Better home rolled .223/5.56

[Member 34319]

Out of the tens if not hundreds of thousands of rounds I've loaded in my time. The only times I've had hang fires was for two reasons.

1st was really old primers. I was given some 10-15 year old primers. 1-10 out of the case of 700-800 that were in the box had delayed fire.

2nd case was an extremely dirty AR with an aftermarket trigger. Not only was the firing pin and bolt completely caked with carbon crud and lubricant, because it was shot suppressed for such a long time, the firing control area of the lower was also caked with crud and lubricant. Between the hammer fighting crap and the firing pin fighting crap, it started to hang fire.

 

[OneEyeOpen]

Thanks partsed.

 

[po18guy]

Entirely possible with a light charge of ball powder. However, it sounds like insufficient bullet pull was employed.

 

[partsed]

OK GUYS, someone find the article for me. i did not save it, but it's out there.
An engineer working at CCI/SPEER? did testing with different primers, standard and magnums. You would not be able to feel the difference, it took a computer, because it happened in milliseconds. The primer ignited causing the bullet to jump out of the case, before the powder ignited (shock wave) then the powder ignited as the bullet was leaving the case. If this wasn't the weirdest article I have read.

Mysteries And Misconceptions Of The All-Important Primer

By Allan Jones Most component primers have a little disk of paper between the

www.shootingtimes.com

 

[CLT65]

1st was really old primers. I was given some 10-15 year old primers.

So how old were the "really old" primers?

In my reloading experience, 10-15 years is practically new. I've used primers far, far older than that. If there was a problem with primers a mere decade-and-a-half young, I'd suspect that they were stored poorly.

 

[DizzyJ]

Mysteries And Misconceptions Of The All-Important Primer

By Allan Jones Most component primers have a little disk of paper between the

www.shootingtimes.com

I've read that before, but it was a great refresher. Thanks for posting the link!

 

[po18guy]

So how old were the "really old" primers?

In my reloading experience, 10-15 years is practically new. I've used primers far, far older than that. If there was a problem with primers a mere decade-and-a-half young, I'd suspect that they were stored poorly.

Most of my primers are from the 70s and some were given to me decades ago that were in 60s-era packaging. Never a misfire. Luck? Certainly, but I must do my part as well.

 

[gmerkt]

Primer age by itself, I've used some really old ones before that went bang with every shot. Like, Winchester domed primers that had to be 40 years old if a day. And, I didn't have the dome-shaped primer seating cup, just the flat one. They still all worked. When my cousin gave me bunch of his stuff in year 2001, there were a lot of primers from the 70's in there, never a problem.

BUT: Old primers, improperly stored, could go bad. Meaning exposure to moisture.

I'd like to see how this turns out. Routine primer pocket cleaning in my own case has never shown itself to be an issue of reliability, so far as I could tell.

I agree that primer seating depth is way more likely an issue than cleanliness of pockets with respect to hang fires.

Already stated, the inside of an AR bolt and carrier can get really dirty. Enough that the firing pin might not always achieve the amount of inertia to give the primer a solid strike.

 

[Caveman Jim]

If you really want to get accurate primer seating for match ammo then you really need this…

Precision Primer tool

I picked up some precision tools as a lot and these are items I will not be using so they are up for sale. Payment preferences are; Cash FTF, USPS MO or by mule. No electronic payments will be accepted, I’m boycotting PayPal. Please respond with questions or offers in a conversation (PM) as to...

www.northwestfirearms.com

 

[Member 34319]

So how old were the "really old" primers?

In my reloading experience, 10-15 years is practically new. I've used primers far, far older than that. If there was a problem with primers a mere decade-and-a-half young, I'd suspect that they were stored poorly.

Couldn't tell you got they were stored. Free is free! Just posting my experiences with hang fires and the causes per my best understanding.

 

[Knebel]

I find it very time consuming cleaning the primer pockets by hand. I get good results with an ultrasonic cleaner, I throw a batch in the cleaner, then dry in the oven, then tumble to a shine (you could skip that actually).

That usually leaves no crap in the primerpockets!

 

[po18guy]

Have been looking at various motorized multi-station case prep devices. Would certainly help in processing sizeable lots of brass.