Carbine reloading dilema ... Bad primers or what?????
I loaded some more 115 grain Bear Creek loads for my carbines. About 1 out of 5 or 6 do not fire and the primer is not very dented. I thought maybe it was the new round bolt I put in it, som I switched to the flat bolt it came with. It was better, with deeper dents in primer, but still occasionally one would not fire and seem that it had a small dimple. I fired 30 rounds of R-P 110 FMJ, and it fired them all with no problem.
If it was case length, I would think it was too long after firing, not too short. The cases are once fired R-Ps I am beginning to think the primers are cr@ppy, maybe too hard. They are CCI small rifle primers. It is a 26 coil main spring on the hammer.
I don't think it is a head space issue, though I do not have gauges, and with only two carbines, I can't see spending the money for a set.
I have some Wolf small rifle primers that I will try, since I have heard they are softer.
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I know some guys who reload and shoot lots of 5.56 and they're telling me they've had trouble recently with the CC1 #400 primers - will no longer use them. I could see having an occasional misfire with a bad lot of primers, but not to the extent you are describing. Have you changed the way you are seating the primers any? If you have the cases trimmed correctly and are giving them just a very light taper crimp, they ought to work better than that. I use the #41 CCI primers on my carbine reloads and did have one misfire out of maybe 3 boxes I loaded and fired last summer. - Bob
These are CCI 400s. What is bizar is that factory rounds and the plated 110s all fire fine in the weapon. It is just the recently loaded ones using the Bear Creek. I wonder if the ogive of the bullet is hitting the rifling and mayber stoppinh the bolt a fraction before it is 100% in battery. Maybe the firing pin is grazing the "V" notch in the receiver.
My friend had the same problem with the first 500 .30 Carb. rounds he reloaded, most would not fire. An old loader told him not to trim Carb. cases. Hasn't had a problem since.
Cases need trimming. Otherwise they'll be all over the place for length. You should find an experienced reloader in your area and have him come over to watch you. That's all. He'll likely be able to pick up the problem. It sounds like the firing pin just isn't reaching the primers. If it fires factory ammo, then check overall cartridge length and then bullet seating depth. Your cases should all be the same length too.
are the only ones that I've ever had misfire. I can use 30 year old CCI SR primers and they all shoot just fine. I think that it is a quality control issue.
If the cases are trimmed too short, then the only thing holding the primer near the bolt face is the extractor. I guess that in theory, there could be a little slop there and the space between the primer and bolt face could be excessive. I do know that GI rounds fire flawlessly and my reloads do occasionally have some problems.
Argh! I guess I need to get a set of headspace gauges, though only having two carbines and not planning on getting anymore, i hate to spend the money for one time use. Guess I could resell them after. Too bad we don't had a tool lend forum like some of the AK boards. Maybe I'll just get a field gauge.
I wonder if the ogive of the bullet is hitting the rifling and mayber stopping the bolt a fraction before it is 100% in battery. Maybe the firing pin is grazing the "V" notch in the receiver.
I guess you could check a couple rounds for that by letting the bolt slam home on them and then ejecting without firing. Look for rifling marks on the bullets. I've found several differences between brands of FMJ bullets and adjust overall length accordingly. Also, if the shape of the bullets you're using aren't uniform from bullet to bullet, the fit in the bullet seater will give you quite a bit of variation in your overall length. You will even see quite a bit of variaton in overall length in factory Remington cartridges. - Bob
It is interesting that it seems to only be with the lead bullets, but not with factory or Rainier Ballistics plated bullets. I am going to play with it. Thanks to DaveHH on CMP sending me 200 pulled 55s, I can load up some practice ammo for the AR for the next four or five months (at 40 a month), Until I get this carbine ammo thing worked out, I am not comfortable carrying it as a patrol carbine.
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Originally Posted by imarangemaster
