Puckered primer - normal load - ideas?

[Newkid]

Hi Folks

I have attached a picture of a mis-shaped primer and I cannot figure out why it is different.

308 twice fired lapua brass, full-length resized with a normal load of 44.3gn of N140 and a 150gr Hornady SST.

The recoils and case were fine, the shoulder ogive (0.4) was 1.624", which is a bit tight in my Remmy 700 SS.

Comments please?

 

[243winxb]

Firing pin rebound. Weak firing pin spring. Or dirt or something in the firing pin channel.

 

[Newkid]

Think I had better give the bolt a good clean just in case...

Many thanks

Peter :-\

 

[jonbearman]

Put a pic or 2 of the bolt face as it may be a worn bolt face or oversized firing pin hole and tell us the brand of gun it is.

 

[Johnboy]

looks like the well known factory Remigton bolt deal to me.I know I see this all the time with my 223 5R but it has never messed with the accuracy.

 

[matthias]

i have this with every load in my Remington 221 fireball. all the time every shot standard loads. bushed the firing pin and it went away. good luck

 

[243winxb]

Here what the Rem 700 beveled firing pin hole looks like.

Not a true pressure sign. Reload left, factory on the right. Reply from Remington. "The cratering you are experiencing is from a design* in the bolt face, it does not effect any thing in a negative way it is a worry to some because it makes it difficult to read your primers for reloaders. With this said Remington will replace your bolt, follow the instuctions on the web-site for sending your whole gun to us for repair" I love the way Remington uses the word "design"* instead of "defect" lol.

 

[jonbearman]

I wouldnt send it to remington.If you want it done right ,call greg tannel at gre-tan rifles in colorado and have him bush the firing pin hole and while you are at it,buy one of his .062 fring pins which are superior to remington. I realize it is uder warranty,but an upgrade to this will last a lifetime and his turn around is only a week. His work is superb and a wonderful guy to deal with and honest.This way you only ship the bolt to him instaed of shipping the rifle to remington and waiting a couple weeks or more to get it back.Gre-tan is listed under gunsmiths on our home page.You will not be sorry.

 

[bigedp51]

Your puckered primers are the result of cost cutting at Remington Arms and they are now using Beavers to chew out the bolt recess on their bolts on the 700.
(welcome to the new corporate quality control cutbacks for cost savings)
Also note my brand new extractor came pre-rusted from the factory.

 

[BoydAllen]

For those of you who would like to do something about the cratering, Greg Tannel (Gre-Tan Rifles I believe) does an excellent job, at an affordable price, with a relatively quick turn around. He bushes the firing pin hole, and grinds the end of the pin to .062. An additional improvement is that the bushing is long enough that the tip of the pin stays in it throughout its cycle, unlike the factory setup. Friends who have had this done to their rifles are pleased with the results. My benchrest action, a Viper, has the same pin tip diameter, and hole depth. I never have to worry about craters or pierced primers because the smaller pin tip gives better support.

 

[Newkid]

Thanks Guys! Spot on as usual.

It is a Remmy 700, 500 rounds, shoots like a dream - and doesn't do this very often. I'll have a look at the bolt face and pin to see what the score(1) is.

As I live in Scotland might be a bit far to send the bolt to Colrado - of course I could just take a trip over!

Best wishes

Peter

 

[Laurie]

As I live in Scotland might be a bit far to send the bolt to Colrado - of course I could just take a trip over!

Peter,

unfortunately sending firearms parts to the US isn't easy or cheap - and it's worse getting them back out. An expensive State Department licence is needed, and it's a federal (criminal!) offence to take something like a bolt out without one.

So, unfortunately we Brits can't realistically use the Gre-Tan service. If you were in the USA and had your rifle with you for a sporting trip with the International FAC and other appropriate paperwork, you could no doubt send the bolt off from your hotel or wherever to have done while in-country.

Nobody in the UK provides this service so far as I've been able to find out. As other respondents have said though, it's not a cause of great worry - as long as the pin doesn't pierce the primer and which sees a small disc blown back into the bolt body as well as releasing a small amount of gas into the bolt / action. Your bolt must be relatively 'poor' though as this is much more common with cartridges that use small primers than 308W with its LR variety. A simple rebarrelling of a Remy 700 or Winchester 70 to a high-pressure SR primed variety - 6BR, 6.5X47 lapua etc can often see usable loads heavily constrained

 

[rogn]

Weak firing pin springs can also produce similar results. The weak spring allows extrusion of primer material into the firing pin bore.