38 SPL PMC primer problems--heads up!

[FROGO207]

I was sizing/depriming ~3K assorted 38 SPL/ 357 range brass this morning before wet tumbling them. All were from a friend that has a private range and most appeared to be once fired and all were really clean. As I was depriming them on the SS press I noticed an occasional hang up and found that the head of the primer would separate from the body part way around and leave the body in the pocket. I have had this happen on severely corroded brass before but never on like new just fired brass. I ended up with 49 of them and all were PMC 38 SPL. Never did find the last one. No, they did not have crimped primer pockets or sealer! Also after a few problems I looked at the head stamps of all the brass and when I found more of them I inspected the primers and found they looked normal before I tried to deprime them. I suspect poor quality alloy in the primers to be the cause. Those of you that use progressives might want to watch out for this. BTW I have never had a problem with any other PMC brass in the past in any caliber including 38 SPL.

 

[TfflHndn]

I just recently had the same experience, but mine happened with Federal .45 auto cases. Cases look good, not old or corroded, and the outer rim of the primer just stayed in the pocket. ***?

 

[45lcshooter]

Good primers are hard to come by. Probably even more so for manufactures of ammo. If its hard for us(reloaders) to get good components, its probably just as hard or harder for ammo companies to get good components. Yes they buy in bulk, but powder, primer, die manufactures are having a hard time to keep up with demands.

 

[zombie44]

I think I had a similar problem!



I was trying to figure out if these primers were all the same brand, they were all gold colored I think. I don't suppose there's anyway to pull out the remains of the broken primer is there?

 

[elwoodm]

never had that problem with factory cases or the cci primed reloads i shoot. maybe if you warm the brass a little and find a drill bit that is just smaller than the primer pocket diameter they might let go. you will have to hold the brass in a vise with rubber jaws not in your hand. drilling into an already existing hole is tricky be careful.

 

[Salmoneye]

Hmm...

I have never in my 40(mumble,mumble) years of loading metal or shotshell seen anything like that...

I don't do progressive, but I can certainly see where that would/could be a major issue!

Thanks for the heads-up...

 

[BBQJOE]

What are the possibilities that these were previously somebody's reloads and some super hot molten powder was used that seriously weakened the primers?

 

[Catpop]

Sure, just put the case in padded vice, take a small gunsmith punch, and cave the side of the remaining ring in just like you would when replacing a used grease seal. Good luck!

 

[Russt]

I've had that happen a few times also on 38spl and 9mm. I use a small flat blade screw driver or the tip of a drywall screw and wedge it under the bottom of the primer. It takes some prying but usually pops out. Sometimes I scrape a mark on one side till it's scored through and that makes it a little easier to get out.

 

[FROGO207]

Since it is his own private range and he does not reload I figure they are factory ammo. Also the inside of the PMC cases have that white chalk like look of other factory PMC I have shot in other calibers to reload myself. For that few casings I will just recycle them. I have half a 5 GAL bucket of fired 38 SPL brass to use so another 50 gone is no big deal.

 

[Hondo 60]

Saw one (just one) like that about 4 or 5 months ago.
Just used a flat head screwdriver to pry out the remainder.
Took very little effort.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I've had that happen with PMC cases for many years, especially the primers that leave the white residue. I've also had it happen with .38 Super brass of another brand, but those I suspected had been treated with some type of chemical to clean them up. I've also had it happen with .30-06 brass, but it was very old brass that had been corrosively primed.

It has nothing to do with current production primers, since I first encountered it with PMC .38 and 9mm brass over 25 years ago. The primer residue evidently affects the tension between the primer wall and the primer pocket, or the primer cup itself.

Cases with the stuck primer walls aren't worth messing with, since .38 brass is plentiful.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I have seen that happen when the cases got wet and rained on. Once they dried out the primers were glued into the case. Ones that did not get wet were fine.

Any possibilities this happened to your brass?

 

[evan price]

Called a "ringer". I have it happen on brass that was picked up outside, I think like Peter said, moisture + byproducts of combustion leave corrosion that locks the primer in place.