This was not a total primer fail or it would not have burned the coating off half of your charge's granules. Is it possible that the primer had been contaminated with oil or solvent?
Do the Best with What you have !
Ball powders can be hard to ignite, the primer was not hot enough to light the powder reliably. I'd try a magnum primer.
BIG OR SMALL I LIKE THEM ALL, 577 TO 22 HORNET.
I will agree with elk hunter on the primers not being quite hot enough for ball powder. It looks like the load is slightly compressed also. Other issues might be a plugged or blocked flash hole, cleaning media, manufacturing burr folded over. Another might be a shallow seated primer or bad primer pocket not supporting the anvil completely. The coating is burned of a lot of the charge so the primer did ignite. Was it damp or humid when these were loaded? Could the powder have drawn moisture at some point. Could there have been a trace of moisture or solvent in the case when charged?
Another is how does the Indent look in the primer? Contenders sometimes give light hits if the hammer spring is getting weak or not completely locked up. The split locking bolt helps with the not completely locking up.
One quick question is Did the bullet set out some from the primers force? Slightly Longer Overall Length after?
I've had many more issues with stick powders not igniting properly than ball powders.
Powder can migrate through the flash hole into the primer and cause problems from resisting the crush from the firing pin as well as plugging up the flash hole. Some black powder cartridge shooters who use compressed powder charges place a small piece of tissue paper in the bottom of the case before dropping powder. Is your powder fine enough to do this? Especially since it looks like it was compressed. Was it compressed, or is this clumping due to something else? Could the inside of the case become contaminated by case lube, bullet lube, or something like that?
I had replaced the hammer spring just a couple months ago!! so thats all in good shape. its been dry ....This was a new package of CCI 300 primers
and the WW748 was a new batch bought last month!! I went back with the last of the 100 primers and used 2400 and it all did good!! OlDeuce
Do the Best with What you have !
OlDeuce a couple days ago you were in the mid 30'sF ??, that 748 was cold man! I don't think those large pistol primers are up to the task, maybe a LR primer or a 350 CCI would get it burning. .02
Why pistol primers with 748, most manuals show WLR primers or Mag primers
Last edited by swheeler; 11-19-2017 at 01:24 PM.
Charter Member #148
SWheeler.............Your thoughts are right on the mark!!! I really didn't give it much though at the time, That powder charge really need a Mag primer to
lite it all off!! I guess all the testing and loading of the WW748 was a stroke of luck it all fired except these 2 ....Live and learn..... we'll keep these CCI300
for the lite loads thats for sure!! I had bought these 300's when the primers were in short supply!! We Know Now!!! Ol Deuce
Do the Best with What you have !
I'm sure it will work better for you, may have to work up your new load with the primer change though. Keep in touch and good shooting!
Charter Member #148
Good morning
You snuck this one in and I missed it completely.
The fun of trying to remember everything always. If we can just remember to look in the books every time.
Have done near the same thing with our 375 H&H. Loaded a batch of 10. Grabbed a box of LRP to ignite cases filled with 4831 under 345 grain GC. Happily they were just half hang fires. Click / Bang. Got back home wondering and right there in the middle of the bench sat the box of LRP's.
Mike in Peru
"Behold The Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world". John 1:29
Male Guanaco out in dry lakebed at 10,800 feet south of Arequipa.
I've had that happen twice with H-4198 in the .45-70 in cold weather. Switching to magnum primers fixed it.
Chris.
Rule of thumb - All Ball powders need magnum primers for proper powder ignition
Regards
John
This was a lesson well learned!!!!! First of the first with Ball powder... First ........Live and learn......Makes for better loaders & Shooters!!!!!
Ol Deuce ................. Thanks for all the good input!!! ....................
Do the Best with What you have !
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |