Federal small pistol primers.

F

FoghornLeghorn

New member
I'm curious concerning variations in diameter of different manufacturer's primers. I picked up some Federal primers and, my last range trip, had some reloads that did not ignite. Acted like light primer strikes.

Once fired brass. Never had that problem before. The only difference was primer brand.

Are Federal primers maybe larger in diameter and did not seat? The press is a Dillon Square Deal dedicated to small primer calibers.
 
Federal are generally one of the easier ones to seat on a Dillon Square Deal. I've used them for a long time on one I have dedicated to 45 Auto. They also generally ignite more easily than average. Did you run your finger over the cases to feel for high primers? Did you give the operating handle a good shove forward at the top of the stroke to seat the primer?
 
Interesting. I too have seen some recent reload 380 and 9x19 misfire with light primer strikes. Federal small pistol primers, recently purchased. A second strike on misfired cartridge fired the round. The primers were properly seated, usually a couple of thousandths below the case head.
 
Along that same line, I was loading 9mm's on my Square Deal with Winchester primers having run out of CCI's. Loading mixed brass, I noticed every time I primed a SIG case it took considerably more pressure to seat the primer fully than any other headstamp. Never felt any difference with CCI primers. Obviously there are slight dimensional differences between brands of primers and brass manufacturers.
 
^^^This is not an uncommon complaint with brass made on the other side of the pond. IMI is the same way. I've measured a number of them and found some overseas brass has primer pocket diameters about 0.0004" smaller than typical U.S.-made brass. My assumption is that this is a metric conversion issue that occurs when the tooling is specified.
 
Unclenick said:
Federal are generally one of the easier ones to seat on a Dillon Square Deal. I've used them for a long time on one I have dedicated to 45 Auto. They also generally ignite more easily than average. Did you run your finger over the cases to feel for high primers? Did you give the operating handle a good shove forward at the top of the stroke to seat the primer?
Click to expand...
I thought Dillon said don't use Federal on their presses.
 
reynolds357 said:
I thought Dillon said don't use Federal on their presses.
Click to expand...
I think it might have been Lee who said that.

Nevertheless, as I remember it the issue was that testing various brands of primers in auto priming devices, Lee claimed that when a sympathetic explosion of the primers was induced, the destruction was more catastrophic when Federal primers were involved as compared to other brands.
 
dahermit said:
I think it might have been Lee who said that.

Nevertheless, as I remember it the issue was that testing various brands of primers in auto priming devices, Lee claimed that when a sympathetic explosion of the primers was induced, the destruction was more catastrophic when Federal primers were involved as compared to other brands.
Click to expand...
Dillon definitely said don't use them in 650. I think they expanded it to all their presses.
 
dahermit said:
I think it might have been Lee who said that.

Nevertheless, as I remember it the issue was that testing various brands of primers in auto priming devices, Lee claimed that when a sympathetic explosion of the primers was induced, the destruction was more catastrophic when Federal primers were involved as compared to other brands.
Click to expand...
My understanding was lee said no federal as they were too sensitive and could go off while priming. But no idea how true that is.
 
reynolds357 said:
If you search it,bits all over forums. Many people say Dillon tech support has told them that.
Click to expand...

Here is what Dillon told me when I asked them about using Federal primers in their 650:


DillonHelp <DillonHelp@dillonprecision.com>

Feb 20, 2020, 2:04 PM

Federal primers can be used in any Dillon loader. However, they are more sensitive than other brands and more likely to ignite if a case has a crimped primer pocket, or a deformed rim prevents the case from centering in a shellplate.

If it feels like excessive pressure is needed to seat a primer, stop. Remove that case.

Thank you!

Dillon Precision Products, Inc.
Phone: 800-223-4570
 
My experience is that federal primers are generally softer and more reliable in ignition in "light strike" situations, I have a couple of savage bolt guns that occasionally fail to fire when using the Genix primers or other NATO-style primers. My impression about manufacturer's warnings is that they usually default to risk of doomsday megaton explosions for liability reasons--yet I've read on this forum that guys have decapped live primers in their presses with no issues (I still wouldn't do it, though:D).
 
The possibility of primer explosions is the reason why I have never loaded more than 20 or so primers into the primer feed trays on either my Lee hand primers or my Lee Classic press, no matter what primer I use.

I also regularly wash the priming assemblies in warm, soapy water to remove any traces of primer dust that might have accumulated.

I knew a guy who was severely injured in a primer tube explosion when he was loading on an old press that didn't have a shielded tube.
 
^^^What Mike said. According to Lee (See, Lee's Modern Reloading, 2nd Ed, pp.80-86), former CCI employee Dave Anderson explained the explosion from the basic (hydroxide of) lead styphnate used by Federal as a sensitizer is more violent than you get from the normal lead styphnate used by everyone else. So part of the concern is that a primer going off adjacent to a tray full of them might set off a few others with normal lead styphnate primers, but it is more likely to set them all off with Federal primers, and the resulting explosion will be more violent than if normal lead styphnate primers had gone off the same way. There is also a set of lists on page 85 showing which primers can be safely loaded into a feed tray 100-at-a-time (all CCI primers and a few others), which ones they recommend only loading 20, and which ones they only recommend loading 10-at-a-time (Winchester LR). So concatenated explosions are not strictly a Federal issue. They just say it is worst with them.
 
Well I got that solved, I use a Universal Hand primer and avoid all that! I may break my arm patting myself on the back, stay tuned.

That said, my experience is pretty universal (not primer tool) that European brass pockets are a tad smaller.

Granted its been Lapua and PPU only, small and large rifle respeviely, the first primers going into it are hard to seat (not fun when the arthritis is acting up)

Second time ok and better as they work on the pockets. None has ever gone full loose though only the 6.5 has been run through a lot of times, 20 ish.
 
Last edited:
Yep. Undesirable, for sure, and explains why eye and ear protection while priming are rational things to have in place.

I once bought 1000 each of IMI match 45 Auto and 308 Win brass. Then when my dad went into assisted living (he's 101 now) I found another 1000 pieces of the 308 IMI in an unopened bag in his basement. This is the best reason to own a Dillon or an RCBS bench-type primer pocket swager. All 3000 have had to go through mine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top