Duff Load

[abolter]

Last year I had a 30-06 round I had loaded go whooomph instead of bang. The deer at the other end did not fall over either!!

 

A mate of mine has just had the same with 1 round of his .243.

 

It was my understanding that loads with no powder would tend to leave the bullet up the barrel, is this true?

 

In both cases it seemed like a "slow burn" almost as if the pulling of the trigger and the discharge were delayed slightly and then underpowered.

 

What is the most likely cause please?

 

(In both cases a thorough check of the bore of the rifle was carried out before anything else was done, for the record and in both cases all the rounds fired since have been fine)

 

In the case of the .243 the primer looks noticeably different after firing than the others but didnt when being put in. I dont remember this being the case for the 30-06

[Jagged 77]

Factory or home reloads? Seems like some contaminant got in amongst the powder perhaps?

[abolter]

homeload.

 

What sort of contaminant tho? Only thing possible would be cleaning media and I am meticulous about cleaning out flash hole and cases

[JB1]

Could it be case lube ir damp powder ?

[abolter]

shouldnt be as all cases are dried in tumbler for 2 hours before being loaded. unless I made the numbers up by 1 last minute (its a thought)

[Jagged 77]

If your using stainless media then a damp case might be the culprit. I always give mine plenty of time to dry thoroughly.

[Scotch_egg]

I've managed to load my 6mmbr with no powder. The bullet jammed in the lands.

[5R-Twist]

Have found that handling primers with sweaty or greasy hands has had the odd affect on mine.

I have used gino gloves for last couple of years and its not affected any since.

Just a thought

Rgds

v

[henryo]

Things that might contribute:

 

Anything blocking the flash holes (tumbling media etc)

A mild primer (consider magnums to be surer of good ignition)

Ball powders (the burn rate is mainly controlled by surface coatings as opposed to extruded which can be made slower by making the kernels physically bigger. Hence they tend to be harder to ignite).

Really low temperatures (like freezing)

Small flash holes (.308 Lapua palma comes to mind)

[abolter]

Things that might contribute:

 

Anything blocking the flash holes (tumbling media etc)

A mild primer (consider magnums to be surer of good ignition)

Ball powders (the burn rate is mainly controlled by surface coatings as opposed to extruded which can be made slower by making the kernels physically bigger. Hence they tend to be harder to ignite).

Really low temperatures (like freezing)

Small flash holes (.308 Lapua palma comes to mind)

I am curious about a mild primer. How often might they be come across?

 

I reckon I have loaded over 2000 rounds with only the one problem

[henryo]

Should only be an issue combined with other factors (e.g. ball powders and sub-zero temps). Even then it might only be now and again you get a hang fire.

[farmer7]

I am curious about a mild primer. How often might they be come across?

 

I reckon I have loaded over 2000 rounds with only the one problem

I'm curious too. I've been homeloading since '95 and over many thousands of rounds I've been lucky enough to not have had a misfire yet in any of my rifles, i do recall one or two with pistol ammo back in the day though.

 

I don't know how common they are but at the last rifle shoot I was at I witnessed at least three. Don't know the reasons though. I've always used match primers which possibly have better quality control?

[henryo]

Sorry all I was trying to say is that in a situation where reliability is more important than a small improvement (if any) in accuracy/velocity spreads (e.g. most hunting) you might want to use a magnum primer as a matter of course (just to ensure good ignition).

 

Don't know about consistencies of a specific primer. I just use CCI/Rem and have never had an issue.

[gbal]

I'm curious too. I've been homeloading since '95 and over many thousands of rounds I've been lucky enough to not have had a misfire yet in any of my rifles, i do recall one or two with pistol ammo back in the day though.

I don't know how common they are but at the last rifle shoot I was at I witnessed at least three. Don't know the reasons though. I've always used match primers which possibly have better quality control?

The better makes of 'standard primers' are not known for substantially poorer quality control in a 'goes bang' sense.(it's not immediately apparent how duff ones would be separated out,unless there were gross visible ?)imperfections ...what can happen at club shoots etc,is that old military surplus is tried....and can fail...but you would probably notice that from the weapons/etc.

Gbal

[dave thorniley]

hi sorry to here about your misfire its probably down to a bad primer iwould discard them primers and carry on it happened to me on a fox a couple of years ago, you seem a sensible loader I wouldn't worry cheers