First time reloading, Primer went off in the press

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I have used the same method bds posted for about 25+ years. When I first encountered crimped primer pockets I immediately thought of a counter sink (life long machinist/mechanic). Nope, you don't need a dedicated "reloading tool" for this job. I use a counter sink by hand (1/2"x60 degrees), or in a power screw driver or hand drill. Just takes .75 seconds, only needs to be done once and is very hard to screw up. Inexpensive too. I have done thousands of 9mm, 45 ACP, 7.62x51, 30-06 and some 303 British...
https://www.mcmaster.com/countersinks
 
I cringe reading OPs account as I almost had this happen when I was new.
I wish there was a way to let newbies know that popular calibers may be crimped or not.
Better yet, I wish the industry would clearly mark crimped primers.

As that’s not likely I guess this is just a reminder to be safe and when in doubt presume brass is crimped if you’re not sure.

As for OP I’ve not had good luck with a reamer. I have the RCBS swagging tool and it’s ok. It’s slow and a pain, frankly I’d save a few bucks and get the Dillion tool. In fact it’s on my list as the next reloading tool I get. Then I’ll probably modify it with the spring hack so the process speeds up. Sorry I don’t recall where I saw it but a search should be easy enough to find the hack.

This is another problem that is normally solved by reading the front of a reloading manual. You do have a reloading manual don't you?
Believe it or not most reloading manuals will even tell you where you're most likely to encounter crimped primer.

Crimped primer pockets are clearly marked. One just needs to look for that extra brass in the pocket.
 
This is another problem that is normally solved by reading the front of a reloading manual. You do have a reloading manual don't you?
Believe it or not most reloading manuals will even tell you where you're most likely to encounter crimped primer.

Crimped primer pockets are clearly marked. One just needs to look for that extra brass in the pocket.

I have the Lyman 50th edition reloading handbook which I read thoroughly and only briefly mentions crimped primers along with several other generic reloading books. It’s something that should have occurred to me but it didn’t. I knew that crimped primers we’re out there but being that I also have Federal American Eagle .223 ammo marked “military grade,” which I assume has crimped primers, I didn’t expect this other more basic ammo to have it as well without indicating it on the box like that one did. Anyway, like you said I think it’s only clearly marked if you know what to look for in the primer pocket, which I do now... also being my first time ever seating primers, the amount of pressure needed didn’t immediately raise a red flag for me like it would a more experienced reloaded.
 
Ive used the Hornady and RCBS crimp removal tools over the years. Both work well. Of the 2 I prefer the RCBS. I chuck them in a drill to make it go quick and painless
 
Now that you got that out of the way you should be fine.
My story with primers...
Been at this lonnnnngggg time had 1 primer go off.
I always use CCI primers had none so I bought 100 Federal large pistol mag 1 went in the case sideways bounced out of the finished round bin onto the floor and bang..
First mishap in what I would guess 100,000 reloads. 99,900 CCI primers no bang and 60ish fed had a bang.
May have happened with CCI but it didn't. I like CCI harder cup nickel plated so easy to find my brass and I can count on 1 hand the number of primers that seemed to fail.
 
Lyman 50th ... only briefly mentions crimped primers along with several other generic reloading books.

It’s something that should have occurred to me but it didn’t.
And that's why public gun forums like THR exist, to help better educate new reloaders.

Even though a surgeon receives initial surgery training, what makes that surgeon better is the additional experience and knowledge obtained after the initial training.

Even after 28 years of reloading, I am STILL learning from others on THR and most of what I post were learned from other more experienced reloaders. :D
 
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Quite often newer reloaders have problems with primers. Brass without a NATO headstamp can and often do have crimped primers, easy to miss and if one has never encountered a primer crimp, it's no big deal when it is not noticed. I'll bet the OP never has this problem again :p. Seating primers is also an often seen problem with newer reloaders and I tell them to ignore "below flush dimensions" and just seat the primer all the way to the bottom of the pocket and don't be afraid to give them a little extra pressure (extra pressure used to be called "sensitizing" a primer).

I don't know of anyone that didn't have some sort of trouble when they started reloading, except me mebbe... :what:
 
One thing that might help is to slow down the actual seating. Speed is what sets off primers. If you go slow you can mash them pretty much flat and they won't (usually) go off.

I've mashed quite a few primers past military crimps (not intentionally) and have never had one go off. If you slow down a little you get a better feel of when it bottoms out also.

Of course you might have been doing all of this correctly and had some debris or something in the primer pocket or, as you theorized, maybe a bit of grit or tumbling media in the seating cup/ram. Weird things happen.

Betcha a nickel you won't set another one off for 20 years.
 
Another question that pops up from time to time is primers seated upside down in the pocket. Done that too. I just put the case back in the decapping die and slowly push it out. Haven't had one go off......yet.:D

Back in the day when I seated primers with a Lee Loader I had a few surprises. Glad those days are over. Tap, tap, boom.
 
That happened to me twice when I was first reloading on the piece of garbage Lee Loadmaster I had at the time. Two primer detonations while I was trying to seat the primer. At first I thought I was shot. Then after the nerves settle down, you realize how loud those little primers really are. I loaded with ear muffs on after that. Then I got rid of that press entirely and haven’t had that issue again.
 
Welcome to THR,
lots of great people here

For primer crimps I use this one (.223/5.56 is SP so the small one), not the fastest but far better than the Lee tool for removing crimps easier to use and I have used both.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/501588/hornady-primer-pocket-reamer-tool-small

$13.

If you mark the base of your brass with a sharpie then when you pick up brass you will know you don't have to worry about removing crimps on the ones you marked.
Removing crimps is sort of a pain but only has to be done once.

Glad you found the problem and are ok.
Always wise to wear eye protection when reloading.
 
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When I started loading a while ago, Al Gore had not invented the internet yet, so I had got all my stuff and a VHS tape. This was it. I knew no one that did this.

I was flat worried....I tend to use my hands quite a bit, and for some reason I have not figured out yet my wife likes my face.....go figure.

Every step was double checked....I still do this, not for "worry" anymore, more for I want everything to be the same....I reload to put little holes just where I want them and having everything as close to the same as possible makes that little chore a bit more easy....plus the stuff I load for is not an off the shelf walmart item.

But I like I was saying every shot was accounted for....every pull of the trigger had to have a hole in the paper, knocked over bowling pin......whatever....if not....if it did not "feel right" when pulling the trigger the brakes came on.

IMHO from start to finish as a general rule the people that reload have shot a gun once or twice before....and tend to know what is "right".....yea you can be in the heat of a match and forget....this is why you test.
 
A couple of years ago I had one go off while I was using my Hornady hand loader. It was loud and quick and that's about it. The only injury was to my pride when I went into the house and asked my family "Did you hear that?" As they glanced up from the TV one said "Hear what?". I was thinking they should've awarded me a Purple Heart or a smidgen of sympathy.
 
I'm another voice in the "slow-but-firm" choir. I have seated primers upside down and not popped them. I have seated them sideways and crushed them terribly and not popped them. I have re-seated high primers in loaded cartridges without popping the primer. I have de-primed and re-seated primers without popping them. I have applied sufficient force in attempting to seat a primer in a crimped case to begin bending the outer wall/ring of the primer backwards, such that it would not fit in any case afterward, without popping them.

Am I blessed with supernatural powers? I don't believe that I am. I just apply steady force to the press lever. I do not try to make the job easier by getting a "running start" at the stroke. Sometimes I apply a considerable amount of force to the arm, but I do it gradually. And if something feels wrong, I back off.
 
I'm another voice in the "slow-but-firm" choir. I have seated primers upside down and not popped them. I have seated them sideways and crushed them terribly and not popped them. I have re-seated high primers in loaded cartridges without popping the primer. I have de-primed and re-seated primers without popping them. I have applied sufficient force in attempting to seat a primer in a crimped case to begin bending the outer wall/ring of the primer backwards, such that it would not fit in any case afterward, without popping them.

Am I blessed with supernatural powers? I don't believe that I am. I just apply steady force to the press lever. I do not try to make the job easier by getting a "running start" at the stroke. Sometimes I apply a considerable amount of force to the arm, but I do it gradually. And if something feels wrong, I back off.

Never popped one in the press (fingers crossed) but have seated 1-2 sideways--no pop. I chose to cut one in half (a sideways one I pressed out) with the cutter on electrician's pliers. It flamed (but did not pop) as I carefully squeezed it to cut. A quick little jet of fire and it was done. I don't think I'll do that again... they seem hard to ignite even damaged by seating sideways.
 
I started reloading with a Lee Loader (one of the most inventive reloading tools ever produced, and 99% of the problems are operator error). Rarely a problem priming 38 Special, but mebbe one out of 30 or 40 primers popped when priming my 44 Magnum brass. I popped a few in '69-'70 and just looked at how the tool works and how primer works. I just made sure the spring plate on the priming base was free and chamfered the primer pocket slightly. Had no primers go off since. Although I now have several presses and 2.3 metric tons of reloading tools/equipment I will get one of my Lee Loaders out and pound out a box or so of ammo (I have seven)...

I don't remember the last primer I popped, but like many others mentioned, I've put a few in wrong; upside down and sideways...
 
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Hi everyone, so I just started reloading and after working some brass I tried to seat a few primers tonight. It was my first time, and honestly I think I made a mess of things... I’m using a Lee breach lock challenger and I was priming on the ram. I have once fired (by me) federal .223 brass and I’m using Remington #7.5 small rifle bench rest primers, and I had cleaned out all the primer pockets with a lee primer pocket tool.

All the primers seem like they’re a little too hard to press in, but being new I don’t really have anything to compare it to so I could be wrong. I was getting very erratic seatings, some to high, some that look to be in to far, and even some that look smooshed a little or cockeyed. I’m sure a huge part is user error and me needing to get familiar with the feel of the press but what really concerned me was when one went off.

It felt tough like I was forcing it a bit and then it just went bang, there was no indentation on the primer but after trying a few more and paying very close attention (and putting in ear plugs) I noticed tiny slivers of brass lodged into the primer cup holder after several of the rounds that I cleaned out each time. My thought is that one of these slivers acted as a firing pin, but my big question is what’s causing them? And why are these primers so hard to seat correctly?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice, I don’t know anyone personally who reloads to ask and teaching myself is proving to be a little daunting... especially after a primer went off on my first try, my wife ran down saying “throw it all out and get a new hobby!”

Image is of the primer cup and one of the tiny slivers of brass I found in it.


Now that the primer going off has you a little gun shy, don't make the mistake of not setting them hard enough. Deep enough, and hard enough, aren't the same thing. If you don't hit the pocket bottom and set the anvil of the primer, it won't go bang, and can cause frustration.
 
Good point above, don't get "gun shy" and fail to seat them all the way.

I have managed to mangle a few quite badly in my Lee hand primer over the years and never had one go off but then I did mangle them slowly.
Once you have started the mangle the only way to get the case out is to make sure it is a complete mangle.:D
 
My theory is that if you have not seated a primer or three sideways or upside down then you have not been reloading for long yet! I save my mangled ones to throw in a fire when brushing around the property. Always gets me the stink eye from my helpers after they calm down.:p

One of my steps when reloading is to fill a loading block to my left with primed brass primer up to start.Then I know it is empty and the primer is OK by sight.
 
I use the Dillon Super Swager, and have gotten pretty good with it. Keep learning, as it is a hobby that, if nothing else, should make you a better shooter, as it's great finding that great load, for each of your guns. Have fun, be safe.
 
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