Light strikes or bad batch of primers??

[thefitter]

Had 8 FTF today out of a batch of 60. Not sure if my striker spring is bad or the primers. Spring is only 2 years old. Primers are CCI BR2.

Fist pic is of the 8 FTF. Second pic is of 4 rounds that had seriously odd looking pin strikes but fired fine.

FWIW the accuracy with all the rounds that ignited was very good.

 

[jonbearman]

I will bet you own a remington,LOL I had the same thing happen.Send it to gre-tan and have the pin hole bushed in the bolt head and he will turn your pin down to .062 thou . What you have is primer flow with healthy loads and it is extruding down the hole. Get it done and your set. Call greg at gre-tan and you will love it.

 

[jonbearman]

I am curious what the exact load is with reference to pressure.

 

[fdshuster]

jon: While I agree, primer flow on the bottom four pictured ( and the top row center looks a little "strange"), and Gre-Tans fix will take care of that, 7 out of the 8 shown in the top picture look completely normal.

I had a batch of CCI200's several years ago that were giving me "click/ bangs", very obvious hang fires.
Immediately switched primer brands & have never had the same problem again.

thefitter: If it were I I'd try a different brand of primers, if the problem continues then it's probably your rifle, striker spring, firing pin length, etc. If it ceases & I had any amount of those CCI BR2's, in their original box's, I'd be contacting CCI real quick. Dump the problem in their lap and let them handle the return shipping. JMO

 

[thefitter]

Actually the bolt is from PT&G. And none of the loads were hot today, all under 52000psi.

What about the 8 failure to fires? That's what's really pissing me off. I have used 2000 of this box of 5000 primers with no problem until now.

 

[gotcha]

In that case, You need to send these pics to Dave Kiff @ PTG. All of your cases exhibit cratering to one degree or another. I'm a little confused though. Are you saying you had no cratering problems on any of the 1st 2000 primers used in this rifle? Regarding misfires. No mfg is perfect. Swap primer brands & test.

 

[mikecr]

Something going on with the striking, like a firing pin set screw slipping, or interference to cocking piece fall from trigger or action.
Else a bad pin setting/primer seating/headspace combination.

 

[XTR]

I know of at least 3 other shooters including myself that have had problems with BR2s in the last few months. None of us have ever had primer problems before. I think CCI let a bad batch get out the door.

 

[thefitter]

In that case, You need to send these pics to Dave Kiff @ PTG. All of your cases exhibit cratering to one degree or another. I'm a little confused though. Are you saying you had no cratering problems on any of the 1st 2000 primers used in this rifle? Regarding misfires. No mfg is perfect. Swap primer brands & test.

[size=12pt][size=14pt]I never noticed any cratering until today. But most today were not cratered. Here are 2 pics of what the majority look like. Sorry but I suck a photography. [/size][/size]

[size=12pt][size=14pt]So I could have a bad batch within a box of 5000? I will try some other primers next trip as a comparison. Lost confidence in CCI and I have a boat load of them.
[/size][/size]

 

[thefitter]

I know of at least 3 other shooters including myself that have had problems with BR2s in the last few months. None of us have ever had primer problems before. I think CCI let a bad batch get out the door.

When did you buy them? I got these from Powder Valley probably almost 2 years ago.

 

[6BRinNZ]

The top 8 look like they have had enough of primer strike to set them off...unless maybe as mikecr suggests they weren't set deep enough... Can you pop one out and see if it has primer compound in it?

The bottom 4 have primer cratering...the far left is close to piercing...in a bushed bolt this can happen if the load is very hot or the case is oversized and/or lube is still left on the case.

The primer radius looks pretty good on your other primers in the new pictures, even with some of them that have a bit of cratering.

 

[thefitter]

The top 8 look like they have had enough of primer strike to set them off...unless maybe as mikecr suggests they weren't set deep enough... Can you pop one out and see if it has primer compound in it?

The bottom 4 have primer cratering...the far left is close to piercing...in a bushed bolt this can happen if the load is very hot or the case is oversized and/or lube is still left on the case.

The primer radius looks pretty good on your other primers, even with some of them that have a bit of cratering.

I will pull these tomorrow and report back. You know they don't look that cratered in person I think some of it's the lighting in the photograph. The bolt was new from PT&G but it is a stock REM firing pin assembly. Thanks

 

[thefitter]

Something going on with the striking, like a firing pin set screw slipping, or interference to cocking piece fall from trigger or action.
Else a bad pin setting/primer seating/headspace combination.

Thanks, I'm going to pull everything apart tomorrow and check it out. I think I'm calling CCI Monday as well.

 

[XTR]

I think all the ones I've heard about were purchased recently. I've never had problems till this last box of 1000 and I've had 6 fail to fires out out of this box so far.

Edit: I got them from Bass Pro around May I discovered I had run through another box.

These are in my 308 shooting in the middle of summer. Not hang fires, just *click* ------

 

[Nomad47]

What is your powder and charge? What part of the country do you live in? Has the weather cooled off?
You may be on the edge of needing magnum primers. Over 50 grains? Ball powder?

 

[expiper]

test the spring,,it shuld hav 20-25 lbs of resistance,,,,,Roger

 

[thefitter]

What is your powder and charge? 5 different loads today.

What part of the country do you live in? CA

Has the weather cooled off? No, warmer
You may be on the edge of needing magnum primers.

Over 50 grains? No

Ball powder? No

Thanks

 

[jlow]

There are other reasons why primers don’t go off. The most common is primers seated high. High primers will absorb some of the energy from the firing pin which moves the primer deeper and so you will get the dent but FTF.

 

[6BRinNZ]

The top 8 look like they have had enough of primer strike to set them off...unless maybe as mikecr suggests they weren't set deep enough... Can you pop one out and see if it has primer compound in it?

The bottom 4 have primer cratering...the far left is close to piercing...in a bushed bolt this can happen if the load is very hot or the case is oversized and/or lube is still left on the case.

The primer radius looks pretty good on your other primers, even with some of them that have a bit of cratering.

I will pull these tomorrow and report back. You know they don't look that cratered in person I think some of it's the lighting in the photograph. The bolt was new from PT&G but it is a stock REM firing pin assembly. Thanks

If that means its the normal pin diameter then the cratering is pretty normal (apart from the far left)...that along with the nice radius would back up that the load is mild.

Do you do anything to the primer pockets...i.e. have some been made a little deeper than others? - relates to the no bang. If you find that there is primer biscuit I would look to primer seating depth...if no biscuit...suck...maybe spot check your remaining primers.

 

[thefitter]

The top 8 look like they have had enough of primer strike to set them off...unless maybe as mikecr suggests they weren't set deep enough... Can you pop one out and see if it has primer compound in it?

The bottom 4 have primer cratering...the far left is close to piercing...in a bushed bolt this can happen if the load is very hot or the case is oversized and/or lube is still left on the case.

The primer radius looks pretty good on your other primers, even with some of them that have a bit of cratering.

I will pull these tomorrow and report back. You know they don't look that cratered in person I think some of it's the lighting in the photograph. The bolt was new from PT&G but it is a stock REM firing pin assembly. Thanks

If that means its the normal pin diameter then the cratering is pretty normal (apart from the far left)...that along with the nice radius would back up that the load is mild.

Do you do anything to the primer pockets...i.e. have some been made a little deeper than others? - relates to the no bang. If you find that there is primer biscuit I would look to primer seating depth...if no biscuit...suck...maybe spot check your remaining primers.

Primer pockets get uniformed once when I open a new box of brass. Primer pockets are clean (SS) between each loading. All primers are seated equally (thumb). Thanks