Thread: Primer Leakage

Had what appears to be this on some of my loads for 17 hornet, 2 out of 19. Using Lil Gun and also just started hand priming with RCBS hand primer. Had one on minimum load so I was hoping to put it down to not seating the primers deep enough. Is this plausible? Should I be squeezing shit out of the hand primer or just a nice firm squeeze?

Originally Posted by charliehorse

Had what appears to be this on some of my loads for 17 hornet, 2 out of 19. Using Lil Gun and also just started hand priming with RCBS hand primer. Had one on minimum load so I was hoping to put it down to not seating the primers deep enough. Is this plausible? Should I be squeezing shit out of the hand primer or just a nice firm squeeze?

Never heard of a primer leaking, you mean powder dribbling out ?

Got a photo?

Originally Posted by Max Headroom

Never heard of a primer leaking, you mean powder dribbling out ?

Got a photo?

Would say he means gas escaping around the primer or puncturing it on firing.

Originally Posted by tetawa

Would say he means gas escaping around the primer or puncturing it on firing.

Ah. Right.

Need some details Charliehorse,
I note that Lil Gun has a pretty narrow range of loads in the Hornet. Doubt if it is your primer seating.
Grandpamac.

Is it hornady brass?

I took a screenshot of a page from saubier.com, but the print was too small to post here.

The upshot: Hornady brass had some issues with primer leakage, so the fix was to use primers that were fractionally larger to fill the primer cup for a better seal.

Originally Posted by charliehorse

Attachment 138734

What primer

CCI primers and once fired FL sized hornady brass.
I ran 9.5g, 9.7g, 9.8g and 9.9g @grandpamac what do you need?

Those primers look pretty soft. Some load data including primer type, projectile and powder charge would help. Knocking out a primer to see if there is a pin hole in the corner between the face and side may tell you something. The smoking looks localized.

Assuming that you are using 20 grain projectiles your 9.5 grain load is below the Hodgdon start load. Some powders are very sensitive to sub max loads and the primers may not be expanding to seal in the case if the pockets are a little large. The surface of the primer looks dished in the photo which could be a sign of low pressure. Any problems with the first load assuming they were hand loads. Also hold the offending primer up to a strong light to see if there is a pinhole in the firing impression.
Grandpamac.

9.7g and 9.9g of lil gun gave me one each.
20g Vmax.
Hopefully get back out in the shed tonight and pop the primer out for a look

Funnily enough, both those loads grouped at .3moa

Which CCI primer are you using? How hard are they to seat?

Primers And Pressure

CCI 400. A good article thanks @zimmer it's me first time seating with the hand primer, wouldn't say it was overally hard to seat them but all ive been using is the press for my 22-250 so not even in the same boat. Waiting on a RCBS die so I can switch to hand priming for that.

Based on that I should try a different primer then