Bad federal primers

[Hoffer]

Went out this morning for some fireforming and general load workup. Out of 50 rounds fired, 5 were duds. Keeping an open mind I thought there were some loaded without powder even thought I go straight from loading powder then installing the bullet.

The left cartridge is the unfired primer .. can't tell me its a light primer strike. Fed 215, not match 215m's
Pulled the rounds apart and powder was there. I removed the primers and you can see all the way to the bottom of the casing. Definitely missing some material inside.

I have always used Federal primers in my handguns and now my rifles.
Handguns probably loaded 80,000 rounds and never had a failure.

I waited about 20 seconds before unloading the round. Not very happy with 92 grains of powder unloading this and possibly having it explode on me.

[kmca]

Strange. Could they have possibly gotten contaminated during your handling? If not and still have the lot number, you could email Federal to see if they've had problems what that particular lot.

[Hoffer]

I have some untouched that are similar

[croue]

Similar as in they appear charred, but not burned off?

[dwalker]

Component manufacturers were running wide open to keep up with demand the last year, so things that might have been caught normally may have slipped through. I had a batch of Winchester SPP's just recently that had about 12 not go bang in 400 or so loaded. I have never really had a problem with them going bang before.

[Hoffer]

Talked to Federal today. They were very nice.
Said the lot was from 2008. I just bought these last month from a dealer.
WTF

[GUNNTZ]

Sounds like you should be contacting the place you bought them from. Pretty poor turn over for sure.

[mjmagee67]

A primer from 2008 is not the issue. I have ammo made in the early 70's by my father and they have been 100%.

[hambam105]

Looks like one primer was hit a lot harder than the other.

Percentage wise, I'd put the rifle into question long before I thought primers were the issue.

Tell us about the rifle. Has anyone altered the rifle's firing mechanisms from factory specs lately? Is the rifle a new Savage?

[bruce381]

can't really tell from pic but looks like no primer pellet? pull off anvil and see if there is primer compound, probably not unless it got smashed. The pellet has to stay together to fire as you know.

This is why I never re use any primers I de prime cause the pellet if smashed will not fire.

Kind a scary bad enough on a pistol round with 5 grains powder but 92 yeah I would wait a long time to unload that one.

[hambam105]

When I don't know, I don't know.

But I do know that QC on Federal Primers is about as high as high gets.

[slamfire1]

Change the mainspring on your pistol. You are assuming that because the primers look wacked, that the firing pin strike was sufficient. That is an incorrect assumption. I found it out the hard way in a S&W M586 and a mainspring that had fired 10,000's of rounds. The bullet lodged in the throat of the barrel, I had to knock it back into the case with a screw driver. This happened on more than one round, primers looked well hit, but the entire problem was an old mainspring.







The most common cause of misfires is a high primer. The anvil must be rested on something hard, and the gap between anvil bridge and primer cup must be set. If the anvil is dangling in the air, or the bridge distance is not correct, the primer will misfire.

[bruce381]

if primer fired enough to lodge bullet in throat then you had no powder right?

[PM720]

Change the mainspring on your pistol. You are assuming that because the primers look wacked, that the firing pin strike was sufficient. That is an incorrect assumption. I found it out the hard way in a S&W M586 and a mainspring that had fired 10,000's of rounds. The bullet lodged in the throat of the barrel, I had to knock it back into the case with a screw driver. This happened on more than one round, primers looked well hit, but the entire problem was an old mainspring.







The most common cause of misfires is a high primer. The anvil must be rested on something hard, and the gap between anvil bridge and primer cup must be set. If the anvil is dangling in the air, or the bridge distance is not correct, the primer will misfire.

Wow, .338 Lapua PISTOL! That must be a beast to fire!

[Hoffer]

Looks like one primer was hit a lot harder than the other.

Percentage wise, I'd put the rifle into question long before I thought primers were the issue.

Tell us about the rifle. Has anyone altered the rifle's firing mechanisms from factory specs lately? Is the rifle a new Savage?

The primer that looked like it was hit harder was the one that was unfired therefore not deformed from the case pressure.

Stock Desert Tech SRS A1