lost 90+ points on my sitting rapids today due to misfires/duds, in a batch of ammo that's been flawless all year (loaded 1k, down to the last 140 rounds).
brass is mixed date 1x fired LakeCity, pockets uniformed via the sinclair tool, crimp removed, FL sized and trimmed on my giraud.
primers are Wolf SR Magnum
powder is Reloder 15 (25gr under a 69gr SMK).
i've had ONE misfire in the last 1500 rounds or so before today. i still have the round, and will probably pull it later to see if it was caused by the same issues. today, i had 5 (2 of which bumped the bullet enough to engage the rifling, and make clearing it a royal pain in the ass)
the primers DO appear a little deep, but they're within spec, and they've definately gone off.
the pulled bullet: yup...there is powder in there
dumped the powder out, you can see there's still some in there
2 big clumps of powder fell out when i started tapping the round on the bench. ok...wtf is this.
when you spread it around to break the clumps up, the powder feels a bit damp, and appears to be covered in a yellowish residue that stained my hands (and my bench)
the rest of the powder that fell out (pre-clumps) appeared fine.
what the hell is this? i've never seen that kind of contamination before! i prime my brass in batches (this particular one was 500 rounds), and toss them in a big plastic coffee can until i load them (usually within a week or two). loading them on a dillon 650 (already went through the press trying to find a source for the contamination).
i'm at a loss. i've never seen anything like this, and am now junking the rest of that batch of ammo (it'll be winter practice ammo, where time isnt a factor). i've got components to load more, but i dont want this to happen again! (i was in the middle of one of the best scores i shot this year!, 185x5OH, 191x5RP, 194x5SP...followed up by my glorious 108x1RS)
any ideas?
brass is mixed date 1x fired LakeCity, pockets uniformed via the sinclair tool, crimp removed, FL sized and trimmed on my giraud.
primers are Wolf SR Magnum
powder is Reloder 15 (25gr under a 69gr SMK).
i've had ONE misfire in the last 1500 rounds or so before today. i still have the round, and will probably pull it later to see if it was caused by the same issues. today, i had 5 (2 of which bumped the bullet enough to engage the rifling, and make clearing it a royal pain in the ass)
the primers DO appear a little deep, but they're within spec, and they've definately gone off.
the pulled bullet: yup...there is powder in there
dumped the powder out, you can see there's still some in there
2 big clumps of powder fell out when i started tapping the round on the bench. ok...wtf is this.
when you spread it around to break the clumps up, the powder feels a bit damp, and appears to be covered in a yellowish residue that stained my hands (and my bench)
the rest of the powder that fell out (pre-clumps) appeared fine.
what the hell is this? i've never seen that kind of contamination before! i prime my brass in batches (this particular one was 500 rounds), and toss them in a big plastic coffee can until i load them (usually within a week or two). loading them on a dillon 650 (already went through the press trying to find a source for the contamination).
i'm at a loss. i've never seen anything like this, and am now junking the rest of that batch of ammo (it'll be winter practice ammo, where time isnt a factor). i've got components to load more, but i dont want this to happen again! (i was in the middle of one of the best scores i shot this year!, 185x5OH, 191x5RP, 194x5SP...followed up by my glorious 108x1RS)
any ideas?