Power Pistol issues

[Metal god]

After all of y'alls input I do believe I will switch to a different powder and primers.

That is always an option , how ever I'd want to know for sure what was going on or at least have reasonable confidence I understood what was going on before just moving on . That's just me though , I get very courses when things go wrong and I tend to go down a rabbits hole trying to understand why . Even when I've either moved on or the problem no longer presents it self I keep digging . My thought is If I don't know why it happened , I'll likely do it again at some point .

Unclenicks observation that Hornady is using the Winchester primers is a really good catch . That very well could be the issue with the lower charge .

Not to be a stickler but I'd like to look down this rabbit hole a tad more . I'd like to know if you have a bunch of unburned powder you need to clean out of the gun each time you get a squib as well as if the load that contributed to blowing up your gun is the same load in question here ? If "all" your problems have been with this load and this load only . I'd have I much easier time just scrapping it and moving on . How ever if this has happened using other components , I'd want to dig a little deeper as to what's happening .

FWIW - I believe what most of us want to understand and are asking in a round about way to be polite is , What is your reloading method , how do you charge your cases , how do you confirm your charge is in the case before seating the bullet , Do you use check weights to calibrate your scale , What scale do you use etc etc .

This is not to be critical of you but you're new here and we don't have much history on you . I/we want to be sure we can move past the possibility you're not making the mistake at the bench first so we can move on to more complex possibilities like the type Unclenick pointed out .

 

[laymenshooter]

Ok. Let me break it down barny style. And Please critique if you deem necessary. I use the Lee single stage press that came in the Lee challenger kit. It was pretty explanatory for me.
I keep my process simple, and methodical. After brass is sorted, and all the dirt, rocks and steel are separated from the brass, brass is sorted by calibers. Each batch is cleaned by tumbling before the case is sized, and primers removed, so none of the media gets in the primer pocket. (I will be switching to walnut media to alleviate the issue of the corn cob getting stuck in the 5.56 casing. For me it takes a couple hours) After the cases are cleaned, I use the Lee sizing die to pop the primers and size the case. Once all of the cases are sized, the primer pocket is cleaned, CCI primer is set by the Lee deluxe hand primer to avoid issues. Once that is done, they are sorted into 50 round batches. The cases are measured for length SAMMI dies, and if appropriate the case mouth is flared open by using a Lee die. especially for the 5.56 and 7.62. the 50 cases after priming and measuring the cases are put in a loading tray, set aside, powder is put in the powder thrower from the Lee kit that I have (which will be replaced by a more precise dispensing system when funds are available)
I zero my Lee analog scale that has the magnetic dampening. Makes life so much easier. Once the proper amount of powder is thrown and measured, it is thrownan additional 3 times for verification.
Each load of powder is thrown and measured, and once the powder is in the cartridge, the powder is visually verified to be in the case, a bullet is placed nose down into the case gently to visualize that there is a load of powder in a primed case.
Once all 50 rounds are complete in this stage, I move on to the loading of the bullet, where each round is measured for COL.

Each of my rounds are done in this manner. Time consuming and tedious, but very relaxing.

 

[Unclenick]

Which CCI primer are you using? The 350 would be the CCI equivalent to use with a load developed with the WLP primer.

How do you use the Lee Delux Hand Primer? Do you get the primer in firmly, or just until you feel it bottom out? Ideally, primer specs call for them to be reconsolidated (seated deeper) by 0.002"-0.004" than they are when you feel them just touch bottom. To learn how much seating pressure that takes, you will probably need to measure how far below flush with the case head they are when you just feel them make contact, then, with no new primers in the Lee tool, apply pressure until the above numbers are reached. It will likely be more effort than you might suppose.

 

[laymenshooter]

For the hand loader I squeeze until I can't squeeze anymore.
My rebuttal with the primer issue is that with the 5.56 and 7.62, wouldn't I be having more issues, especially with the Israeli brass since it has a pocket that has to be reemed due to the crimp?
Which I do by hand with a Lyman tool

 

[Unclenick]

If you are using maximum pressure on the hand tool you are likely to be seating primers adequately. The question that remains is, which primer are you using in the 45 Auto with Power Pistol? It needs to be a magnum primer to match the Hornady load data.

Incidentally, the tight IMI primer pockets are due to using minimum CIP/NATO primer pocket specs (identical) which are metric and turn out to be about 0.0003" smaller on the minimum side than the SAAMI standard when you convert the dimensions. I enlarge them, too.