Light Hammer or Bad Primer

[kdmmcc]

The issue: I'm reloading 125 grain .38 spc with cci primers and clays powder. I'm shooting it out of an uberti 1873 carbine and a pair of ruger new vaquero pistols. I've had over a dozen light strikes and failures to fire with the rifle in a batch of 200 reloads; the same round with dented primer, fires fine through the pistol. I've tightened the hammer screw on rifle as far as it will go.. still no joy. the same rifle fires commercial .38 special with no problems
My primers are old, maybe 5-10 years but were kept in sealed ammo can; no corrosion evident.
I'm new to reloading, this was my first batch of rounds... but I'm not sure what to do now. I know it's not a great word picture, but any advice/workarounds?
s/f

[XDRoX]

If you're new to reloading the most common cause of this problem is high primers. In other words, you are not seating the primers deep enough.

Did you try to fire the rounds a second time?

[kdmmcc]

Yes, fired them through the pistol and they worked. I'm using a dillor 550b press... I guess I can bear down on the handle more to seat the primers...

[XDRoX]

Yes, fired them through the pistol and they worked. I'm using a dillor 550b press... I guess I can bear down on the handle more to seat the primers...

Yep, if they fired on the 2nd try, then you had high primers. Just use more force when seating them. Very common newbie mistake. Don't try this, but you could use all your strength while seating and the primer would probably not go off. Many times I've primed a case with a crimped pocket. The primer gets stuck. I've had to force it in crushing it. Done this lots of time and never had one go off. They're more durable than people think.

[scarville]

I am assuming the guns in question are in good shape and there are no weak main springs.

Not seating primers deep enough is probably most common problem a new reloader will have. After seating a primer take it out and look at it. It should be below the top of the case. IIRC, the SAAMI spec is 0.002" to 0.005". After a short time you will be able to tell by feel if it seated correctly. However, if one feels wrong take the extra few seconds to check it. Nothing ruins a shooting session like ammo that doesn't go off reliably (can you guess how I know this )

I suppose it is possible to crush a primer when seating it but I've never had it happen. I know some shooters who believe that that seating a primer with a little more force than necessary makes it more sensitive but I have never noticed any difference. OTOH, I think that cleaning the primer pockets makes the reload more reliable.

[kmca]

That's the reason I like to store my loads in those divided ammo boxes, a high primer stands out.

[Fyathyrio]

That's the reason I like to store my loads in those divided ammo boxes, a high primer stands out.

Yup, I do the same thing, after filling the box I hold it up so the light reflects off the primers and look down each row...a high one will stand out clearly.

[zfields]

Cci are a little hard also. I switched to winchester and have had zero light strikes.

[Cowboy T]

Can you post a picture of a fired cartridge, showing us the height of the primer?

[XDRoX]

Can you post a picture of a fired cartridge, showing us the height of the primer?

A fired cartridge may look OK, right? Sometimes upon the first firing the firing pin can actually seat the primer. Once the primer is correctly seated it fires on the second strike.

[kdmmcc]

I've looked at all the fired primers and all the unfired rounds in the box; I can not see any high primers, all are flush with cartridge base. Thanks for advice on 'hard' cci primers; I hear that before. Will reload with another brand, same data, same guns and try again.
The guns are in perfect working order, used for SASS shooting, all have had work done on them. I may have to take the rifle in to check hammer spring tension; I can't tighten it further.
Thanks for all the good advice.

[Fyathyrio]

I had 4 or 5 FTFs out of my first batch of 100, cause was high primers. I evaluated my process and found it was my seating position causing the variation in my primer seating stroke. I had biased my body to the left to grab brass/bullets and was only using my arm to push the handle vice my full body. Once I shifted my position so my arm was straight, my primer seating was much more uniform.

[Cheep]

If they are seated correctly then it's most likely a light hammer spring. I had to change to Winchester primers in an auto and haven't had any problem since. I just use the hard primers in a revolver and it eats anything.