Primer popped on the press last night

I haven't "popped a primer" since the old days of tapping them in with a steel rod using a Lee-Loader for 38 Specials. The first bit of reloading equipment, other than that Lee Loader I ever purchased, was a Lee hand primer with the loading tray. I still use one today.

Slamfire said:

Been a number of pictures posted of blown up presses when primers popped. Due to all the shrapnel in the backgrounds, I think it is smart to wear glasses or safety glasses when using a progressive.

The thing is, primer sensitivity should not be taken for granted, primer cake can be very unpredictable. When I used to warn about slamfires in Garands/M1a's/M1 carbines and even AR15's, I received a lot of push back and denial. I have come to the conclusion that the deniers want everything to be under their control and they want everything to be predictable. Something like a primer going off accidentally with very little effort, or, a primer squibbing, does not fit into their delusion of a perfectly just and controllable world. But, primers are unpredictable. Not only do sometimes they go bang with very little effort, sometimes they don't go bang with a lot of effort.

Primer goes off in a Purse!

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sidesho...ide-woman-purse-shoots-her-leg-232052308.html

By Eric Pfeiffer, Yahoo! News | The Sideshow – Tue, Jun 12, 2012

A Pennsylvania woman was shot in the leg while shopping at a local department store on Tuesday. But in a nearly unbelievable twist, no gun was involved. Apparently, the woman was carrying the bullet in her purse, when it mysteriously exploded.


"She did not have a gun in her purse or on her," Montoursville Deputy Police Chief Jason Bentley told the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. Bentley said the woman, whose name has not been released to the public, "was not aware" she was carrying two or three bullets inside her purse at the time of the accident.

The 56-year-old woman was taken to a local hospital and was eventually discharged. In fact, the woman initially declined medical treatment, only heading to the Williamsport Regional Medical Center after her son reportedly encouraged her to do so.

"Something must of hit the primer of one of the bullets," Bentley said. "The bullet stayed in the purse, but its casing put a hole in the purse and caused a minor leg wound."

Bullets exploding outside of a gun are a rare occurrence but are not entirely unprecedented. In March, a bullet being used as evidence in a court case exploded in a bag and shot 20 feet across a courtroom. No one was hurt in the incident. It was surmised that the bullet exploded after its tip bounced against another bullet tip in the same evidence bag, according to the Telegram & Gazette.

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This has bothered me since I read it last week. Why have I never experienced this? Luck?

When I learned to shoot in agent’s class in ‘72 our pistol ammo was Winchester in 50 round plain cardboard boxes with trays but occasionally we’d grab rounds out of a larger box of bulk ammo. No great care taken.

Recreationally, before I started reloading, I’d buy most of my ammo at Walmart in bulk—Winchester & Remington 45ACP or 9mm in what the boxes termed “range packs.”

You’ve all seen em I’m sure. Anyway, 200 or more rounds just thrown in the box shipped across the country, tossed around the store, dropped into my shopping cart.

At the gun show I’d buy bulk ammo by the hundreds of rounds in heavy cardboard boxes or steel ammo cans, schlepp em out to the car and drop into my car trunk.

Pictures abound here on THR and elsewhere of piles of loaded ammo rounds banging against each other. And (see attached) now that I’m a reloader I seldom use ammo boxes or trays—plastic baggies, Acme’s cool wooden boxes, or empty Berry’s bullet boxes chocked full of ammo.

Was this post a clever ploy nearing Halloween to frighten me into buying trays? But seriously why don’t we hear of these accidents far far more often?

I have and use ammo boxes. I also have and use ziploc bags inside ammo cans. I don't think a bit of jostling or bumping of loose bagged ammo is enough to set it off in most cases. Maybe on a rare occasion, but unlikely since primers generally need a pretty good smack to ignite.

It's also unlikely that if one were to go off (loaded ammo stored in bulk) that it would be close enough to another to set it off as well. And an entire box going bang would be less likely still.

Just my opinion and worth almost every penny paid for it.

chris

I've bought bulk ammo that was shipped loose packed although not recently. Less than 10 years ago for sure.

More recently bought some Ginex primers that were shipped loose packed. I think there was 3500 in the box?
I was surprised when I saw that.

I am glad you were not hurt so thats good .In all the years i reloaded i have never had that happen.I was worried about that when i first started reloading i remember asking my father about it he said he only had it happen once in all the years he reloaded and he reloaded for shot gun for decades !

9mmepiphany said:

Ginex SPP come in boxes of 5k...5 layers of 10 sleeves of 100.

If you purchase less than a full box, they'll come loose in the shipping container.

I've seen them in stacks of 1k, with the 10 sleeves taped atop each other...I'd find that more irritating

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Sounds like a distributor or retailer thing, interesting. I bought 5k like you said, and they were all sleeved. But to my knowledge, they all leave the factory sleeved, not sure how they couldn't.