Bad CCI primers?

[mgunderson]

As a general rule replace the spring when the barrel is replaced. Springs are cheap. In addition to the spring you may want to try more crush. May want to check the firing pin protrusion and that the primers are not too deep.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I can only say, how in the world do factory rounds ever fire. Short brass(max headspace), mass production primer seating(no feel or depth control) in brass with varying primer pocket depths. Almost talked myself into blaming the primers,again.

 

[M-61]

I’ve been using CCI’s since the 60’s
Really a good run
Did I have any FTF?
Yup
Problem was FTP. (failure to prime)

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

The BR4 has a thicker harder primer cup then most others. Everything has to be right. They need seated with a slight crush, the firing pin spring needs to be up to snuff and the headspace can't be great. The threads in the bolt shroud needs to be clean and lightly greased. This is discussed in lots of threads. Matt

^^^This^^^. It's certainly a possibility that primers can be bad but it's really a lot more rare than forum posts might lead one to believe. More often than not, it's a gun problem or a loading issue. The 450's and BR4's are not very forgiving to other ignition issues that have been mentioned. The Wolffe and Tula sr magnum primers are tough little suckers, too. If you haven't done it already, change that spring and clean the bolt thoroughly. Both are just routine maintenance jobs. I replace my fp springs at least every other year. They're cheap, so every year wouldn't hurt a thing and might save your butt from having ignition related accuracy issues too, that can be hard to chase down on the fly. I've seen this on virtually every action out there, so it's not a "Kelbly" problem and it may not be a primer problem either. In fact, I'd say Kelblys are less likely than some others to have these issues. We are asking for actions to operate flawlessly but with the bare minimum of bolt lift, cock on close.. and pin fall. Don't get me wrong...I, like most everyone else, can appreciate a butter smooth bolt but I think there are instances where we are needlessly riding a razor's edge in regard to fp energy, in the name of smoothness. I look at triggers the same way. Just because a trigger might go to 1.5 ozs, I may very well run it at 2 ozs to prevent a potential slam fire, etc.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

I can only say, how in the world do factory rounds ever fire. Short brass(max headspace), mass production primer seating(no feel or depth control) in brass with varying primer pocket depths. Almost talked myself into blaming the primers,again.

Lots of factors are involved and not all factory brass is "max headspace". I've seen factory brass that is too tight in a chamber and both the chamber and the brass be within saami spec. There is an overlap on most cartridge/chamber specs. I do agree that factory brass is typically a bit short, so I agree with your point. A common issue is with fireforming and expecting "jam" to take care of it. It doesn't always because the bullet can either move in the neck or can go deeper into the lands, cushioning the fp blow. I don't care much for the long seated method of fire forming. You need a solid blow and even slight differences between the new brass shoulder angle and the actual chamber shoulder angle can cause issues. Once formed and the case shoulder can have a solid and matching angle to the actual chamber, these issues can go away. My previous post stated specifically that the hard cup of some primers vs others can be far less forgiving to small ignition issues. Protrusion is very seldom the real issue as most every action has considerably more protrusion than is needed.

In the RF world, Alan Hall of Hall actions, made a super light titanium fp and held tolerances very close. He had good results and accuracy with as little as .002" case indentation.

If you measure pin protrusion vs primer indentation on a cf, you'll typically see around .055 protrusion of the tip but only get about .020 of primer indentation. This is an area that can be utilized for making good fp energy without over doing things, in lieu of giving up critical pin fall and energy..that is seldom looked at hard enough. With a loaded round, the primer is what stops pin travel, rather that the pin stop.

I think .002 is too close but I'm just saying, there is room to work with here that most people are leaving on the table, but shoulder bump must be very consistent to get the most from it.

 

[451whitworth]

My Pop was having a few FTF issues a few years ago with two different rifles. He asked me to bring over a different brand of primer than what he was using. I went by what used to be Graf's Reloading in St. Charles, MO and picked him up a RCBS ram prime die for his press. Next time I was at the farm i told him to use the same primers he was using but seat them with the ram prime. No more issues. In his case he's getting up in years and didn't have the hand strength to use the hand prime tool on rifle cases anymore. I really like the RCBS bench mount priming tool. There's so much leverage you know that primer is seated.

 

[dkhunt14]

I bought the gun used so I don’t really know how many rounds have been through the action which was made in 2017. I’ll probably just replace the spring.

That might just be what you need. I have seen springs 1/2 to 1 inch shorter then a new one. It doesn't take as long for that to happen then you would think. Most times I replace mine every other year. Matt

 

[JFrank]

Fairchaser ..wrote..
(and my primers are seated with a 1 thousands crush using a hand primer with)

This caught my eye..