Loose primer pockets

[gamestalker]

The reason I am addressing this is because my buddy and I were loading some 9mm and .40 and he was complaining about the primer pockets being too loose. I was using the same bunch of brass, my brass, but he was loading a low pressure SWC loads for plinking, and I was loading some high end jacketed loads. I told him to not worry about it if the primer will seat without problems. When we went out to shoot up these loads, his primers were clearly leaking pretty badly, and mine were just fine. I picked up our brass but he was going to just leave his because they were leaking. But I picked his brass up, being that it other wise looked just fine, and reloaded it again using my higher pressure Longshot and HS6 powder charges. The primer's really didn't feel any looser than any of the brass that I've put bunches of loads through before. Don't misunderstand me, if a primer will not seat sub surface and stay put, I know it's done, but these had a slight degree of resistance and stayed put. When I shot those loads again, the primer's were not leaking at all, not one little bit. Since these had leaked before with his loads, I decided to keep the same couple of rounds in the clip throughout the shooting session to see if the primer's are backing out from recoil, but they didn't budge one single bit. And once again I reloaded that same brass with no leaking, but I tossed them in the recycle bin after that session because they had clearly started to fail just above the head.
Thanks, GS

So am I guessing correctly, that the higher pressures are the reason why I don't ever have leaking primers? I honestly can't ever recall a primer ever leaking, and I shoot my brass until it begins to show the initial signs of separation. Another friend of mine that does professional load developement confirmed this for me, but I still wanted to run it past you guys.

 

[Bovice]

You do realize that your high pressure loads are not high pressure until they are actually fired, right?

I'm assuming that your friend was saying that the primers do not stay put after being pressed in, and that they are leaking powder? If they won't hold powder then the primer pockets are toast and the brass is scrap.

If you mean that AFTER firing, they primers were slightly backed out on the low pressure loads, that's due to a phenomenon where the pressure inside the case pushes the primer slightly outward, but since the charge weight is weak, it doesn't slam the case back into the breech face and push the primer back in again.

 

[gamestalker]

Bovice, thanks for the reply first of all.
I'm guessing your throwing some humor out there with the whole powder leaking thing, right? But yes, I do believe you are describing why his develope gas leaks and mine don't. I think your probably right though in that, the case isn't being pushed back as aggresively, and pressures aren't sufficient enough to press the primer hard against the sides of the primer pocket creating the seal during the rising pressure curve.

I've had the same kind of no leak primers even with high powered rifle cases even when they've been loaded 12-15 times, when primers are noticably much looser during seating. Like I said, I don't ever remember a primer gas leak in all the years of reloading. Lucky maybe?