First Blown Primer...... WHOA

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Ccctennis

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I have experienced my 1st blown primer and hopefully my last. I have been reloading on my Dillon 550B for about a year now. I will be honest and let any newer reloaders out there know it was a careless mistake. I have usually applied a bit of pressure when seating a primer if it felt like it hung up. Perhaps that is a good lesson now to know what is too much vs too little. I was reloading 357 magnum with CCI small magnum primers. Lucky for me that only that primer ignited. I saw the flash of light and my ears got a nice little ring, and of course my dog ran out of the room :)

I have always been a single stage reloader that hand primed all my cases. Needless to say i slowed down and if i get some resistance i toss the case or check the primer.

I'm sure this doesnt happen that much, but i did get quite a scare.
 
It sure did. I like to think I'm fairly ocd and am always worried about every detail. I was so startled. But a valuable lesson learned. No matter how focused you think you are it is so easy to make a mistake. I'm just glad I didn't have the primer tube explosion I have read about on here. I'm lucky but do feel like it's a life lesson. I have some friends interested in reloading and this will go into the file of things to becareful of.
 
I've had one primer go off when priming a case with a hand primer and it definitely woke me up! No harm done other than to my shorts. Glad it turned out okay for you, too.
 
I'm glad I now know how loud and bright a pierced primer is. Didn't want to find out like this but hey no harm no foul:)
 
When I first started reloading, I used a Lee Classic Reloader
- the one that you use a hammer instead of a press and I've popped quite a few primers when seating them. No big deal if you are using reasonable safety precautions such as wearing safety glasses and keeping the die away from your face. Rather hard on the underwear though.
 
knfmn said:
I've had one primer go off when priming a case with a hand primer and it definitely woke me up! No harm done other than to my shorts. Glad it turned out okay for you, too.
Click to expand...
Would you be willing to offer any specifics on what happened in your case? I'd be interested to hear what happened.....and also if you have recommendations (or if you do anything differently) to prevent it from happening again.

Thanks.

OR
 
I was on the downstroke pushing the primer in and I felt the lip catch so I pressed on. When it popped I saw a reddish pink flash shoot about 1/4 inch above the case mouth. A little louder than the old timey cap guns we had as kids. There was a decent flash. The smell of the burnt primer was maybe the worst part of the whole situation. That and of course my heart rate jumping up 50 beats above normal:)
 
I've been priming on an RCBS priming die using a single stage press for 30+ years, and that priming die can mash a primer no problem in a SS press. I've never blown one though? Probably has something to do with the ability to accurately limit the seating depth of primers, rather than priming by feel.

GS
 
otisrush said:
Would you be willing to offer any specifics on what happened in your case? I'd be interested to hear what happened.....and also if you have recommendations (or if you do anything differently) to prevent it from happening again.

Thanks.

OR
Click to expand...
I was being impatient. The primer was acting sticky and I pressed a little harder on the handle of the priming tool. Big flash and bang.

Generally speaking, I spend more time on case prep now, making sure that they're clean before I reload them. And if I catch myself hurrying or getting impatient in any way, I'm done reloading for the day. Nothing good ever comes of hurrying when you reload.
 
Although I usually load on a 650 I prime all my cases using a Lee primer tool. I have had one go off even with that tool. I believe it was a overly sensitive russian primer as I barely touched the primer handle. Scorched fingers with minor blister. No more russian primers for me.
 
gamestalker said:
I've been priming on an RCBS priming die using a single stage press for 30+ years, and that priming die can mash a primer no problem in a SS press. I've never blown one though? Probably has something to do with the ability to accurately limit the seating depth of primers, rather than priming by feel.

GS
Click to expand...
I use this die set up also , just set it to proper depth and prime.
No need to "feel" for primer seating depth and because it's a single operation (placing one primer at a time in the cup) you "shouldn't" get one seated upside down,,,,;) .

Long time ago I had one pop using the primer arm on my first press and it did scare the bejeezez out of me.
 
Definitely a wake up call, that.
There's quite a safe distance on Dillon presses from the primer supply tube to where the case priming happens.
So there's little apparent reason to worry about igniting the entire tube of primers, should one go off at the priming station.
I've crushed a few in my Dillon press without actually setting one off.
You must have caught that one just right - or wrong.
 
Good reason to always wear eye protection while reloading!
I have crushed several primers but only had one go off in 50+ years of reloading. With slow and steady pressure, a primer will crush without detonating. Crush it fast and it will detonate.
 
i've had lots of them go off in my old 1050, but it was sort of unusual circumstance. bought some cheap lake city never fired brass that had been pulled down and primers made chemically inert. whatever they used caused corrosion and the walls of some of the primers were stuck to the walls of the primer pocket. so occasionally (in this lot of 2000+ pc) the decapping rod would just punch the top of the primer off and leave the walls in the pocket. the swage didn't seem to help much. then when you try to stick a primer in, it would go off.
 
I will not use Federal primers for just this reason.
They "pop" way to easily.

I always prime on the press & have not had a primer go off since I stopped using Federals some 15,000 -20,000 primers ago.

Yes, it does get your attention. :eek:
 
Seating primers, either on or off the press, is one area where if you feel resistance, stop.... something isn't right. Pressing on usually doesn't fix it. When I feel any resistance, other than the normal pocket resistance, I stop , remove the case and primer and look at whats going on in there. I've had them get crooked, catch an edge , even two primers trying to feed into the hole (double feed ?).
Experience will tell you when something's amiss, it just doesn't feel right, stop and clear it.
Load safe,
Gary
 
I've managed to crush a few primers out of all recognition. From this I've come to the conclusion that it's speed or "snap" that sets them off moreso than steady crushing pressure. That's not to say that crushing them slowly won't set them off but they do seem tolerant of it.

I wonder if the key in this case was the hangup catch then sudden give which gave the ram some speed and that is why it set off the primer? If there's a "lesson" to be learned is that if you feel something similar and after checking that things still look right it's best to press the primer in slowly?
 
if you feel resistance, stop.... something isn't right
Click to expand...

This highlights one of the ways in which progressive reloading is (imo) at a disadvantage, as there're five or more things going on simultaneously, and seating the primer is one of the least noticeable "feelings" on my press... lost in the "tactile background noise" of sizing, belling, seating and crimping.

If I want to feel any one operation, I have to put the breaks on the case feeder (which is kind of a pita on a Loadmaster) and run one case round the gauntlet at a time.
 
This highlights one of the ways in which progressive reloading is (imo) at a disadvantage, as there're five or more things going on simultaneously, and seating the primer is one of the least noticeable "feelings" on my press... lost in the "tactile background noise" of sizing, belling, seating and crimping
Click to expand...

This may be the case with some progressive presses, but I use a Hornady Lock-N-Load progressive and the primer is seated by a forward stroke of the press handle and no other operations are happening when the primer is seated. I find the feel is as good as my Lee Classic Turret press. I don't have experience with other progressive presses.
 
Unfortunately I have also had this happen to me. Twice! Once on the press. Was probably going a little too fast and POP! And once hand priming some 30-06 cases. Again, probably going too fast and not paying 100% attention to what I was doing. POP! The worst part of that one was the wife was sitting on the couch across from me! Man did I hear it about that one! After my ears stopped ringing of course!

I guess the lesson here is pay attention to what you are doing 100% of the time. No distractions. And wear your safety gear!
 
This highlights one of the ways in which progressive reloading is (imo) at a disadvantage, as there're five or more things going on simultaneously, and seating the primer is one of the least noticeable "feelings" on my press... lost in the "tactile background noise" of sizing, belling, seating and crimping.
Click to expand...

Yup true.
The issue I've seen is an upside down primer.
I know I put 'em the loading tube right, but every once in a while one flips when coming out of the tube.
And you don't see it til the round is done.
 
50+ years handloading, never had one go off.
Someone mentioned Federal primers, I know some brands are more sensitive than others.
Don't think I have ever used Federals, if I did it was only a few til I could get some Cascade Cartridge primers.
 
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