I had a couple of primers blow up on me while reloading

[EddieCoyle]

Check this out:



Here are the details:
I was loading 9MM on a Dillon 1050 (subsonic 147s). The brass is mixed, but includes some outdoor range pickups from shortly after the snow melted. For those of you that don't know this, the snow melt yields a ton of brass. Everything people shot during the winter that ended up on the ground suddenly becomes visible.

Here's why it happened
Take a look at the closer photo below. When the sizing die decapped the case, it didn't remove the whole primer. Instead, it punched out the bottom of the primer and left the sides of it stuck in the primer pocket. I attribute this to corrosion during the period the brass sat under the snow.

Unlike most other presses, the Dillon 1050 primes the case at the bottom of the downstroke. The 750, 550, LNL, RCBS 2000, Square Deal B and others prime the case when you push forward on the handle when it's all the way up. If the 1050 worked like this, I would've felt resistance and stopped. Since the 1050 primes at bottom, you can't feel the primer go in over the force of sizing, swaging, seating, and crimping.

The bottom of the exploded primer is stuck inside it, but broken off (I poked the bottom disk out after I took the photo). The priming anvil is smaller in diameter than the primer. When the press tried to insert the new primer, the remaining portion of the old primer prevented it from seating. The primer anvil pushed hard enough on the bottom of the new primer to break it out with enough velocity to set it off.

It happened a couple of times. I'm not sure if I should decap this brass separately or just keep going and wear ear plugs.

The lesson here is if you have wet brass, dry it, and be careful with cases that sat under the snow for a season.

 

[Lucas McCain]

I am glad you weren't injured Jim.

 

[bottle-cap]

Holy Crap. Great info. Glad I use a 550.

 

[steven grammont]

That must make a person shit their pants rather quickly.

 

[Picton]

So... you wasted two primers?

That's like six dollars, isn't it? Shame...

/s Glad there were no injuries.

 

[SJan]

Why didn't they swaging station prevent this?

 

[EddieCoyle]

There's really no chance of injury when it happens like this - except maybe to your ear drums.

I just noticed that it's always Winchester brass. I'll probably sort those out.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Why didn't they swaging station prevent this?

The end of the swaging button is small enough to fit inside of the primer remnant. The shoulder of it just flattens the crimp (if present).

 

[Road_Clam]

Dam, that's a crazy circumstance. I've punched thousands of primers out of range brass and never had a outer primer separation. Even NATO staked / swaged primers push out in one piece. Im not a fan of WIN primers as they always feel a bit "soft" pressing in vs. CCI's

 

[MarkT]

Holy $hit, that's the first time of heard of that happening. Glad you're ok

 

[pastera]

Check this out:

View attachment 620961

Here are the details:
I was loading 9MM on a Dillon 1050 (subsonic 147s). The brass is mixed, but includes some outdoor range pickups from shortly after the snow melted. For those of you that don't know this, the snow melt yields a ton of brass. Everything people shot during the winter that ended up on the ground suddenly becomes visible.

Here's why it happened
Take a look at the closer photo below. When the sizing die decapped the case, it didn't remove the whole primer. Instead, it punched out the bottom of the primer and left the sides of it stuck in the primer pocket. I attribute this to corrosion during the period the brass sat under the snow.

Unlike most other presses, the Dillon 1050 primes the case at the bottom of the downstroke. The 750, 550, LNL, RCBS 2000, Square Deal B and others prime the case when you push forward on the handle when it's all the way up. If the 1050 worked like this, I would've felt resistance and stopped. Since the 1050 primes at bottom, you can't feel the primer go in over the force of sizing, swaging, seating, and crimping.

The bottom of the exploded primer is stuck inside it, but broken off (I poked the bottom disk out after I took the photo). The priming anvil is smaller in diameter than the primer. When the press tried to insert the new primer, the remaining portion of the old primer prevented it from seating. The primer anvil pushed hard enough on the bottom of the new primer to break it out with enough velocity to set it off.

It happened a couple of times. I'm not sure if I should decap this brass separately or just keep going and wear ear plugs.

The lesson here is if you have wet brass, dry it, and be careful with cases that sat under the snow for a season.

View attachment 620967

Also have seen this with brass that has been wet tumbled with the primers in.
Lee loadmaster is the same - prime on the downstroke but it doesn't have the same leverage so you have a chance of catching it before the boom
I've tried swaging on my Lee APP and I can't feel the difference between an open pocket and one with the primer sidewall left in with any reliability

Only method I've found is to hand inspect if I suspect a batch of brass has stuck primer walls.

 

[drgrant]

At least it wasn't a 650, then the whole turret/magazine explodes and goes FR lol

 

[413dan]

At least it wasn't a 650, then the whole turret/magazine explodes and goes FR lol

I have a 650,

wasn't there a work around for this scenario the had been come up with?

 

[paul73]

I have a 650,

wasn't there a work around for this scenario the had been come up with?

As I understood the workaround was the 750 that uses older 550 design.

 

[Matt_SERE]

EC, thanks for such a thorough sharing of your thoughts on this.

Glad you're okay.

I remember being taught to wear eye protection when reloading shotgun shell sin the 70s. Do any of you wear it these days when reloading?

 

[Fixxah]

Do you use the PW auto setup?

 

[kerryman71]

EC, thanks for such a thorough sharing of your thoughts on this.

Glad you're okay.

I remember being taught to wear eye protection when reloading shotgun shell sin the 70s. Do any of you wear it these days when reloading?

I always wear eye protection when reloading.

 

[allen-1]

EC, thanks for such a thorough sharing of your thoughts on this.

Glad you're okay.

I remember being taught to wear eye protection when reloading shotgun shell sin the 70s. Do any of you wear it these days when reloading?

Always.

But - I wear corrective lenses everywhere but bed, so it's not an extra "safety" step - just failing eyes.

 

[one-eyed Jack]

There's a guy at the Mill who gives reloading classes. LOL. Jack.

 

[Road_Clam]

Here's a concerning pic of a successful sideways primer seat. This happened to me when I first got my Dillon 650 and had no experience with the press. I guess a primer wont ignite from side forces. This could have ended up REAL bad. After a call to Dillon CS the issue was incorrect indexing turret alignment. Dillon sent me an alignment tool and walked me through the process on the phone. Now thousands of rounds later I have the experience to "feel" when something is wrong with the primer seating step.

 

[kerryman71]

Here's a concerning pic of a successful sideways primer seat. This happened to me when I first got my Dillon 650 and had no experience with the press. I guess a primer wont ignite from side forces. This could have ended up REAL bad. After a call to Dillon CS the issue was incorrect indexing turret alignment. Dillon sent me an alignment tool and walked me through the process on the phone. Now thousands of rounds later I have the experience to "feel" when something is wrong with the primer seating step.

View attachment 621052

That has happened to me a few times with my RCBS Turret press.

 

[gerrycaruso]

I've had that happen with a 650 and as others have already said, when one primer goes, they all go. It's quite loud.

 

[Broc]

Here's a concerning pic of a successful sideways primer seat. This happened to me when I first got my Dillon 650 and had no experience with the press. I guess a primer wont ignite from side forces. This could have ended up REAL bad. After a call to Dillon CS the issue was incorrect indexing turret alignment. Dillon sent me an alignment tool and walked me through the process on the phone. Now thousands of rounds later I have the experience to "feel" when something is wrong with the primer seating step.

View attachment 621052

I tried to shoot a primer like that this weekend (not on purpose), nothing happened. It was someone else's reload.

 

[one-eyed Jack]

It may reach the point where we'll have to save our spent primers, resize them, flatten out the dent and put in some primer compound and a new anvil. Jack.

 

[steven grammont]

It may reach the point where we'll have to save our spent primers, resize them, flatten out the dent and put in some primer compound and a new anvil. Jack.

I thought that same thing over a year ago

 

[allen-1]

It may reach the point where we'll have to save our spent primers, resize them, flatten out the dent and put in some primer compound and a new anvil. Jack.

There is a mewe group dedicated to just that practice.

A guy I shoot with reloads his primers. He described the process to me - and I was like "f*** that noise - that's way too much time/effort".

 

[Fixxah]

Here's a concerning pic of a successful sideways primer seat. This happened to me when I first got my Dillon 650 and had no experience with the press. I guess a primer wont ignite from side forces. This could have ended up REAL bad. After a call to Dillon CS the issue was incorrect indexing turret alignment. Dillon sent me an alignment tool and walked me through the process on the phone. Now thousands of rounds later I have the experience to "feel" when something is wrong with the primer seating step.

View attachment 621052

A crunching feeling is a dead giveaway. Usually in crimped cases that needed a bit more swage or reaming with the Weldon chamferring bit.

 

[Ranger007]

I may have crapped egg rolls.

 

[Broc]

It may reach the point where we'll have to save our spent primers, resize them, flatten out the dent and put in some primer compound and a new anvil. Jack.

I have 11K fired primers in a bag if you want to start flattening primers.

 

[Uzi2]

There is a mewe group dedicated to just that practice.

A guy I shoot with reloads his primers. He described the process to me - and I was like "f*** that noise - that's way too much time/effort".

That's considered easy stuff for a dedicated pyro technics guy. You should see the lengths they go to making stars and assembling shells and rockets.