Primers Seating Poorly in Federal Brass?

[Troutslayer]

I have a pile of once fired Federal Brass. The only way I have segregated this brass is by the fact that the primer pockets have some kind of red around them- something from the Factory. So I have 200 pieces of this nickel plated brass. Cleaned it and resized it all at once. When I prime the stuff, there is no consistency at all. Some of the primers slide right in with little resistance, some feel more like what I have come to consider normal with Remington Brass. I am worried that a primer that goes in with little resistance might be able to loosen up/let gas escape upon firing. I probably wouldn't care, but I am shooting .300RUM which is pretty high pressure. The primers are not all seated to a uniform depth either- some of them seem to go in much deeper than others, none are high, but many are low. I picked out some of the "good" ones and loaded and shot them. They were fine.

Any thoughts? I didn't uniform the pockets or anything, just cleaned them. I can afford to throw away the whole lot of them and I might as well at this point since I am afraid to shoot them.

[MagnumManiac]

Originally Posted by Troutslayer

I have a pile of once fired Federal Brass. The only way I have segregated this brass is by the fact that the primer pockets have some kind of red around them- something from the Factory. So I have 200 pieces of this nickel plated brass. Cleaned it and resized it all at once. When I prime the stuff, there is no consistency at all. Some of the primers slide right in with little resistance, some feel more like what I have come to consider normal with Remington Brass. I am worried that a primer that goes in with little resistance might be able to loosen up/let gas escape upon firing. I probably wouldn't care, but I am shooting .300RUM which is pretty high pressure. The primers are not all seated to a uniform depth either- some of them seem to go in much deeper than others, none are high, but many are low. I picked out some of the "good" ones and loaded and shot them. They were fine.

Any thoughts? I didn't uniform the pockets or anything, just cleaned them. I can afford to throw away the whole lot of them and I might as well at this point since I am afraid to shoot them.

Lucky you're not using Winchester primers, even on tight pockets they go in with a loose feel.
This just shows that some of the factory ammo was hotter than others!
As long as they don't fall out after seating them, check by tapping the base of the case at an angle on your loading bench, they will be fine. Even a loose primer will expand to fill the hole upon firing without gas leakage.
You're really worrying about nothing!
Use 'em, you can't go wrong!

[Boss Hoss]

One reason I use Lapua or Norma brass. Federal I gave up on 20 years ago for just that reason. Gave a LOT of FGM brass to my buddies...

[Capt Kurt]

Federal brass is very soft brass. I get the least amount of reloads from this brass over all others. Never reload a casing where the primer has little or no resistance when seating a primer especialy if you are using a semi-auto rifle. The primer can fall out during cycling and lodge in your action or worst yet, fall down under your trigger group causing alot of problems. Loose primers will lead to accuracy problems. Unless you have fired the brass for the first time, never believe anyone that tells you it is once fired brass. Most primer pocket expansion problems are due to many reloads and high presure issues. I recomend you discard the brass. The red sealant is used around the primer to help keep moisture from working it way in to the primer pocket and powder in rainy or wet conditions. Hope this helps. Capt kurt

[FEENIX]

I use once fired Federal brass too but do not have any problem with Remington 9 1/2 M, Winchester WLRM, or CCI 250 primers.