Pics of reloading warning signs

[wildcard]

Does anyone have pictures of the common warning signs/ dangers such as:

Flattened primers
Case seperations
Head seperations
Blown out primers
etc.

I'm particularly interestes in flattened primers. I hear a lot about it, but i'm sure I and the newbie's don't know what it even looks like.

[rksimple]

I'll try to get some pics tonight. I probably still have some Federal cases around with HUGE primer pockets from blown primers.

Split necks is another. I usually find them by hearing a different sound when I'm handling the cases, more than visually identifying them.

[ar15barrels]

Does anyone have pictures of the common warning signs/ dangers such as:

Flattened primers
Case seperations
Head seperations
Blown out primers
etc.

I'm particularly interestes in flattened primers. I hear a lot about it, but i'm sure I and the newbie's don't know what it even looks like.

Do you have a reloading manual?
The good ones will have pictures of this stuff in them.

[ocabj]

The NRA Guide to Reloading is a good book:

http://www.nrastore.com/nra/Product.aspx?productid=PB%2001779

Get the ABC's of Reloading, too.

[Fjold]

Check out Steve's pages for all kinds of pictures and explanations.

http://stevespages.com/diagnosingproblems.html

Flattened primer on the left

[wildcard]

Thanks for the pics and links. Just what I was looking for. Now I know!

Never thought to look through my manuals for the pics.. or maybe I just forgot about them since I was more focused on the "how to" when I first started.

[PistolPete75]

are flatened primers bad? happens to me all the time.

[PistolPete75]

nevermind, the severity isn't that bad. i guess, i'm running a little hot.

[mecam]

Picture on the right seems like a very light load. Even the Rem factory UMCs are flatter than that. My primers are in between the two.

[xrMike]

Here's a pic of (what I think is) an example of over-pressure, although I'm still not sure what was going on here... Our club was having its monthly plate match and one member was shooting .38 super handloads, and he started to pass around his empties, trying to get an opinion of what was happening:



He was shooting a 1911-style semi-auto.

It looks like a small amount of the primer cup, upon firing, was flowing back INTO the hole in the breechface (through which the firing pin protrudes) and was getting sheared off as the brass was extracted.

Nobody who was present knew for certain what was happening here, but this was the best guess that anybody came up with.

If it was overpressure though, how come the circumference/outer edge of the primer cup doesn't look "pushed out" against the brass? The only evidence of over-pressure is the metal around the primer strike.

If anybody knows exactly what was happening here, I'd be glad to hear it.

[CSACANNONEER]

I only know of one caliber where a flattened primmer MIGHT NOT be a sign of excessive pressure. If you load and shoot 50BMG (and, probably 510DTC) you can and will find flattened primmers even with mild loads. Of course, this means that you need to pay closer attention to the other "normal" signs of excessive pressure when shooting the big 50s.

[ar15barrels]

Here's a pic of (what I think is) an example of over-pressure, although I'm still not sure what was going on here... Our club was having its monthly plate match and one member was shooting .38 super handloads, and he started to pass around his empties, trying to get an opinion of what was happening

Oversized firing pin hole in the slide, or undersized firing pin.
Pressures are NOT high on those loads.
Even at moderate pressures, the primer will extrude into the firing pin hole.
That's why the firing pin should FILL the firing pin hole.

Think of the primer and case as a fancy gasket to hold pressure.
His slide and firing pin fit are causing a leak.
The gasket is squishing out to fill that leak.
When the barrel drops during unlocking, the extra primer cup gets either wiped off or sheared off.