Loose primers

[Medic505]

Try Starline Match .308 brass. Small primer, .080 flash hole. .55 cents each, buy direct from the manufacture and the best part is, Made in the USA!

 

[Papa Charlie]

Not all primer brands are the same diameter. I use Rem 9 1/2 and CCI 200 mostly. When Rems feel too easy to seat I switch over to CCI and get extended case life. On average CCI's are .0007-8 larger than Rem.

Not precision BR shooting, just recreational stuff.

I have been using CCI BR2's for years. In fact, I have been using the same lot number for years. I purchased 4 bricks when they were hard to get.
I did try some Winchester Match primers once. Didn't like them. Was glad I only purchased 100 to try out.

 

[Papa Charlie]

I would contact Lapua and let them know what you are encountering with the specific details of your load and also the comparison you’ve made in batches. And include the Lot numbers of the brass in both the failing and non failing batches. If nothing else it may help for the future.

- Ron -

Was thinking about doing that. Sadly I didn't keep the lot number. Should have but didn't. But couldn't hurt to write an email. Worse they could do is not respond.

 

[Papa Charlie]

They're done...toss 'em. That load seems pretty mild to be trashing primer pockets (i.e. 42.7 gr Varget/185 Jugs). What kind of velocity were you getting? Before I switched over all my .308s to Lapua Palma brass, I had a load with Juggernauts over 43.4 gr Varget that was exceptionally precise. I was getting ~2725 fps out of a 30" barrel chambered with a fairly short freebore (0.085"), with a longer than average Lot# of 185s and LRP Lapua brass. As I recall, predicted pressure was in the 60-61K psi range (Quickload), and the primer pockets only lasted ~5 firings.

I am getting 2670 fps plus or minus ~10. My barrel is also 30 inches. I am running almost a grain less than you are (43.4). Like I said earlier, I have one set that has 9 firings and another with 25 firings. In both these cases the pockets are tight and uniform. I haven't done any load testing on the set that failed. The lot set with 25 firings, have seen a lot of load testing all the way up to over 44 grains.

Last night I pulled all the primers on the set that has the loose primers, they all felt like there was no primer in them at all on the handle. I have set them aside and marked them as scrap.

 

[Texas10]

I would be curious to know how the internal volume of the bad set compares to the good sets?

 

[Papa Charlie]

I would be curious to know how the internal volume of the bad set compares to the good sets?

If I think about it I will pop a primer in and see.