Blown Primer in 270 Winchester

[Gene Beggs]

On the 'Daily Bulletin' page there is a post by Grant Guess about a primer blowout. It was suggested that Winchester had produced a faulty primer. I don't think so! My educated guess is that there is a serious gas cut 'divot' in the bolt face of the rifle which leaves the primer unsupported. If this is the case, the rifle should not be fired again until the bolt face is repaired. Greg Tannel at GreTan Rifles in Colorado is an expert at this and gives great turnaround service.

Gene Beggs

 

[Forum Boss]

Gene,

You could be right, and there certainly could be some damage to the bolt face now. However three other Bulletin readers noted they have experienced similar primer failures with Winchester brand primers and there are other reports of similar issues with this brand of primers. Also Grant fired more rounds through this gun with no further problem. But we agree that the bolt head should be inspected for safety's sake. Thanks for your comment.

 

[ridgeway]

I've experienced an episode of blown primers during a match with a normal and proven load. Even blew in fresh brass with tight pockets. This was in a BAT B. Turned out to be inconsistent ignition due to a weak firing pin spring. Replaced the spring and problem totally gone.

 

[rcw3]

I had the exact same thing happen with a 6.5 x 284. It turns out that the piece of Lapua brass I had that was involved had a manufacturing defect in the primer pocket which was a little groove in the side of the primer pocket that went from top to bottom and that offered a pathway for high pressure gas to blow out between the side of the primer and the side of the primer pocket and out the rear of the case. The worst part is when it happened it caused a small crater to be etched into the bolt face of a high end target action I had.

 

[Average joe]

I've had the same thing happen more than once. And personally know four
Other shooters that had same experience. All were Winchester LR primers.
Gave the case to a friend who works at Olin, they admitted primer was faulty.

 

[Gene Beggs]

Given the pressures developed by today's cartridges, it's a wonder we don't have even more trouble than we do with primers and cases.

In my benchrest cartridges, I've used several brands and types of primers; Federal, CCI, Winchester, Remington, Wolf etc. Some have harder, thicker cups than others and they also vary a bit in diameter. Years ago when Winchester primers were packed in white boxes, I had a BR rifle that would shoot Federal 305M's just fine but would blank the Winchesters. In another rifle that had a .062 diameter firing pin, you couldn't make the Winchesters blank no matter how hot the load. I don't think it's fair to blame Winchester for such failures. You can't design and manufacture anything that will work perfectly in every situation. Everything is a compromise in some way.

Testing in the tunnel with Winchester primers has always shown excellent accuracy and minimum extreme spreads. I attribute this to better ignition because of the softer cups. But,,,, some rifles with large diameter firing pins and maybe a slightly weak spring will blank the Winchesters. CCI primers seem to have harder cups. My favorite primer of all is the Wolf. If you have cases that the primer pockets have loosened up a bit, try the Wolf; they are slightly larger diameter and you won't believe how clean burning they are. Hardly any residue left in the pockets.

It pays to experiment with different components. Sometimes one works much better than another in a specific application. German Salazar has done more testing with primers than anyone I know.

All of this also reminds us of how important good eye protection is.

Later,

Gene Beggs

 

[fguffey]

On the 'Daily Bulletin' page there is a post by Grant Guess about a primer blowout. It was suggested that Winchester had produced a faulty primer. I don't think so! My educated guess is that there is a serious gas cut 'divot' in the bolt face of the rifle which leaves the primer unsupported. If this is the case, the rifle should not be fired again until the bolt face is repaired. Greg Tannel at GreTan Rifles in Colorado is an expert at this and gives great turnaround service.

Gene Beggs

And I would suggest the hot high pressure metal cutting gas cut the bolt face. If it was the bolt face with the problem it would happen every time at the same place.

F. Guffey

 

[butchlambert]

Listen to Gene Beggs, he has fired a round or 50,000 maybe.

 

[Homerange]

A good buddy and experienced handlaoder had ongoing issues with Winchester blue packet LR primers in both 6mm Rem and 7mm Practical(7mm/300 Win Mag). Wincherster brass for both calibers.
Another mate had similar problem with a 270, again Win primers.

Admittedly both where stoking them reasonably hard and when we did research we found Aussie long range shooters were having similar problems with hot loads and Win primers.
This was around 2 years ago.

Both shooters moved away from Winchester primers and had no further problems.
My advice is if you are pushing things hard, don't use Win primers, otherwise you risk bolt face damage.

 

[Homerange]

On the 'Daily Bulletin' page there is a post by Grant Guess about a primer blowout. It was suggested that Winchester had produced a faulty primer. I don't think so! My educated guess is that there is a serious gas cut 'divot' in the bolt face of the rifle which leaves the primer unsupported. If this is the case, the rifle should not be fired again until the bolt face is repaired. Greg Tannel at GreTan Rifles in Colorado is an expert at this and gives great turnaround service.

Gene Beggs

I've seen this damage on 3 rifles and the problems disappeared with a change in primer and no remedial work to the bolt face.

 

[BenPerfected]

Given the pressures developed by today's cartridges, it's a wonder we don't have even more trouble than we do with primers and cases.

In my benchrest cartridges, I've used several brands and types of primers; Federal, CCI, Winchester, Remington, Wolf etc. Some have harder, thicker cups than others and they also vary a bit in diameter. Years ago when Winchester primers were packed in white boxes, I had a BR rifle that would shoot Federal 305M's just fine but would blank the Winchesters. In another rifle that had a .062 diameter firing pin, you couldn't make the Winchesters blank no matter how hot the load. I don't think it's fair to blame Winchester for such failures. You can't design and manufacture anything that will work perfectly in every situation. Everything is a compromise in some way.

Testing in the tunnel with Winchester primers has always shown excellent accuracy and minimum extreme spreads. I attribute this to better ignition because of the softer cups. But,,,, some rifles with large diameter firing pins and maybe a slightly weak spring will blank the Winchesters. CCI primers seem to have harder cups. My favorite primer of all is the Wolf. If you have cases that the primer pockets have loosened up a bit, try the Wolf; they are slightly larger diameter and you won't believe how clean burning they are. Hardly any residue left in the pockets.

It pays to experiment with different components. Sometimes one works much better than another in a specific application. German Salazar has done more testing with primers than anyone I know.

All of this also reminds us of how important good eye protection is.

Later,

Gene Beggs

Gene,
What is your favorite go to small rifle primer?
Ben

 

[Gene Beggs]

Ben, the Wolf SRM is my choice for the 220 and 6mm Beggs cartridges.