.270 win. flat primers. high pressure???

[robertjrhunterboy]

i have a .270 win. in a stevens modle 200 and so far EVERY load i have shot through it have had flat primers. 2 days ago i went to the store and bought some Federal 150 grain factory bullets to see how they shot and to see if i still was geting flat primers. so i went to the range and fired 10 shots and every single one has flat primers. i know that flat primers can be a sign for high pressure but im wondering if there are any other causes for the flat primers. i am not having this issue with any of my other guns and im wondering if i should just not worry about it

 

[7 loader]

Are they cratered where the firing pin contacts? Did you start at the bottom charge? And also check your seating depth that could cause problems.

 

[padd54]

Can you post some pics of the factory flattened primers?

 

[robertjrhunterboy]

Can you post some pics of the factory flattened primers?

yea i will do that today when i get home

 

[robertjrhunterboy]

Are they cratered where the firing pin contacts? Did you start at the bottom charge? And also check your seating depth that could cause problems.

well our seating depth i know is not the problem i have tryed under what my nosler book has set for a standard and i have tryed the exact steating depth every thing i have tryed it has done it im thinking i may have a tight chamber. it is a savage so they have very good actions so that may be what is causing it

 

[Gibbsfan]

It can also be a headspace problem. Most of the new brass that you can buy has about .006 headspace built into it. Neck size some brass that has been fired in that chamber and then reload it and see if you still get a flat primer.gun)

 

[boomtube]

Mr/ Gibbs is almost certainly correct, it's headspace, not pressure.

Headspace is, or should be, a non-issue for reloaders. Simply back the sizer die up until the cartridge actually fits the chamber at the shoulder and you're done. Some call that "partial FL resizing" but it's a poor term, "partial" anything only means incomplete but undefined. I call it "custom resizing", that means it's specifically sized to fit MY rifle correctly.

Or, as Gibbs suggests, do neck sizing.

 

[robertjrhunterboy]

It can also be a headspace problem. Most of the new brass that you can buy has about .006 headspace built into it. Neck size some brass that has been fired in that chamber and then reload it and see if you still get a flat primer.gun)

i have tryed that with some remington brass witch i had bought from wally world and then fired that stuff just to fire form it to the chamber and just to get some bullets throuhg the barel to start breaking the barrel in and i resized them and cut them back alittle and when i reloaded it and fired them i had flat primers so i modifyed my load a little by fixing my seating depth and i tryed lighter powder charges and now im just dumb founded and i was even more dumb founded when it happend in these new federal 150 grain factory bullets.

 

[Gibbsfan]

I have all types of brass and some show different pressure signs. federal brass is junk and I won't shoot it in anything. Is it nickle or brass? Nickle has always shown more psi in my guns. What ype of loads are you trying to shoot in your gun. Just give me and example. what type of powder? what primer are you shooting?gun)

 

[boomtube]

"..federal brass is junk and I won't shoot it in anything. "

That's odd. I've never found that to be so. Well, maybe I'm too inexperieced or just not smart enough to know the difference. (Do have some 45 years of safely and accuratly reloading rifle, pistol and shotgun ammo tho.)

And I've never noticed that any particular powder or primer, or nickled cases are more or less likely to produce high pressures when used correctly. And nothing is safe if it's not used correctly. Well, guess I don't think it would be possible to get in pressure trouble loading a nickled .38 Special with H-4831 even with a CCI magnum primer, but... ??

 

[robertjrhunterboy]

I have all types of brass and some show different pressure signs. federal brass is junk and I won't shoot it in anything. Is it nickle or brass? Nickle has always shown more psi in my guns. What ype of loads are you trying to shoot in your gun. Just give me and example. what type of powder? what primer are you shooting?gun)

im useing imr 4350 powder 210 federal primers with a 140 grain berger vld

 

[robertjrhunterboy]

I have all types of brass and some show different pressure signs. federal brass is junk and I won't shoot it in anything. Is it nickle or brass? Nickle has always shown more psi in my guns. What ype of loads are you trying to shoot in your gun. Just give me and example. what type of powder? what primer are you shooting?gun)

the cases are brass

 

[Gibbsfan]

boomtube
I knew that would get somebody's panties in a bunch saying that federal brass is junk. Federal brass will not hold up to the reloads that ww rp or yur higher quality brass will. Of course somebody is not going to like rp or ww also but that is a disagreement about apples or oranges. I have 25-06 that has to shoot at least a grain less powder in nickle brass than what you would load in regular brass. Just telling what i have experienced. I have 25-06 ai that doesn't seem to matter., but in the one gun it does.

robertjr
try a different primer you can also take a piece of scotch tape over the back of your brass that is sized for your chamber and keep closing it in your chamber until you can't close your bolt each piece is about .0015 so that will telll you where you sit as far as headspace unless you have all the fancy guages you can use them

 

[MNbogboy]

An interesting thought is the factory ammo (Federal) and your handloads both have Federal primers.......I have not used them but all three of my 25-06s, two savages and a rem 700 all show flattened primers when I went to WIN primers during the primer shortage.....No other signs of pressure....with all loads mild to hot....When I finally got some REM primers again the "perceived problem" went away....The head space in the REM is factory set but looser than the tight space I set up on my savages...Headspace is probably not the reason my rifles have been flattening the WIN primers....My opinion is that it is the material in the primers, because the REM primers do not do it at all, and the WIN primers do it with any load and even in a .243 barrel I have been working up a load for..

The savage bolt heads as of late are not always perfectly flat at the bolt face and I wonder if the slight cupping allows the WIN material to start moving and then continue on to show as a flattened primer....The rem bolt however is reasonably flat but the extra .001 or so of headspace may again let the WIN primer material stretch and start to flow....

My final opinion of my case is to use up the brick of WIN primers (they didn't affect accuracy or show any other signs of pressure) and not worry about it....I will however hold out for REM primers in the future..That is what I have been using for most of my 40+ years of reloading....

I could have got a bad lot of WIN primers and another bunch could respond all together different...Just as the Gibbsfan said about the Federal brass....My thoughts always were that the Fed brass was thinner because you could always get more powder in my .308s than with WIN or REM brass..That is why I liked it back then.....I bought a lot of 50 bulk WIN brass last winter from Gander Mountain, that showed signs of head separation after only two firings with mild loads....Again turned out to be a few bad apples in the bunch (10%)...The rest have gone through 4 or 5 more loads (i really check them close now, inside and out)...This was another result of the ammo/component shortage....I believe they were culls and I ended up paying premium price for them.....

My advice is to check your headspace first and then try a different brand of primers or factory ammo...