Hard Remington primers!!

[FergusonTO35]

Recently I've encountered some very hard Remington small pistol primers. I made some loads in 9X19 and .32 magnum last weekend and found that about 10% of these primers are very hard. They will not fire even with a second or third strike, all that they show is a shallow pin prick indentation. All the other primers show a nice round indentation and fire the first time. I bought this box of primers about 6 months ago. Normally I use CCI or Winchester but this is the first time I've ever had this problem with any brand, including Remingtons I've used in the past. Anyone else having trouble with Remington primers?

[ReloaderFred]

The first thing I would check is the seating depth of the primers. Ideally they should be seated .004" below flush.

Some primers need an adjustment to the seating stem when changing from one brand to another.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[44man]

After two or three strikes I have to wonder if mainsprings have been changed? Some hammer springs take a set too.
You NEED a strong hammer, firing pin or striker hit.
Rem should fire!

[rintinglen]

I ran into a batch of CCI that worked just as you describe. I had picked up two flats of small pistol primers for cheapsies at a gun show, and though I promptly used one, the other sat around until the great ammo shortage of 08-09 when I used them to load up some 38's. Like you observed, over a fifth did not go off on the first shot. I resorted to firing them out SA, and some took two or more additional hits before they went bang.

My best guess is that somehow or other, Small Rifle Primers got in the box, or else CCI used the wrong brass in manufacturing them. Either way, it was unsettling.

[FergusonTO35]

Both the guns I fired them with are less than a year old, a Ruger SR9c and Charter Arms Undercoverette. They have no problems with CCI or Winchester primers. Dead primers are an annoyance on the range but very frustrating when hunting, and possibly life or death in a defensive situation. I've heard that Federal primers are very reliable. Is that true?

[44man]

Both the guns I fired them with are less than a year old, a Ruger SR9c and Charter Arms Undercoverette. They have no problems with CCI or Winchester primers. Dead primers are an annoyance on the range but very frustrating when hunting, and possibly life or death in a defensive situation. I've heard that Federal primers are very reliable. Is that true?
Yes, Federal primers are all I use for accuracy. But it is not the final answer. It is your guns.
My revolvers will fire military LR primers.

[FergusonTO35]

Oddly, my local gun shop has Federal Gold Medal primers available for less than the standard primers from other brands. Guess I'll have to stock up on 'em.

[Salmoneye]

Federal primers come in big thick plastic packaging for a reason...

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=654508

[44man]

Based on a guns design, I would just go to the Fed primers.
There is not a lot you can do with some guns. It is not your fault and I did not want to infer that.
Only changing to lighter springs can cause that problem on a gun that was good to start with.

[bigboredad]

Like others I would first suspect a high primer once that is ruled out then take a look at the gun. If you have no problems with cci Remingtons should be no problem and yes the feds will be the easiest to pop in my experience

[bob208]

i had that problem many years ago with cci. it was the primers because i had missfires with lg.and small pistol and rifle. nothing was wrong with any of the guns. it was so bad i switched to federiel remingyon and winchester. in fact i still have an ammo can fullof cci primes. i don't trust.

[waksupi]

The problem with your CCI primers, was your seating technique. I was also having the problem, so contacted CCI. I was told that their primers have a much sharper corner on the primer than other brands, and you had to be sure they were seated firmly. After I had that advise, and made sure they bottomed out, misfires disappeared.

[dale2242]

After 50 years of reloading, I have NEVER had a fail to fire caused by defective primers.
I typically load 4k-5k rounds a year.
ALL of the fail to fires I have encountered were caused by gun issues.
I have used every brand of primer I could buy at a decent price.
I always store my primers in a cool dry place.
I have been very careful not to allow the primers to get contaminated.
I have used some very old primers. I assume they were properly stored.
Maybe I have just been lucky, but I am very careful to seat primer properly....dale

[FergusonTO35]

Fired some more ammo with that batch of primers yesterday with no problems. maybe I'm getting out of the defective ones now.

[44man]

If you look at the anvil on a primer you will see it sticks up a little. It needs seated just enough to push the anvil flush. That sensitizes the primer.
I believe there is a tiny gap between the anvil and compound so if you drop a box, they will not go off. You need to push the anvil into contact.
The edge of a cup might stop that in the pocket but it still can be felt with a hand primer.
A firm seat is needed but if you prime on a press and use too much pressure, you can crack the compound.
If not seated fully, the pin will drive the primer in deeper so you have a light dent. That can also crack the compound and make the primer fail.
Such an easy component can be complicated. [smilie=1: