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Holes in primers

Reports from other users have also experienced pierced primers with this brand of primer historically. The consensus is it falls in the category of a softer cup primer

For an autoloading design such as the ar15/10 I would opt for a harder cup primer...cci 34 etc..
 
I have used a lot of Winchester primers in my AR10 308win and my M1A and AR15's 5.56/223rem and 6.5Grr and never had an issue with them, but I do seat all my primer in autoloaders between 4&6k just a thought.
 
L.C. brass will vary in hardness also. Saw it first hand running taper. It was the temp. in the furnaces that would determine the hardness of the case. That was a 100 years ago but I bet primer cups vary too. Doug
 
View attachment 1706443
These are what I've been using. I've run them through my 45-70 govt as well with no issue.
Excellent primers. I load some of my match ammo with them, and I've never had a problem of any sort. These primers have withstood a fair amount of pressure with some of my loads without piercing or leaking.

It's not the primers causing your issue.
 
So - I kind of got a bit lost there. Are you having the same problem with the Hornady brass? I think it is unlikely your hammer spring or trigger, in general, has anything to do with it. If your rifle shot fine before (?) with other ammo and now is doing it with the Lake City and Hornady brass, what were you using before - or is this a first time shooting this rig? It sounds like you run into this issue with this rifle sporadically, regardless of brass? I ask, as if you have too much firing pin protrusion or an excessively long firing pin - this would be a very regular thing - like every shot, I'd think. I'm guessing you have either excessive headspace or the load is just too warm - or a combination of both. If only using the Lake City when this issue arises, I might be inclined to think that, because Top Brass reconditions brass shot in various rifle chambers, there is going to be varying degrees of spring-back on the shoulders. I'm not aware that Top Brass anneals their brass before loading - and if they don't that problem would exist a bit. But it isn't really a problem unless the shoulders were pushed back a bit too far. Some of the resulting sized brass would be softer, some harder - and the shoulder would end up with different setback range. The brass staying "true" to the die, holding the setback fully would be the rounds which may show the traits of excessive headspace, if that makes sense. A little too much headspace and a little warm on the load will combine to do what you have encountered. I'd be sure you are not bumping your shoulders any more than .003" from the LONGEST piece of fired brass, as measured form the shoulder to the base, using a Hornady tool or the like. Even then, your longest piece of brass may not have blown the shoulder forward fully. It is possible, with the excessive headspace, to have brass that looks like it is a really hot load - when not. I'd look at both of these items to see what is up. Good luck.
 
Going back to your firing pin and hammer, I'd also look very carefully at not only the tip of the firing pin, but at the "bell" at the opposite end. If it appears to have been "mashed or contorted in any way - that would be the likely source or part of the problem. A quick firing pin swap at $15.00 would determine that. I don't know how much force those Hyper triggers exert, but if it is a hell of a lot, it is conceivable the bell got mashed a bit.... It would be quite visible.
 
So - I kind of got a bit lost there. Are you having the same problem with the Hornady brass? I think it is unlikely your hammer spring or trigger, in general, has anything to do with it. If your rifle shot fine before (?) with other ammo and now is doing it with the Lake City and Hornady brass, what were you using before - or is this a first time shooting this rig? It sounds like you run into this issue with this rifle sporadically, regardless of brass? I ask, as if you have too much firing pin protrusion or an excessively long firing pin - this would be a very regular thing - like every shot, I'd think. I'm guessing you have either excessive headspace or the load is just too warm - or a combination of both. If only using the Lake City when this issue arises, I might be inclined to think that, because Top Brass reconditions brass shot in various rifle chambers, there is going to be varying degrees of spring-back on the shoulders. I'm not aware that Top Brass anneals their brass before loading - and if they don't that problem would exist a bit. But it isn't really a problem unless the shoulders were pushed back a bit too far. Some of the resulting sized brass would be softer, some harder - and the shoulder would end up with different setback range. The brass staying "true" to the die, holding the setback fully would be the rounds which may show the traits of excessive headspace, if that makes sense. A little too much headspace and a little warm on the load will combine to do what you have encountered. I'd be sure you are not bumping your shoulders any more than .003" from the LONGEST piece of fired brass, as measured form the shoulder to the base, using a Hornady tool or the like. Even then, your longest piece of brass may not have blown the shoulder forward fully. It is possible, with the excessive headspace, to have brass that looks like it is a really hot load - when not. I'd look at both of these items to see what is up. Good luck.
So far its been with hornady brass, and if i remember correctly it happened with some hornday factory loads, but that was long ago so i dont remember. I have not fired the LC loads yet but I also have remmington 9 1/2 LR primers in them, and will make a few more hornady rounds with remmington primers to see if the issue continues. I'm still fairly new to reloading, around 4 years now and i primarily do it for hunting and not really exceeding 300yds, so I'm not sure about the shoulder bumping. Would you recommend loading fired brass without resizing it first?
 
So far its been with hornady brass, and if i remember correctly it happened with some hornday factory loads, but that was long ago so i dont remember. I have not fired the LC loads yet but I also have remmington 9 1/2 LR primers in them, and will make a few more hornady rounds with remmington primers to see if the issue continues. I'm still fairly new to reloading, around 4 years now and i primarily do it for hunting and not really exceeding 300yds, so I'm not sure about the shoulder bumping. Would you recommend loading fired brass without resizing it first?
All brass should be sized first, but I assume you mean brass that someone else has sized first - then you resize again before it is fired? Not necessarily. My thought is to check the measurement from the datum on the shoulder to the base of the brass on your LONGEST fired and unsized piece of brass that you fired in your rifle, using the Hornady lock N load headspace tool on your caliper, or similar. Then measure a handful of pieces (maybe 15 or 20) of the Lake City from Top Brass to determine how the shoulder position differs from the brass you have fired. If, for example, you have found it suitable to have your shoulders set to a certain measurement - and you find that the Lake City is much shorter from the shoulder to the base, I'd be inclined to size it and allow the shoulder to move forward a bit if it will. If the Lake City shoulder is much longer than your wanted measurement, you may want to size it to push the shoulder back some. Top Brass aims to size their brass within the range of what should work in all rifles. But - if they sized on the short side to be extra sure it will fit in all chambers (and went a tad overboard) and your chamber is on the long side of what most chambers measure, you can end up with a bit of excess headspace, which simply makes a few firings in order to get the shoulders blown forward on your brass. Or it can be a lot.. A reason to not do it if you really don't see the need is that by resizing again, you are putting wear on the brass and work-hardening it.
 
I was hesitant to point that out… Just so many folks here use such bad grammar, syntax and just ignore the red underline indicating a misspelling…
People often react badly to having their errors pointed out… :rolleyes:
In the end, we just want to keep this forum from turning into a “shouting match/agro pissing match…
I figured it was a little Halloween humor.
 
Would you recommend loading fired brass without resizing it first?
At a minimum you will need to resize the brass just to squeeze the neck back down, which can be done without bumping the shoulder. As mentioned, TopBrass (and new from just about any brass manufacturer) resized it to fit just about every chamber, which means you should be able to load and go. Pierced primer or not you should be able to get a base to shoulder measurement for your rifle. From there size with a 0.003" bump and you should be good to go. If you're still piercing primers, then you need to look at your BCG/Firing Pin setup.
 
Correction, the loads fired today were hornady brass. I have LC loads but did not get a chance to fire them today
Weigh the case without the primer. I expect it will match the chart but here is a graph that can be used to estimate the relative volume of the case. Haven't measured any Hornady cases in quite a while. Weight vs Volume is only approximate because of the variations in web thickness and extractor groove machining.

Screenshot 2025-10-17 at 11.04.52 PM.png
 
Based on the S&B website it looks like they packaged and sold MagTech primers. Based on what I know about Magtech their primers mimic Remington.

I doubt the primer is the issue but I personally use a lot of CCI #34 even in the bolt gun. Haven't seen a noticeable difference between Fed 210 and #34 in terms of load.
 

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