 30 seconds and eject quick. Stay frosty.

Something in the flash hole?

One of the reasons I still batch load. One of my steps is to put all the brass primer up in the loading block. This assures an empty brass and a properly installed new primer. Then I charge the case and set it into a different tray. Lots harder to mess up this way. I still don't trust a progressive press for lots of reasons. Just the way I roll!

FROGO207 said:

I still don't trust a progressive press for lots of reasons. Just the way I roll!

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I may be paranoid but I agree with this.

Plus, for me, taking the case in and out of the press eliminates the advantages of the progressive.

asm19 said:

I guess it could have been an already spent primer, but a lot of things have to go wrong for that to happen.

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No, I don't think so. . . the primer doesn't show enough radius reduction to have been fired in anything but the very lowest pressure load. Seating a used primer wouldn't have re-rounded the rim to an unfired state. The FP dimple is too round as well.

Much more likely you didn't seat it deep enough to seat the anvil, the first strike dislodged the pellet, and whatever happened on restrike wasn't enough to start the powder. Less likely a real live dead (underpowered) primer, but that's rare.

Edit: I have in my collection a 1k pack of early '80s LRP. . . of which ~20% are dead. This is across multiple rifles, different brass, etc. I'm still trying to think of an experiment to learn why, but something spoiled them. Other than that box, I have never experienced a dead primer that wasn't my fault for lack of seating.

I doubt that a used primer was put back into a case. More likely it never got punched out and not noticed. What’s the early stages of reloading look like? What type of press are you using? If single stage or turret my money is on OP grabbing a case that never got deprimed.

WestKentucky said:

If single stage or turret my money is on OP grabbing a case that never got deprimed.

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But if it wasn’t deprimed it wouldn’t have been sized to hold the bullet.

How difficult was the bullet removal @illinoisburt ?

illinoisburt said:

I'm finding myself thinking the same thing now. It doesn't have the shape of any of the fired primers - the cup is still rounded like a new one. Going to relegate the remaining loaded rounds with those primers to range only and rest of that lot is trash.

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I also don’t think possible the perfect storm of dropping primers with a tray of live ones open, and missing it through all the steps, including loading the rifle.

Yet the case shows burn marks and the powder remained un-scorched.

Primers are still made by humans, thus, like @edwardware relates, they are also not perfect.

It could be the lot, it could be only the one.
Strange, and remarkable that it doesn’t happen more.
A mystery for sure.

illinoisburt said:

From there is into the shell holder and process all steps to finished round on the turret.

Neck tension and crimp are good. Took a bit of work to pull the bullet (had to get out the collet puller, it didn't budge with the impact which is normal for my rifle rounds).

I suppose it was bound to happen sometime. This is the first dud rifle round I've loaded since started in 1990. These were recently purchased Win LRP. Easy enough to ditch the lot and move forward using older stock.

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Curious, sized to primed and loaded, in one shot. No room for a bobbled primer.
Keeps life interesting!

All my brass is clean and primer less. There is only loading going on in my press.

David Hoback said:

You seated a used primer. I get it...you don’t remember. But that’s what you did. Nothing but a “click”, and it’s a spent primer. Evidence points to YOU installing a used primer by accident. I’m not sure why you even made a thread??

Click to expand...

Because if we didn't make new threads, you wouldn't have anywhere to practice your holier than thou spiel.

Demi-human said:

But if it wasn’t deprimed it wouldn’t have been sized to hold the bullet.

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Them little suckers like to cling to the decap pin sometimes,,, I've 'reseated' a few spent primers on my LNL AP before
Usually easy enough to feel when it happens, but awful hard to deny when you see one later in your ammo can at the Range ,,,

Ivy Mike said:

Because if we didn't make new threads, you wouldn't have anywhere to practice your holier than thou spiel.

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Take note of the “Likes” there chief. Sorry you are so triggered!

I help more firearms enthusiasts in a single DAY than you likely have all year! So take your negative attitude elsewhere. My reply wasn’t meant as an attack on the OP. Being he replied after shows he knew that. Then my follow up proves that your statement is WRONG!