"Don't use Federal primers with Lee......"

dds51968 said:
An employee put spent primers in a couple of the packages and took the good ones. Federal primers are sitting on their side in the package, so it's not readily visible.
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No.
Those are not fired primers.

dds51968 said:
I'd say those aren't marks from something pressing into it, I believe they're the primer buckling.
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No.

That's from debris on top of the primer ram. You probably had a flake of powder, some brass shavings, or a sprinkle from a jelly donut get loose and make its way into the primer cup.


Look at the nice radius around the edges. There's nothing wrong with the way that those primers were seated, except for the debris that was in the system.
Next time, make sure the process is happening correctly, while you're doing it ...not after the fact.
 
OP: Pardon me for being a weenie, but if you can't diagnose the problem shown in the picture any better than this, you need to find a new hobby. Reloading is very clearly not for you.
 
I don't use Federal primers, for no other reasons than A) they always seem to be significantly more expensive than every other brand and B) because I absolutely despise their packaging with every ounce of my being.

Seriously - their packaging is horrible. 2x the space for the same number of primers, and that stupid sideways packaging makes getting them aligned cup down a PITA.
 
That's from debris on top of the primer ram. You probably had a flake of powder, some brass shavings, or a sprinkle from a jelly donut get loose and make its way into the primer cup.
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This is the reason. I've seen similar dents in primers mid-run while reloading, looked at the primer seating ram, there is a scrap of brass or lead, or, a jelly donut sprinkle..;)
 
A JELLY DONUT?!

Sir, yes sir!

ARE YOU ALLOWED TO HAVE FOOD IN THE BARRACKS, PRIVATE?!

Sir, no sir!

ARE YOU ALLOWED TO EAT JELLY DONUTS, PRIVATE?!

Sir, no sir!

AND WHY IS THAT?!

Sir... because I'm too heavy, sir!

NO PYLE! BECAUSE YOU ARE A DISGUSTING FATBODY!
 
My 1st press was a Lee 100 progressive and Fed primers always looked like that.
Never had one go off in the press and when shot they went boom.
 
Guess it is the federals! My memory was off on that one!

Anyhow I suggest a sizing die in the primer position for the load master. Also an upgraded priming system if you don't have the one manufactured after 2006 I think!? ( the way my memory is slipping it might be 1986 :D)

It takes a little reading and some mechanical inclination to successfully set up a LEE reliably, some don't have that and they struggle. A LEE is not for anyone without patience to say the least but when set up right it can make ammo as good as any other at a much cheaper price.

I have ignited a total of three and 2 were on a progressive LEE. Since I put the resizing die in the priming slot and a universal decapping die in the first I have run thousands without issue.
 
A JELLY DONUT?!

Sir, yes sir!

ARE YOU ALLOWED TO HAVE FOOD IN THE BARRACKS, PRIVATE?!

Sir, no sir!

ARE YOU ALLOWED TO EAT JELLY DONUTS, PRIVATE?!

Sir, no sir!

AND WHY IS THAT?!

Sir... because I'm too heavy, sir!

NO PYLE! BECAUSE YOU ARE A DISGUSTING FATBODY!
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Must resist.

Must not derail thread.

Must. Not...
Must....


They're payin' for it; YOU eat it!
 
It's comical how a post just totally goes well south of its intended purpose. I offered up a theory or two, albeit out there which I prefaced the suggestion with.

I'll go back to lookin at posts, leave the partaking for all the people way smarter than myself.

And for you Gregmercurio, I don't recall seeing any manuals that you've written on reloading.

Sad bunch of fellas.

Some of the post actually offered opinions on why it may be happening or clarifying the federal primers properties.

The other stuff posted is rubbish.
 
Yeah you're right, I should lighten up, FrankenMauser's post May well be spot on.
Should I be looking at each bullet I make, not sure. I'm still early on in my reloading hobby, and I have loaded and shot a good number of bullets through multiple guns, but the comments from Gregmercurio twisted my jewels.

The post I made was to to get insight, like FrankenMauser's post, Thank you by the way.

Not what was said in his post :

"OP: Pardon me for being a weenie, but if you can't diagnose the problem shown in the picture any better than this, you need to find a new hobby. Reloading is very clearly not for you."

Really man? I don't need to pardon you, you are what you are.


Anyway, I'm over it.
 
have never heard that rule about federal and lee not mixing well. i have used at least 4-5 thousand of them, i never noticed anything remarkable. the only primer i ever had an issue with ever, was reminging, i bought one case and never bought again, i had several failure to ignite. i understand that this is commonly a poor seating issue, but since i have never had that problem with anything else, i just as well not use them. federal? no issues, love the companies budget pistol ammo, just dislike the packaging of primes to buy them often..
 
Agreed, the packaging is unnecessarily large and wasteful, and sitting on their side doesn't lend to dumping them on the tray.
 
Should I be looking at each bullet I make, not sure.
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In regards to priming...
Just check the first one, and spot check after that.

I, personally, run my finger over every single primer seated with a hand primer or on any press other than a progressive. That way I can feel for defects and proper seating depth, even if I don't actually spin the case around to look at it. But, I do look at every 3rd to 5th one, mostly to make sure that no debris has made its way onto the priming ram.

--

Inspecting each and every component and cartridge? Well, some people think that's a bit excessive.

...But I do it for anything being loaded on a single stage or turret press. Every case (many times, between cleaning, prepping, and loading). Every bullet. Every powder charge. Every loaded cartridge. Every crimped cartridge (separate step at my bench).

Small mistakes can have big consequences. Even if it doesn't harm me, it may harm my firearms or even my reloading tools.

Some people prefer to just load massive quantities of ammunition and then deal with rejects or problems as they come to light, later on. (These are the guys that, later in life, have two dozen stories about the Garands that they blew up, the S&Ws that they blew up, the Rugers that they lodged bullets in, the 8 bullets that they stacked up in their Python's barrel, the shotgun that has a bulge in the chamber, and the missing finger tips.)

I prefer to take a little more time and produce quality ammunition, making sure that "mistakes" don't happen to begin with. ...But, without 'motivation', that's a hard thing to sell to people, these days.
I've had plenty. I've been a first-hand witness to 9mms exploding, .40 S&Ws exploding, .223s exceeding 130,000 psi, revolver barrels getting blown off, and incompetent morons lodging MULTIPLE bullets in the barrel before they realize that there's a problem.
I don't want it to happen to me.
 
OP: It was intended to twist your jewels. You had a problem you didn't understand, so instead of looking internally to your processes to isolate the causal factors, you went external and found something that fit your conclusion. That is a poor way to solve problems, and an even worse way to solve problems when working with energetics. So blame Federal, or blame Lee, but God forbid you blame your ignorance.

My statement stands.
 
I use almost exclusively Lee gear and have used A LOT of Federal primers. It looks to me like there is deformity on your priming rod. I once had a "speck" of a brass shaving get on the priming rod that marked primers like that when I seated them. For all of those that talk about how horrible Lee is, I would tell you that my rifle hand loads with my Lee gear will shoot the same .25" groups that your rifle will using your gear that cost 3x more. My handgun loads will shoot as well as factory loads, and then some. If you're really that intent on spending money for "better" gear, then by all means, spend away and stimulate the economy.
 
I have used thousands of Federal primers on my LCT and they all go bang. The only time I see dimples in the primers is if there is something on the primer punch face.

Two of my primer punches (from Lee) actually came with a pimple in the center, which I ground away.
 
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