Shotshell Reloading Question - Is it safe to put finished round in manual press?

[daddybld]

Dear Collective Gurus and Sages of the Forum:

I thought I would go to the collective knowledge before trying this. I had a little hiccup on my progressive and got some shells with high primers. I would like to run the shells through a manual to seat the primer fully. I have a manual PW press that uses the sizing die (so the shell has to be pressed into that). Once in the die, I would use the primer seater to raise the primer.

I suspect that the primers were not pushed out due to anything funky with the wad. I observed the drag coming out of the priming station on the progressive press. I believe they were just not pushed in enough for some reason.

Thanks to anyone who has experience with this and is willing to answer.

 

[Fixxah]

NO EFFING WAY!!!!!!!

That is a recipe for disaster. Use an impact puller to take apart any cartridges with high primers. Or just keep them seperate to use as components later on.

Edit: Substitute shotshell for cartridge.

 

[center442]

I wouldn't do it...nor would I want to be around anyone doing so. If I understand your description correctly, the loaded shell will be enclosed in a resizing die, and then you'll be pressing in an already partially seated primer. Think about that scenario for a few minutes. If the primer ignites, you'll have a shell discharging with the sizing die acting like the chamber of a firearm. That sounds to me like a recipe for disaster.

I'll confess to having reseated a few primers on UNLOADED cases with no die in the press. I was uncomfortable doing that, and I wouldn't even consider doing it with a loaded round.

 

[IPSC_DRL]

Hmm, wonder why I've never had one ignite while doing this exact thing.............

Could be that the primer seating post is a big flat surface and not a pointed one. YMMV.

 

[swampy]

Done it ...still alive and well. Don't recommend it for the squeamish though.

 

[MisterHappy]

First "How high is High?" is it just a bit, that you can feel, or can you fit your fingernail under the flange? Or is it WAY out....?

Second: What type of gun do you have? If you have an auto or pump, pop it in the chamber, and (pointing it in a safe direction, close it.

I have never had a problem with my "high primer" shells in my Winchester 1400 and Browning A5. I'd not use them in a break-open, though....

 

[highscore]

Not a good idea to do this because stuff does happen. Question is, do you feel lucky? Not that it hasn't been done but I remember the look of a guys finger who made the mistake of holding it over the case mouth of a piece of brass while hand priming it. I've never had one go off but know it can.

 

[38supermatt]

I'd seat them, if I absolutely needed too. like Mike said, it's a big flat surface. But I have always just done what Misterhappy said, close it in the chamber if it's an over/under or pump, the breechface will seat the primer on closing

I doubt your problem is what you're concluding, it's more likely primer type
have you switched recently?
All the foreign primers are ever so slightly wider and will stretch the primer pockets out once you finally seat the bigger ones in there (Cheddite, Fiocchi, Wolf, Nobel Sport) you'll have no problem seating these primers in the same cases once you start using them over and over again, but if you go back to something like Winchester or remington, they will be extremely loose in there, and may just fall out if you shake the shell hard enough

 

[daddybld]

All:

Great responses, thank you!!! I had not thought about the pump gun thing. Actually, I haven't figured out what caused the high primers yet (I coud get a fingernail under them). It wasn't a change in components. In the same run, same primers, plenty came out fine. It was a Rem 209 in STS hulls.

I think I will just relegate these to the practice bin, and shoot them in my 870 when shooting clays. I don't absolutely have to fix them. They were causing trouble in my SKB SxS during cowboy.

Thanks again.

 

[MisterHappy]

The main cause that I ran into was in well-used hulls - the primer pocket was a bit loose, and when the wad was compressed, and there was insufficient friction to keep in in place,

If you have hulls that have been used a few times, this might be the cause.

 

[DukeInFlorida]

All it takes is a little too much pressure, and you are on the way to the hospital or morgue.

Not worth it for salvaging one or a few rounds. Cut the sides of the hulls, and pull the plastic end off the brass, and save the parts, throw away the hull components.

Please don't mess with trying to fix the primer. There's a reason it didn't go in correctly in the first place. That reason is reason enough.

When the primers are seated during reloading, there's no powder under the cup, and no shot in the cup. If you re-seated one at that point, maybe no big deal.
But with a full charge of powder, and all that shot..... It's a bomb waiting to happen.

 

[RKG]

First "How high is High?" is it just a bit, that you can feel, or can you fit your fingernail under the flange? Or is it WAY out....?

Second: What type of gun do you have? If you have an auto or pump, pop it in the chamber, and (pointing it in a safe direction, close it.

I have never had a problem with my "high primer" shells in my Winchester 1400 and Browning A5. I'd not use them in a break-open, though....

I second these comments (Winchester 1200), and add the following:

With a rifle or pistol primer, the cavity into which the primer sits, and on which the anvil feet eventually rest, is part of the case. As a result, slamming home a high primer has the potential for striking the anvil feet with enough force to set off the primer.

Shotshell primers, though, are somewhat different: the cup (containing the mixture) is contained in an outer shell (on which the anvil feet rest). As a result, slamming a bolt on a high shotshell primer is not moving the cup relative to the cavity in which it resides (you are, rather, moving the cup-and-cavity as a unit), which leads me to believe (intuitively; I'm aware of no empirical data) that slamfires are far less likely to occur.

 

[MisterHappy]

I second these comments (Winchester 1200), and add the following:

With a rifle or pistol primer, the cavity into which the primer sits, and on which the anvil feet eventually rest, is part of the case. As a result, slamming home a high primer has the potential for striking the anvil feet with enough force to set off the primer.

Shotshell primers, though, are somewhat different: the cup (containing the mixture) is contained in an outer shell (on which the anvil feet rest). As a result, slamming a bolt on a high shotshell primer is not moving the cup relative to the cavity in which it resides (you are, rather, moving the cup-and-cavity as a unit), which leads me to believe (intuitively; I'm aware of no empirical data) that slamfires are far less likely to occur.

But I ALWAYS keep it pointed "thataway" when closing the action! Never called pull first, though!

 

[Dnotarianni]

Hmm, wonder why I've never had one ignite while doing this exact thing.............

Could be that the primer seating post is a big flat surface and not a pointed one. YMMV.

Hey Mike, That's a big set your carrying around re-seating primers in loaded rounds!

I think just about everybody will agree with me that's it's not safe to re-seat a primer in a loaded round. Pistol, I take apart before I reseat a primer then reload it. I value my fingers and eyes too much! Shotgun rounds, get a razer knife and cut the hull open and salvage the hull and shot. Having a primer pop while seating is bad enough, never mind in a loaded round. Had had a primer pop due to there being a piece of dirt on the seating punch and trust me when your not expecting it it is a good thing that the laundry is nearby!

Your results may vary, but let me take a few steps back and get a trauma kit ready before you reseat a loaded round!

dave

 

[swampy]

If your press uses a ram onto the hull base wad to seat the primer, as opposed to using a shell holder, you probably have a couple hulls with lower base wads than the rest.