Dead primers in old hand loads.

[IALoder]

That's really weird! I wonder if the priming compound didn't get any "boom" mix/chemical in the tiny amount of compound in the primer?

[markm]

That's really weird! I wonder if the priming compound didn't get any "boom" mix/chemical in the tiny amount of compound in the primer?

It's puzzling. I've run probably 20k of these primers so far with no such problem. And then to have 2 in the same mag fail?? Both with that LC 4 stake brass? Sometimes the little things you don't think are a clue are in fact the answer.

I wish I'd saved a tray of the silver Wolfs for reference so I could see if the compound color was indeed green.

[IALoder]

It's puzzling. I've run probably 20k of these primers so far with no such problem. And then to have 2 in the same mag fail?? Both with that LC 4 stake brass? Sometimes the little things you don't think are a clue are in fact the answer.

I wish I'd saved a tray of the silver Wolfs for reference so I could see if the compound color was indeed green.

2 in 20k is definitely puzzling, hopefully it's only those 2. Who knows man, maybe they just overlooked putting something in while manufacturing the primers.

[markm]

Could be. I normally lay out all the primers and give a visual that the compound is there. Then hand prime with my Sinclair priming tool which gives you a really good feel for seating.

I may have to dig into some ammo cans to see if I can spot any similar ammo. There was a limited date range where I had that 4 stake LC brass for hand loading.

[tomme boy]

Wolf srm primers just have a thicker cup. Nothing special at all about them other than they were cheap

[markm]

Wolf srm primers just have a thicker cup.

Yeah. That's why they're magnum rifle primers.

Nothing special at all about them other than they were cheap

Wrong. They're much better primers that produce significantly lower S.D.s.... Thus thread question. What would cause such a rare failure?

If they were just a cheap primer, I wouldn't use them at all.

[MegademiC]

Thanks for the overwhelming support and response to this tragic situation, guys.

It aint much, but its honest work

Any way oil could have found its way in?
It seems weird to be so consistent, then have 2 failures.

[Joker]

Is it possible they weren’t fully seated?

[tomme boy]

Yeah. That's why they're magnum rifle primers.



Wrong. They're much better primers that produce significantly lower S.D.s.... Thus thread question. What would cause such a rare failure?

If they were just a cheap primer, I wouldn't use them at all.

All US manufactured primers that are mag also have a increased charge in them. The mag russian primers were the most weak primers made. They were not advised to use in any ball powders as they would not work. They had a specific 556 mag primer to use with ball powders. They were all known to have misfires. The only reason people think they were good primers was David Tubb used them for one year and stopped because of issues with QC.

I bought 25K of the lp primers and ended up selling them off because of the duds.

[Bimmer]

Yesterday Pappabear shot a mag full of some old 77gr handloads I had in a mag in the safe for years.

Since they came out of a loaded mag... Is it possible that they had been chambered and ejected before?

We've all heard about the little primer strikes that happen upon chambering, and how that can cause the lightly struck primers to become duds, right?


Grasping at straws...