Primer Kabooms
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KinnyLee
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Primer Kabooms
So I've ordered the Dillon XL650 and I'm anxiously waiting for it's arrival. As I'm waiting, Brian has told me to check out his forum at his website, and a few of the post in there contains account of XL650 and primer kabooms. Has anyone experienced this? What is it like and what can you do to avoid this? This kinda worries me a little. lol.
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flintknapper
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I don't know of any "normal" reloading procedures that would result in a primer being ignited. I suppose if you were de-priming a case that had a live primer in it, it might be possible, but it seems unlikely.
When a primer (goes off) it sounds approximately like a cap gun (anyone remember those), not at all a "kaboom".
From "CCI", a little primer information:
Primers
The primer provides the "spark" that makes a cartridge work. The smallest component of a cartridge, the primer is often given little consideration beyond the fact that it has to be there.
In reality, the modern primer is a complex device that serves more functions than to provide a spark. Its complexity is such that there are only a handful of facilities in the world that can produce them. Hold a single primer in your hand and you are holding 150 years of scientific study, research, and evolution.
In addition to igniting the propellant charge, the primer is part of the case seal system. Like a case, it must contain the gas generated by burning propellant. It also produces a small initial pressure to support the initial burn of the propellant.
There are three primary chemical components that create a modern primer. The initiator is a percussion-sensitive primary explosive that will detonate when struck sharply. The fuel provides gas pressure and sustained heat, and the oxidizer provides extra oxygen to support burning in the closed case. In addition, the compound normally contains finely-powdered aluminum to throw incandescent particles into the propellant to insure complete ignition. The mixed chemicals are held together with a binder to prevent them from crumbling and falling out during shipping and handling.
Primer Evolution
The explosive mix in the earliest primers was mercury fulminate. The development of the fulminate priming virtually ended the flintlock period. Percussion caps—small, soft metal cups with a pellet of fulminate—replaced the flint in muzzle-loading firearms. Extremely reliable for the period, fulminate primers ruled the industry well into the fixed-cartridge era. However, it was the cartridge case that ended fulminate's hold.
The mercury residue in these primers attacked cartridge brass and made it brittle, resulting in case failures. Those who wanted to reload the case needed help. This need saw the development of primers whose initiator was potassium chlorate. This chemical, although its residue was corrosive if left in the gun or case, did not adversely affect the brass if the cases were rinsed after firing. Chlorate primers were developed in the black powder period, when firearms had to be cleaned with water or rust away. When non-corrosive smokeless propellants began to replace black powder in the 1890's, shooters still had to use water-based cleaners to prevent the chlorate residue from rusting their firearms.
This situation was remedied in the late 1920's when lead styphnate priming was developed. This primary explosive left no corrosive residue, and meant that shooters no longer had to wash their guns. Today, styphnate priming is nearly universal.
Types of Primers
There are two broad classes of cartridge priming systems. Most early cartridges had a priming system developed by Hiram Berdan, an American ordnance officer. He was granted a U.S. patent in 1868. Berdan's system was little more than a percussion cap built to fit in the case head. The anvil, the metal part that lets the priming mix be pinched by the firing pin, was built into the cartridge case. It stood in the center of the primer pocket. To let the flame reach the powder charge, one to three small flash holes were arranged around the anvil. This was a very simple and reliable system with a straight flame path between the priming compound and the powder.
However, Berdan priming was not "reloader-friendly." Spent primers had to be removed by piercing the primer from the outside and levering it out. This could damage the case if not carefully done. Fortunately, an existing, contemporary technology solved the problem
In 1866, a British ordnance officer named Edward Boxer had developed a new system that moved the anvil from the case to the primer. This allowed him to use one large flash hole in the center of the primer pocket. Now the reloader could easily push out the spent primer with a thin punch. Ammunition assembled in re-loadable Boxer cases were offered for those who wanted to reload their cartridge.
Have you noticed how strongly hand loaders have influenced primer development?
In one of the great ironies of firearms history, the British Boxer system took hold in the United States, and the American Berdan system ruled the rest of the world for many years. This made the United States the leader in reloading technology. Ultimately, Boxer's system will win out. Although there is no ballistic advantage to either system, tooling used to make Boxer pockets is easier to fabricate and has a longer service life. This makes the manufacturing process more efficient.
Magnum Primers
Most components primer manufacturers, including CCI® to re-loaders offer Magnum primers. Under certain conditions, re-loaders need a more powerful primer than standard primers. It's much like buying a new car and deciding whether to get the standard four-cylinder engine or a more powerful V-6.
When we develop load data, we consider these conditions as indicating use of Magnum primers:
With ball or spherical primers (some exceptions exist)
With large-volume cartridge cases
If the cartridge is likely to be fired in cold conditions (under 20° F)
Magnum primers are engineered to produce a hotter flame of longer duration to meet the needs of the above conditions. However, these characteristics often require a charge weight reduction to keep pressure under control. For this reason, use Magnum primers only where recommended in published loading data.
Our research indicates that some propellant/cartridge combinations do not require Magnum primers at the maximum load level, but can at the start load level for reliable ignition. When we find this, we use Magnum primers for all loads with that propellant.
Primer Success for the Reloader
The primer must activate or the cartridge is useless. The misfire is the most likely primer-related problem the reloader will encounter. Most are caused by the reloader, not the primer.
Proper seating is the single most important factor in primer success. Modern primers and primer pockets are designed to achieve maximum sensitivity when the cup bottom is .003" to .005" below the case head. If the cup is flush or protruding, a misfire is lurking. This condition known as a "high primer," and is the leading cause of misfires in reloaded ammunition.
When the primer is properly seated, the legs of the anvil make contact with the bottom of the pocket, and provide full support for the firing pin blow. If the legs of the primer are not in contact, some of the firing pin force must be used to finish seating the primer. Tests have shown that this condition can require as much as 50 percent more energy to ignite the primer. Does your rifle or handgun have this much reserve? Probably not.
Another cause of misfires is a primer that is seated too deep. In this case, the primer is deformed as the primer is forced too deep and has no place to go. The compound can be detached from the cup, the anvil is deformed, and the cup bottom is too far from the firing pin tip.
Another factor the reloader can control is contamination. Case lube on your fingers can get in primers. The lubricant raises the ignition temperature to the point the primer will not fire. Keep oils away from primers.
Priming Storage and Safety
Modern primers, with proper storage, have incredibly long shelf life (in spite of rumors to the contrary that ran amuck in 1993-4). For storage and safety, primers must be left in their original packaging. Find an area with low humidity and reasonably constant temperature. High humidity combined with big temperature swings can degrade primer performance. Dehumidifying equipment must be flameless to avoid accidents. Check for local regulations on the quantity of primers that can be stored in a residence and adhere to those regulations.
Modern primer packaging is designed to protect primers from mass detonation in the event they are in a fire or the package it dropped. In a fire, current packaging design results in a series of small "pops" as individual primers cook off.
Never store primers in a tightly closed metal container like an ammo can. To do so is to risk a devastating explosion complete with deadly metal fragments from the can. Such confinement can make the discharge of one or two primers instantaneously progress to a high-order event involving all primers in the can.
Never store primers in bulk, that is, removed from their factory packaging and placed in another container. When loading, dump out only ten to twenty primers at a time. When the session is over, return all primers to their original containers before putting them away.
Primer are best stored in a vented wooden box or cabinet with a loosely attached door or lid. This allows the pressure to vent in the case of fire or a few primers detonating in the container. Wood acts as an heat insulation to slow the transmission of heat to the primers.
Mark primer packages with the date of purchase and use them in the order received. This rotates your stock so no box is forgotten.
All reloading components including primers must be stored away from access by children or persons with impaired judgment.
Above all, apply a healthy dose of common sense to primer handling as well as all your hand-loading activities.
When a primer (goes off) it sounds approximately like a cap gun (anyone remember those), not at all a "kaboom".
From "CCI", a little primer information:
Primers
The primer provides the "spark" that makes a cartridge work. The smallest component of a cartridge, the primer is often given little consideration beyond the fact that it has to be there.
In reality, the modern primer is a complex device that serves more functions than to provide a spark. Its complexity is such that there are only a handful of facilities in the world that can produce them. Hold a single primer in your hand and you are holding 150 years of scientific study, research, and evolution.
In addition to igniting the propellant charge, the primer is part of the case seal system. Like a case, it must contain the gas generated by burning propellant. It also produces a small initial pressure to support the initial burn of the propellant.
There are three primary chemical components that create a modern primer. The initiator is a percussion-sensitive primary explosive that will detonate when struck sharply. The fuel provides gas pressure and sustained heat, and the oxidizer provides extra oxygen to support burning in the closed case. In addition, the compound normally contains finely-powdered aluminum to throw incandescent particles into the propellant to insure complete ignition. The mixed chemicals are held together with a binder to prevent them from crumbling and falling out during shipping and handling.
Primer Evolution
The explosive mix in the earliest primers was mercury fulminate. The development of the fulminate priming virtually ended the flintlock period. Percussion caps—small, soft metal cups with a pellet of fulminate—replaced the flint in muzzle-loading firearms. Extremely reliable for the period, fulminate primers ruled the industry well into the fixed-cartridge era. However, it was the cartridge case that ended fulminate's hold.
The mercury residue in these primers attacked cartridge brass and made it brittle, resulting in case failures. Those who wanted to reload the case needed help. This need saw the development of primers whose initiator was potassium chlorate. This chemical, although its residue was corrosive if left in the gun or case, did not adversely affect the brass if the cases were rinsed after firing. Chlorate primers were developed in the black powder period, when firearms had to be cleaned with water or rust away. When non-corrosive smokeless propellants began to replace black powder in the 1890's, shooters still had to use water-based cleaners to prevent the chlorate residue from rusting their firearms.
This situation was remedied in the late 1920's when lead styphnate priming was developed. This primary explosive left no corrosive residue, and meant that shooters no longer had to wash their guns. Today, styphnate priming is nearly universal.
Types of Primers
There are two broad classes of cartridge priming systems. Most early cartridges had a priming system developed by Hiram Berdan, an American ordnance officer. He was granted a U.S. patent in 1868. Berdan's system was little more than a percussion cap built to fit in the case head. The anvil, the metal part that lets the priming mix be pinched by the firing pin, was built into the cartridge case. It stood in the center of the primer pocket. To let the flame reach the powder charge, one to three small flash holes were arranged around the anvil. This was a very simple and reliable system with a straight flame path between the priming compound and the powder.
However, Berdan priming was not "reloader-friendly." Spent primers had to be removed by piercing the primer from the outside and levering it out. This could damage the case if not carefully done. Fortunately, an existing, contemporary technology solved the problem
In 1866, a British ordnance officer named Edward Boxer had developed a new system that moved the anvil from the case to the primer. This allowed him to use one large flash hole in the center of the primer pocket. Now the reloader could easily push out the spent primer with a thin punch. Ammunition assembled in re-loadable Boxer cases were offered for those who wanted to reload their cartridge.
Have you noticed how strongly hand loaders have influenced primer development?
In one of the great ironies of firearms history, the British Boxer system took hold in the United States, and the American Berdan system ruled the rest of the world for many years. This made the United States the leader in reloading technology. Ultimately, Boxer's system will win out. Although there is no ballistic advantage to either system, tooling used to make Boxer pockets is easier to fabricate and has a longer service life. This makes the manufacturing process more efficient.
Magnum Primers
Most components primer manufacturers, including CCI® to re-loaders offer Magnum primers. Under certain conditions, re-loaders need a more powerful primer than standard primers. It's much like buying a new car and deciding whether to get the standard four-cylinder engine or a more powerful V-6.
When we develop load data, we consider these conditions as indicating use of Magnum primers:
With ball or spherical primers (some exceptions exist)
With large-volume cartridge cases
If the cartridge is likely to be fired in cold conditions (under 20° F)
Magnum primers are engineered to produce a hotter flame of longer duration to meet the needs of the above conditions. However, these characteristics often require a charge weight reduction to keep pressure under control. For this reason, use Magnum primers only where recommended in published loading data.
Our research indicates that some propellant/cartridge combinations do not require Magnum primers at the maximum load level, but can at the start load level for reliable ignition. When we find this, we use Magnum primers for all loads with that propellant.
Primer Success for the Reloader
The primer must activate or the cartridge is useless. The misfire is the most likely primer-related problem the reloader will encounter. Most are caused by the reloader, not the primer.
Proper seating is the single most important factor in primer success. Modern primers and primer pockets are designed to achieve maximum sensitivity when the cup bottom is .003" to .005" below the case head. If the cup is flush or protruding, a misfire is lurking. This condition known as a "high primer," and is the leading cause of misfires in reloaded ammunition.
When the primer is properly seated, the legs of the anvil make contact with the bottom of the pocket, and provide full support for the firing pin blow. If the legs of the primer are not in contact, some of the firing pin force must be used to finish seating the primer. Tests have shown that this condition can require as much as 50 percent more energy to ignite the primer. Does your rifle or handgun have this much reserve? Probably not.
Another cause of misfires is a primer that is seated too deep. In this case, the primer is deformed as the primer is forced too deep and has no place to go. The compound can be detached from the cup, the anvil is deformed, and the cup bottom is too far from the firing pin tip.
Another factor the reloader can control is contamination. Case lube on your fingers can get in primers. The lubricant raises the ignition temperature to the point the primer will not fire. Keep oils away from primers.
Priming Storage and Safety
Modern primers, with proper storage, have incredibly long shelf life (in spite of rumors to the contrary that ran amuck in 1993-4). For storage and safety, primers must be left in their original packaging. Find an area with low humidity and reasonably constant temperature. High humidity combined with big temperature swings can degrade primer performance. Dehumidifying equipment must be flameless to avoid accidents. Check for local regulations on the quantity of primers that can be stored in a residence and adhere to those regulations.
Modern primer packaging is designed to protect primers from mass detonation in the event they are in a fire or the package it dropped. In a fire, current packaging design results in a series of small "pops" as individual primers cook off.
Never store primers in a tightly closed metal container like an ammo can. To do so is to risk a devastating explosion complete with deadly metal fragments from the can. Such confinement can make the discharge of one or two primers instantaneously progress to a high-order event involving all primers in the can.
Never store primers in bulk, that is, removed from their factory packaging and placed in another container. When loading, dump out only ten to twenty primers at a time. When the session is over, return all primers to their original containers before putting them away.
Primer are best stored in a vented wooden box or cabinet with a loosely attached door or lid. This allows the pressure to vent in the case of fire or a few primers detonating in the container. Wood acts as an heat insulation to slow the transmission of heat to the primers.
Mark primer packages with the date of purchase and use them in the order received. This rotates your stock so no box is forgotten.
All reloading components including primers must be stored away from access by children or persons with impaired judgment.
Above all, apply a healthy dose of common sense to primer handling as well as all your hand-loading activities.
Spartans ask not how many, but where!
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longtooth
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Now I know more about primers than I ever thought I wanted to know. All I ever wanted them to do was start the KABOOOOOOM that was spoken of 1st. 
Carry 24-7 or guess right.
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dukalmighty
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age_ranger
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I skipped the long read, but haven't ever had a problem with primers during reloading. The only problem I had was last week when I set down a large metal tank and it just happened to land on a primer that I had dropped and couldn't find. Pretty loud and the primer cup flattened out like a daisy. It was like hitting a whole roll of strip caps with a hammer (remember those good ol' days?)
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age_ranger
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LOL.........I can just picture that........and it would make a great prank!!Jeremae wrote:Only primer I've had go off outside a gun chamber was the one my wife vacuumed upNow I do ALL the sweeping in the reloading room... with a broom.
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Just remember: Your very best thinking got you where you are now!!!
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