Lose primer pockets

[kyron]

I am fairly new to reloading. Have see several people here mention lose primer pockets. Just had my first one. Couple of firings on the case and the new primer went in a little too easy.

Is this case safe to load and fire?

 

[Rich Coyle]

I am fairly new to reloading. Have see several people here mention lose primer pockets. Just had my first one. Couple of firings on the case and the new primer went in a little too easy.

Is this case safe to load and fire?

Yes. When I could not get brass I have trapped some primers in with fingernail polish. If you want the pockets to last longer you back off on the loads. Some brass is harder than others so they can be loaded to higher velocity.

 

[carpetman2]

I have noticed in some of my rifles loose primer pockets affect accuracy, while others don't seem to. Anyone else see this?

 

[J E Custom]

I am fairly new to reloading. Have see several people here mention lose primer pockets. Just had my first one. Couple of firings on the case and the new primer went in a little too easy.

Is this case safe to load and fire?

With the pressures you are reaching, (Brass should last at least 4 or 5 firings before the primer pockets get loose. on standard loads (50 to 55,000 psi) they can last 10 to 15 times without any problems.

I know people glue primers in, But this is risky because glue alone cannot handle these kinds of pressure and when they leak, they cut the bolt face.

In my opinion I doubt it is unsafe but it can and does damage the bolt face and the bolt is much more expensive to replace than brass. So I toss it when the primer pockets get loose.

There are tools that can tighten primer pockets, but they can be expensive also.

With good brass and proper SAMME pressures for the round this is normally not a problem.

J E CUSTOM

 

[kyron]

great. Thanks for the info guys.

 

[Reloader222]

Try switching to a different brand of primer with a larger diameter. This will give you a few reloads more.



I have measured the following LR Primers:

Remington 0.2102"
Magtec 0.2114"
CCI BR 0.2108"
HIRT 1215 0.2107"
FED 215 0.2175"
FED 210 0.2105"
WIN LR 0.2115" very old batch



But here is some more:

www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=3936874&postcount=28

 

[FEENIX]

Try switching to a different brand of primer with a larger diameter. This will give you a few reloads more.



I have measured the following LR Primers:

Remington 0.2102"
Magtec 0.2114"
CCI BR 0.2108"
HIRT 1215 0.2107"
FED 215 0.2175"
FED 210 0.2105"
WIN LR 0.2115" very old batch



But here is some more:

www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=3936874&postcount=28

+1!

 

[kyron]

Been using CCI 250s. Fed 215s are unfortunately more or less non existent in my area. At least they were last time I checked. Thanks for the info though. I'll keep an eye out for the Fed primers next time I am at the reloading store.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

With the pressures you are reaching, (Brass should last at least 4 or 5 firings before the primer pockets get loose. on standard loads (50 to 55,000 psi) they can last 10 to 15 times without any problems.

I know people glue primers in, But this is risky because glue alone cannot handle these kinds of pressure and when they leak, they cut the bolt face.

In my opinion I doubt it is unsafe but it can and does damage the bolt face and the bolt is much more expensive to replace than brass. So I toss it when the primer pockets get loose.

There are tools that can tighten primer pockets, but they can be expensive also.

With good brass and proper SAMME pressures for the round this is normally not a problem.

J E CUSTOM

+1
If you are loosening your primers in just a couple of firings you are a bit warm pressure wise. Even if you consider your brass as consumable ( and gluing your primers in is foolish if you don't feel like a burned bolt-face or debris in your eye from gas through your action) you are risking stress cracks in your action and a very quickly warn barrel throat.

 

[Rich Coyle]

+1
If you are loosening your primers in just a couple of firings you are a bit warm pressure wise. Even if you consider your brass as consumable ( and gluing your primers in is foolish if you don't feel like a burned bolt-face or debris in your eye from gas through your action) you are risking stress cracks in your action and a very quickly warn barrel throat.

When I could not get brass I have trapped some primers in with fingernail polish. I used to load as many as ten times before the primer was loose. When one can not get supplies one either does not go shooting or solves the problem.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

When I could not get brass I have trapped some primers in with fingernail polish. I used to load as many as ten times before the primer was loose. When one can not get supplies one either does not go shooting or solves the problem.

You need to buy enough brass for the life of the barrel. You will never be without safe brass again. If you sell the rifle there is always someone willing to buy your brass from you it seems.

 

[J E Custom]

There is one other thing that can loosen primer pockets on standard loads.

In the process of blue printing an action, One of the things I find often is a concave bolt face. (The bolt face is dished in towards the firing pin instead of being perfectly flat.

When the round is fired the dished bolt face opens the flash hole slightly because the brass is formed to the bolt face.

This dished bolt face is hard to see without the proper tools and cant be changed without re-head spacing the chamber or fire forming to make up the difference. (It normally only takes a few thousandths)

You may be able to take the end of a machinist 6" scale and check the square of the bolt face if your load is not excessively hot to see if this is the problem.

Just another thought.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Rich Coyle]

You need to buy enough brass for the life of the barrel. You will never be without safe brass again. If you sell the rifle there is always someone willing to buy your brass from you it seems.

Not all of us are smart enough or have enough money to do all we would like. For awhile we were so broke I had $3. Each of us were allowed $1. I asked my wife what she an my daughter would like to do. They wanted to go to Dairy Queen. We all had a treat. I bought a box of primers. They had something from Dairy Queen.

I sold scopes to by more powder, primers and bullets. But when they sold, I use the money for a household bill. Some may not be able to relate to this, but some may. Those who do, can maybe use fingernail polish or some other product to hold the primers in.

 

[Black Tail Hunter]

Not all of us are smart enough or have enough money to do all we would like. For awhile we were so broke I had $3. Each of us were allowed $1. I asked my wife what she an my daughter would like to do. They wanted to go to Dairy Queen. We all had a treat. I bought a box of primers. They had something from Dairy Queen.

I sold scopes to by more powder, primers and bullets. But when they sold, I use the money for a household bill. Some may not be able to relate to this, but some may. Those who do, can maybe use fingernail polish or some other product to hold the primers in.

I can relate to the financial constraints and responsibilities that come before things I want. And if I bought enough brass at one time to last the life of my barrel, I would be better off to go buy a nicer car to drive to work every day, as it would easily be 2-3x what I paid for my rifle. That being said, I use low funding as motivation to innovate. My rifle regularly blows primer pockets. I looked up the Hart case saver, it is expensive (in my opinion) and has spotty reviews. After watching some videos online on how it worked I quickly understood why the punch mushrooms. So I got a piece of round bar that would fit in my case neck to act as a mandrel and clamped it in my vise, found an appropriately sized pin punch and swaged it tight again. It works just as the hart case saver, cost me nearly nothing.