CCI primer issues

[GrayWolf09]

Had a great day at the range today. I couldn't believe how well my 1911 was shooting. Real nice guy next to me with his wife and daughter. We got to shooting each others guns and he told me he had problems with misfires in his Beretta .380. He said factory loads were fine but his reloads with CCI primers sometimes misfired. He showed me one of the misfires. It looked like a good primer strike but it did not go bang. Anyone else have those issues.

[Sky_DiveR]

Probably didn't seat the primer fully/properly. You have to bottom out the primer to "set" or "sensitize" the primer. It's usually noticed the primer is still protruding slightly (AKA high primer). You can tell by striking the round again and it fires (sometimes). From your description of the primer strike, that's what it sounds like.

[GrayWolf09]

Probably didn't seat the primer fully/properly. You have to bottom out the primer to "set" or "sensitize" the primer. It's usually noticed the primer is still protruding slightly (AKA high primer). You can tell by striking the round again and it fires (sometimes). From your description of the primer strike, that's what it sounds like.

Great insight. That sounds like the problem. The primer did look slightly high on the one round he showed me and he told me that sometimes they would fire if he tried to shoot them again. Thanks a lot!!!!!

[jwest]

Case lube in the primer can make it inoperable too.

CCI primers have been consistently the most reliable for my reloads, of course, ymmv.

[Bill Steele]

I have had no problems with CCI, even with lightened hammer springs on some of my pistols. Having said that, if he has put a lightened hammer spring in his Beretta (a common mod), CCI are some of the hardest primers. If he has a light spring, maybe loading with Federal primers will increase his reliability.

[Cowboy T]

This is why a lot of the competitors with "race guns" use Federal primers. They have the softest cups and are among the easiest (*are* the easiest?) to light up with those softened hammer strikes.

I have had exactly two FTF's with CCI primers out of several thousand. That's pretty good odds.

[Bill Steele]

Yes, definitely.

This is why a lot of the competitors with "race guns" use Federal primers. They have the softest cups and are among the easiest (*are* the easiest?) to light up with those softened hammer strikes.

I have had exactly two FTF's with CCI primers out of several thousand. That's pretty good odds.

By the size of that hole a recent poster here put in his ceiling with his primer feed tube, I would have to agree with the conclusion that Federal's are the easiest primers to light off.