Anytime time I switch a componet from a PET-LOAD I reduce the charge to the minimum and then work it up to PET LOAD status. Reason being is ALL COMPONETS ARE DIFFERENT & FOR SAFETY REASONS as YOU well know now! I personally prefer FEDERAL GOLD MEDAL MATCH Primers, but at times they're hard to get. CCI are fine primers and seem to always be available. But I prefer FEDERAL GMM's! However in August 2017 I had a FEDERAL GMM 205 primer COMPLETELY EXPLODE & DISINTEGRATE in a KNOWN TRIED & TRUED PETLOAD! This was in my custom built 17-VLR. A 500 yard Benchrest accuracy varmint rifle. 223 Lapua brass necked & formed to .17-VLR, FIREFORMED to Chamber, then Re-loaded with 22.0 grs of Vihtavorhi N-135, .37gr Berger VLD (Discontinued) Bullet, but I have a few thousand Squirreled away. 4600FPS with 5 shot group at 100 yards of .197! Have fired over 330 rounds with NO PROBLEMS AT ALL! Then 8/15/2017 came and while Groundhog hunting here in SW Pennsylvania on that beautiful summer evening BLAM!!! Scope went WHITE! Felt like a horse KICKED ME IN MY FACE! HIGH VELOCITY BLOOD SPLATTER on my Rifle, Scope, Rest & Shooting blanket! Also all over my face & R arm & hand. Once I recovered enough to get up and fetch my thrown rifle (Reaction to Explosion) I had NO Trouble opening the bolt. NO SIGN of EXTREME PRESSURE. The spent case extracted smoothly & normally. However upon examining the case, there was NO PRIMER AT ALL! NOTHING! This is a Single shot Bench gun, NO MAGAZINE OR CLIP! NO SIGN of the primer in the action anywhere! I measured the primer pocket and it was fine, In Spec. I called FEDERAL and THEY LISTENED! THATS ALL, they LISTENED! I heard the tapping of keys from a computer keyboard while telling their tech what had occurred. Obviously they were documenting every word I spoke. I even went to VISTA OUTDOORS, formerly known as FEDERAL in Anoka, MN with the unused 600 primers in the box of 1000 I had used entirely for my .17-VLR, the 67 loaded live rounds I had left with the SAME FEDERAL GMM 205 Primers, and the BOLT from the rifle. NOTHING! THEY WOULDN'T EVEN TALK TO ME! I ASSURED them I had ZERO INTENTION OF FILING A LAWSUIT & that I STILL PREFERED their primers (FEDERAL) over & above ALL other brands. NOTHING! They DID NOT & WOULD NOT TALK to ME once they knew I was a HANDLOADER! I have 50+ years experience plus my Fathers 70+ years of experience loading and NEVER, EVER, EVER have had accident! I took the bolt to my Gunsmith whom built the rifle, he dismantled it and it was FULL OF METAL and DEBRIS from the BLOWN PRIMER! MY EYE WAS FULL OF METAL AND DEBRIS from the BLOWN PRIMER! ALL the HOT GAS, PRESSURE and METAL and DEBRIS came BACK THRU the BOLT BODY & FIRING PIN ASSEMBLY INTO MY RIGHT EYE! 3 EYE OPERATIONS later I still have Metal embedded into the 3rd layer of my Corneia! My Vision is different, but correctable with glasses and the Optics I use while shooting. I NO LONGER am able to get MRI's for the rest of my life due to the METAL in my R eyeball. All this from 1 little tiny FEDERAL 205 GOLD METAL MATCH PRIMER that OBVIOUSLY was DEFECTIVE and EXPLODED in my FACE! WELL and PROPERLY MAINTAINED RIFLE. WELL KNOWN and TRIED & TRUE LOAD. EXACTLY ALL THE SAME COMPONETS USED. ???????????? It was that 1 lil BAD PRIMER! I'm THANKFUL that's ALL IT WAS! I THANK GOD I CAN STILL SEE! I STILL LOAD! I STILL SHOOT! I STILL USE & PREFER FEDERAL GOLD METAL MATCH PRIMERS!
I NOW WEAR SHOOTING GLASSES EVERY TIME I SHOOT! NO ONLY FOR HANDGUNS, BUT RIFLES AS WELL!
Theosmithjr.
This is what the primer/brass looked like..... this is NOT an image the primer/brass that blew out on me in my rifle, unfortunately I was upset an chucked the brass after looking at it. Primer was still seated fine and no pressure signs or anything other then a pin hole on edge of cup and carbon from the gas that pitted my bolt face. I had been getting Chrono readings and was shooting groups, so I was checking the brass each time I fired, because I switch primer and I knew that they seated with much less force into the brass than the CCI primers did.
