Primer went off during seating

[fatelk]

After nearly 20 years and many thousands of reloads, this is the first time this has happened to me.

I was seating primers in 308 cases, military LC brass, using my old RCBS hand-priming tool. The cases were LC military, and I think a few must have missed their primer pocket swaging because they went in real tight.

POW!! No harm done, ears rang for a minute or so, wife freaked out. I looked at the case and the primer looked like a perfectly normal unfired primer.

My question is; are Wolf primers more sensitive that others, or was this just a freak thing? This is the first box of Wolf primers I've used.

 

[Sport45]

Did the same thing with a Lee Autoprime a little while back with Remington primers. Those things are loud, aren't they? And the fire shoots several inches out of the case. Makes you wonder why some worry about a bit of walnut stuck in the flash hole....

I went out and chamfered the rest of the primer pockets a little bit more.

 

[mrawesome22-250]

This is the first box of Wolf primers I've used.

It'd probably be my last.

 

[fatelk]

I went out and chamfered the rest of the primer pockets a little bit more

That's what I should have done to begin with. I really should know better than to force it when it doesn't go. It also reinforced a few safety rules for me.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

That's why we are supposed to wear safety glasses when we reload, not because it is likely to happen but because of the odd chance it could happen.

 

[RNG]

Glad you weren't hurt. In the Mid-70's, while reloading .357 with a Lee hand loader, I had a primer go off while tapping in a primer. Scared the crap out of me first, then I felt the pain at my fingertips. No permanent damage. Thankful I didn't lose an eye.

 

[lil ski]

I had my first primer go off on me this year (Fed). After I got the wife calmed down and my shorts cleaned out I found I had a piece of brass shaving on the primer tool it must have shaved it off the primer pocket before the one that went off and worked like a firing pin when I pushed hard.

 

[hsiddall]

Did it my self when my Lee auto prime jammed with two primewrs trying to stack into one hole...Ears rang gro a day and a half...

 

[strat81]

http://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=7277&dir=278|284|737
Wolf small primers are a bit more sensitive. The large primer page doesn't state the same warning.

Glad you're okay.

 

[Geo.Az]

You Guys should try .50 BMG Primers

They ARE LOUDER

 

[USSR]

fatelk,

It's not that the Russian primers are more sensitive than any other primer, but, they are slightly larger in diameter. This, combined with a failure to properly remove a primer crimp, could cause a primer to go off. I would suggest you use a Dillon Super Swage 600 (if you're not already) to remove the crimps, and make sure you don't miss a case.

Don

 

[Kevin108]

When the first one goes off you think "Oh my god we're all gonna die!" then you realize it was just a scary noise and you feel like the kid who cried because a balloon popped, only with a little more ringing in your ears.