primer issue

S

snayl135

Inactive
Im new to reloading. I have a LEE single stage press and loading 9mm. I have loaded several hundred rounds using CCI small primers. I have quite a bit of misfires in my 9mm pistol, but no issues whatsoever with my 9mm carbine - handloads shoot without a hitch in the carbine, but I have to eject an occasional round and reload it in the pistol and the round will fire after a second try. Not sure if it is the primers or the firing pin. The handgun is less than 6 months old.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
 
Ninety percent of the time (in reality 99%?) primer misfires for new reloaders is from improperly seated primers. Your statement that they will fire with a second try confirms this. The first hit pushes the primer deeper and the second crushes the compound between the cup and anvil and the primer fires. Forget "below flush" measurements and seat the primers all the way to the bottom of the pocket. Push until you feel the primer hit bottom, then add a little ummmph to make sure the primer is completely seated...
 
In my experience, CCI primers are among the hardest (physically strong cup) primers on the market. However, they are normally capable of being fired by ordinary handgun mechanisms. I've used them in all manner of small primer handgun cartridges, from .32 ACP to .357 Magnum and not observed any pattern of misfires.

Mikld makes a good point. If the primer is NOT fully seated, quite often the firing pin (or striker) fully seats the primer and does not set it off. So review the reloading (priming) process at least.

But the same ammunition works in a 'carbine'? Perhaps the carbine has a stronger firing pin strike?

What sort of pistol is this? Has any trigger work or such been done on it? Sometimes a trigger 'tune up' will reduce the firing pin strike.

As long at you're looking and fiddling with things, check the firing pin/striker channel for too much lube, burnt powder or other debris accumulation.
 
I have quite a bit of misfires in my 9mm pistol, but no issues whatsoever with my 9mm carbine - handloads shoot without a hitch in the carbine, but I have to eject an occasional round and reload it in the pistol and the round will fire after a second try.
Click to expand...

While I agree primer seating is of paramount importance and firmly believe we seat a primer till it "bottoms out" in the primer cup, your above comment lends me to believe that the strikes are a problem with the pistol (springs and things). Frequently with a primer not quite bottomed out the first strike seats the primer fully and the second strike gets ignition.

When you know the depth of the primer cup and the height of the primer you pretty much know what to expect. Seat a few and place a straight edge (or cheap business card) across the case head, You should see a gap. Also you can measure your firing pin protrusion and get an idea of if when it strikes a primer is the spring strong enough.

Just a Few Thoughts
Ron
 
My thoughts.

Type of press makes no real difference. Primers do.

I load with CCI, Winchester and Selliers & Bellot and of those the only ones I have difficulties with are the CCI and as mentioned I believe it is because of the hardness/thickness of their cups. With mixed 9mm brass I find that at times I have to seat the primer and then rotate it 90/180* and seat it again and then have no issues. In the 380 brass I do not have this issue.

Also I have one auto pistol that will not shoot CCI Primers reliably though it will fire all other primers w/o fail So I have just started with not using CCI primers in 9mm because I have a couple 9mm guns and am not going to have separate loads for each gun.
 
Remember that CCI550 (Magnum) cup is thicker than standard CCI500's. Try using CCI500, but if the problem persist, switch to a different brand. I never had any misfires with Federal primers in more than 30 years.
 
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