Misfire help!

[westcoastshooter]

At the range yesterday I was sighting in my AR with a new batch of reloaded 223, which I'll list below, and randomly I had 3 misfires. I pulled the trigger and only heard a click. Kept the gun pointing down range after each and after a few minutes safely ejected the rounds and inspected each one. I set them back in the box and tested a few more rounds and they all went bang. After I got home I used my lyman puller to remove the bullet which took extra effort and but once the bullet fell out no powder fell out. The bullet had black residue at the base and the case was empty. The primers all seemed to have a legit strike. After reading through a few posts I am not sure what the cause is. I've reloaded over 500 rounds with this same load and I really don't know what happened.

Gun: AR-15
Bullet: Berger 77gr
Powder: RE15
Primer: CCI Mag no 450
Brass: Once fired mixed
Reloading Steps:
Hornady Sonic Cleaner with their solution
RCBS case lube pad
RCBS re-size / de-prime
de bur cases
clean primer pocket
one more round through the cleaner and dried
RCBS Priming hand tool
added powder pressed bullet

Same steps I've always done.

 

[jimbires]

sounds to me like these didn't have powder in them .

 

[jimcasey01]

I agree with jimbires, it appears that you did not charge these with powder.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

Yup operator error. Happened to me a few times. Forget to charge with powder and seat a bullet.. No bangie G.
I..

 

[westcoastshooter]

Welp! Thats a relief I was dumbfounded at the range can't believe I did that...

 

[Mozella]

sounds to me like these didn't have powder in them .

Yeah, me too. Perhaps it's time to review your loading routine. There are plenty of ways to skin a cat and there is no "right" way to reload. But there are thousands of ways to go wrong.

I very rarely charge cases and put them in a block, but when I do I scan all the cases with a flashlight after the block is full to make sure every one of them has a similar level of powder. Most of my loading is on a progressive press, but that's not foolproof either. An interruption can cause a partial stroke which prevents a case from activating the case activated dispenser, so I have to guard against that. Quite often, after an interruption, I find myself pulling the case just before the seating die and peeking inside to check the powder. Likewise, I sometimes pull and dump an empty case just ahead of the powder drop to make absolutely sure it is truly empty. Anyhow, you get the idea. Somehow you need to be sure each case gets one correct charge and only one correct charge.

So far I've never made a squib or (much worse) an overcharge......... knock wood.

 

[jimbires]

westcoastshooter , just a word of caution . when this happens and you eject the squib , if the bullet is not there do not shoot another round . the bullet will be stuck in the barrel . a primer can have enough pressure to push the bullet into the barrel getting it stuck .

 

[memo43]

westcoastshooter , just a word of caution . when this happens and you eject the squib , if the bullet is not there do not shoot another round . the bullet will be stuck in the barrel . a primer can have enough pressure to push the bullet into the barrel getting it stuck .

^^^^^
This

seem it happen at a public range the shooter was ok but the barrel blew out to the side

 

[bloc]

I'm not sure the only problem was lack of powder . . . if you heard a mechanical "click" rather than a sharp but small "bang", it suggests to me that the primer didn't detonate.

That could mean two things: either you failed to seat an unfired primer completely, or you did not replace a previously-fired primer.

That would explain, at least to me, why the bullet was not lodged in the barrel: I would expect a primer detonation alone to launch a bullet a half-inch or so into the barrel.

 

[SG4247]

westcoastshooter , just a word of caution . when this happens and you eject the squib , if the bullet is not there do not shoot another round . the bullet will be stuck in the barrel . a primer can have enough pressure to push the bullet into the barrel getting it stuck .

^^^^^
This

seem it happen at a public range the shooter was ok but the barrel blew out to the side

I've done this with an AR!

Bullet was half way down the barrel. I never heard the primer pop.

I used a brass rod and knocked the bullet out of the barrel and went back to shooting.

Man, thank god I ejected and looked at the case with no bullet, and didn't continue shooting.

It would have been a bad deal.

Now I check all brass for powder before seating bullets.

 

[jlow]

This is a clear case of primer going off but no powder. Unlike a pistol squib, rifle squibs can have enough neck tension to hold the bullet in when only the primer goes off. The black residue at the base of the bullet is from the primer. There is no mystery.

 

[rogn]

You can easily do some QC if you have an electronic scale- just weigh the finished rounds. They should all be in a range of no more that perhaps 5 grains. Unless your mix of brass contains some of the extremes. See Accurate Shooter 223 data for diferences in brass.

 

[jlow]

This is a good idea. I don't use your powder but I imagine your powder weight will be in the 20 odd grains range. If this is the case, just weight all the loaded rounds and you will see the outliers as being about 20grs lighter. Put them aside and pull the bullet in one and you will have your answer.

 

[jonbearman]

Bottom line double checking whether you have primed your cases, put the weighed charges in and seated the bullet correctly without crushing the shoulder accidently are things to check and check again to make darn sure you got it right. When ever I have a round not go off or it feels weak or something , unload and check the barrel for obstructions. Always if you have a misfire wait a minute before opening the bolt or trying to eject in an autoloader and keep it pointed in a safe direction in case you get a hangfire.

 

[amlevin]

I'm not sure the only problem was lack of powder . . . if you heard a mechanical "click" rather than a sharp but small "bang", it suggests to me that the primer didn't detonate.

That could mean two things: either you failed to seat an unfired primer completely, or you did not replace a previously-fired primer.

That would explain, at least to me, why the bullet was not lodged in the barrel: I would expect a primer detonation alone to launch a bullet a half-inch or so into the barrel.

In an AR there's another possible issue. The case is improperly sized or if crimped, too much crimp caused the case to deform (if roll crimped).

This causes the case to not fully chamber and the bolt doesn't go fully into battery. The hammer will still fall but the Bolt carrier prevents the hammer from getting a full strike on the firing pin resulting in a "click but no bang".

When this condition occurs the round is difficult to extract, often causing the shooter to have to "mortar" the round out by pulling the charging handle back and striking the butt firmly on a sandbag or ground.

No powder just sounds like operator error at the bench. That's why I like my Dillon 650 for loading "AR Food". It has a powder check station that gives me an alarm when there's no powder.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

westcoastshooter , just a word of caution . when this happens and you eject the squib , if the bullet is not there do not shoot another round . the bullet will be stuck in the barrel . a primer can have enough pressure to push the bullet into the barrel getting it stuck .

Maybe, but I have never seen it happen. And it has happened to me a few times. No bang just a punched primer. Bullet never moved.. Yes i forgot the powder..

 

[jimbires]

westcoastshooter , just a word of caution . when this happens and you eject the squib , if the bullet is not there do not shoot another round . the bullet will be stuck in the barrel . a primer can have enough pressure to push the bullet into the barrel getting it stuck .

Maybe, but I have never seen it happen. And it has happened to me a few times. No bang just a punched primer. Bullet never moved.. Yes i forgot the powder..

it's happened to me twice . maybe I'm just lucky , I'm 2 for 2 on this . 45acp , 300 weatherby . both using fed primers .

 

[SG4247]

westcoastshooter , just a word of caution . when this happens and you eject the squib , if the bullet is not there do not shoot another round . the bullet will be stuck in the barrel . a primer can have enough pressure to push the bullet into the barrel getting it stuck .

Maybe, but I have never seen it happen. And it has happened to me a few times. No bang just a punched primer. Bullet never moved.. Yes i forgot the powder..

Happened to me with .002" neck tension (Lapua brass) and #450 primer in a stainless match barrel.

6.5 Grendel of all things. Berger 120 bullet had traveled at least 12" down the bore from the primer pressure only.

 

[joshb]

Have a friend that blew up a Glock that way. Only hurt his wallet, thank God. He was doin "fast drills" at 5 targets. A factory round squibbed. He thought it was just a misfire, and racked another round and BANG! He got an earful from me, when I found out.