Glock 19 Gen 4 - Light Primer Strikes - Random Issue - Remington 5.5 primers.

I have reloaded a lot of 9mm shells through my Lee Load Master Press. I reloaded 20 and was very happy with them. I used longshot powder and Remington 1-1/2 small pistol primers. Very happy with the groups.

I couldn't find the Remington SPP 1-1/2 so I got some Remington SPP 5-1/2 primers.

About 1 out of 10 shells fails to go off.

It appears that the firing pin has just barley came in contact with the primer when it doesn't go off.

I have tried re-feeding the lightly stuck primer back into the gun and sometimes it goes off and sometimes it doesn't.

I have read that these 5.5 primers are a lot thicker in the base and this could be causing the issue.

I reloaded with the 1.5 primers and had NO issues with them going off.

A few things should be noted

1- I dont trim pistol brass and didn't know it was necessary to do so.
2- I have NEVER had an issue with this gun and dont
3- My wife's S&W M&P fired these fine with a nice primer strike.
4-my gun fires flawlessly with factory rounds
5- The gun is VERY clean
6- I am crimping the cast bullet (I cast and powder coat my own) into the case (could it be that the bullet is going too far into the chamber?)

To be honest I am new to reloading pistols. I have loaded just a few thousand rounds so any advice would be great.

Too much crimp maybe?
Since it headspaces off the case mouth, if you have too much crimp you can run into this.
I did when I first started loading.

Should I be crimping these bullets at all? Or just run the cast bullets through the sizer and call it good?

I have loaded thousands upon thousands of 9’s and never had a problem with setback or ignition.
Those are the only benefits to a crimp.

After seating, I adjust the die to close the flare. No need to crimp the snot out of it.
Close the bell in the case so that it just touches the bullet and chambers freely.
I use Winchester brass and have found neck tension to be MORE than adequate.

I have been putting a pretty good crimp on the front of the cast. I guess I never took this into account. I will try reloading a few rounds and just taking the taper out and see what kind of primer strikes I am getting.

Any other suggestions from anyone else?

Had the same problem. Check that the primers are seated deep enough. Had a handful from a 1k run for some reason was not quite seated all the way. These were in a Glock 17 and had light strikes. It was almost like the first strike was slightly trying to seat the primer further. Went back through the lot of loaded rounds and found the unseated ones. I was crimping the load as I always had.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mallardsx2

I have reloaded a lot of 9mm shells through my Lee Load Master Press. I reloaded 20 and was very happy with them. I used longshot powder and Remington 1-1/2 small pistol primers. Very happy with the groups.

I couldn't find the Remington SPP 1-1/2 so I got some Remington SPP 5-1/2 primers.

About 1 out of 10 shells fails to go off.

It appears that the firing pin has just barley came in contact with the primer when it doesn't go off.

I have tried re-feeding the lightly stuck primer back into the gun and sometimes it goes off and sometimes it doesn't.

I have read that these 5.5 primers are a lot thicker in the base and this could be causing the issue.

I reloaded with the 1.5 primers and had NO issues with them going off.

A few things should be noted

1- I dont trim pistol brass and didn't know it was necessary to do so.
2- I have NEVER had an issue with this gun and dont
3- My wife's S&W M&P fired these fine with a nice primer strike.
4-my gun fires flawlessly with factory rounds
5- The gun is VERY clean
6- I am crimping the cast bullet (I cast and powder coat my own) into the case (could it be that the bullet is going too far into the chamber?)

To be honest I am new to reloading pistols. I have loaded just a few thousand rounds so any advice would be great.

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As to point 1, I don't trim semi auto pistol brass either and I see it as unnecessary. I've never had a 45 or 9mm case stretch enough to not chamber before it was time to discard it.

Failures to fire / light strikes can be from a few things

1. Primers seated too shallow. If the primers are seated too shallow, the firing pin will sometimes seat them further without lighting them off. TBH, doesn't sound like the case here with the Remington's being thicker in the base, but it is possible.

2. Primers seated too deep. For obvious reasons, if the firing pin can't hit deep enough on the primer, it won't ignite. Also does not sound like the cause of your issue.

3. Weak striker spring. Possible. If a spring is worn to where it's marginal, it might still work well with softer primers (like federal) but fail with thicker ones (Remington). This would explain why your Glock has an occasional issue but the M&P doesn't (M&P's striker spring might still be good and strong). How long since you replaced your striker spring?

4. Incorrect headspacing. If you have too much headspace, the firing pin can't reach the primer. Also possible in your case. Excess headspace could be caused by several things: Cartridges that are too short in their OAL (especially if they've been trimmed too short; likely not your issue), undersized bullets that allow the cartridge to seat too deep in the chamber (possible; Glocks have loose chambers. If you are using Lee FCD I would try loading without it, or backing off the crimp a little if using a regular crimping/seating die)

5. Worn firing pin. Over time your firing pins can shorten slightly as they wear. If yours has a high round count on it, consider replacing it. I don't know what Glock firing pins cost, but it's probably a pittance. I know you can get an AR firing pin for $5 or so.

[QUOTE=jamesp81;4281791]As to point 1, I don't trim semi auto pistol brass either and I see it as unnecessary. I've never had a 45 or 9mm case stretch enough to not chamber before it was time to discard it.

Failures to fire / light strikes can be from a few things
4. Incorrect headspacing. If you have too much headspace, the firing pin can't reach the primer. Also possible in your case. Excess headspace could be caused by several things: Cartridges that are too short in their OAL (especially if they've been trimmed too short; likely not your issue), undersized bullets that allow the cartridge to seat too deep in the chamber (possible; Glocks have loose chambers or too much crimp (crimp allows end of brass to extend into throat instead of headspacing on mouth of the brass). If you are using Lee FCD I would try loading without it, or backing off the crimp a little if using a regular crimping/seating die)

Modified item4.

Too much crimp was the culprit. I am crimping the **** out of these shells.

that and don't buy into the wolf action job thing. Replace just he disconnect and leave the springs alone. I did springs in my 20 and 29 and ran into the same problem you have.

I have the ghost trigger in mine. I did it so long ago that I cant remember what I replaced. I hope that isnt causing the issue.

ghost trigger kit comes with a lighter firing pin spring which will cause the problem I had 4 of those ghost kits in different glocks and swapped back in the stock firing pin spring and they were fine after that. Wolf springs sells the standard firing pin springs for a few bucks. If you've never changed one buy a couple of the spring retainer half mood clips because about every time I pull one apart one of those little ####### goes flying and they seem to evaporate before they hit the floor.

I don't know what "very clean" means to you, but Glocks tend to accumulate crud in the firing pin channel to the point they will misfire if not cleaned out on a regular basis.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mallardsx2

Too much crimp was the culprit. I am crimping the **** out of these shells.

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/\ Why?

Enough taper crimp to hold the bullet in the casing is all that is needed. Rimless pistol cartridges like the 9mm headspace on the case mouth. If you're crimping the casing so much that the casing is no longer headspacing on the case mouth, you're setting yourself up for all sorts of problems.

As for Glocks, I've have found them to be incredibly reliable until people start trying to "improve" them.

you really dont need to crimp stuff, just straighten the bell back out of the case. that should give plenty of tension on the bullet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mallardsx2

I have the ghost trigger in mine. I did it so long ago that I cant remember what I replaced. I hope that isnt causing the issue.

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Depends on what was replaced. I've been messing with some tuned up Glocks and when the striker spring pressure gets lightened or the firing pin gets lightened they get finicky on primers for exactly the reason you mentioned. Some primers are harder than others.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lefty o

you really dont need to crimp stuff, just straighten the bell back out of the case. that should give plenty of tension on the bullet.

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Yep, I don't "crimp" either. I just remove the flare with a taper crimp die, just enough to consistently pass the plunk test. Same with my 45 ACPs. Case neck tension is enough, for my 5 semi-autos......

I looked these up and found that Remington 5 1/2 primers are magnum pistol primers. Could the problem be that they have a thicker base, cup, whatever? Also, as magnum pistol primers could it be that they were never intended to be fired in a 9mm pistol? Maybe 10mm but not a 9mm?

I have never had a box of these, but do have CCI magnum primers and have always wondered if they would work in a semi-auto pistol?

I also find it interesting that they function fine in your wife's Shield, another striker-fired pistol?

Anyway, maybe nothing wrong with your reloading techniques, just the wrong primers.

Oh well, it is an interesting topic.

I guess I should be out buying flowers for my wife instead of reading this thread.

exile

I would be surprised if magnum primers don't work in a 9mm. If they didn't, I look at the gun as the problem. I have experimented with small rifle magnum primers in some 9mm reloads and every gun, even my lightly sprung, plastic striker fired pistol, fired them reliably..

I have tried these shells in a variety of other pistols. They work fine in all of them.