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Practically Shooting

Reloading Safety Warning/Check


BarryinIN

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I was priming some .308 cases last night, when a primer jumped out of the priming tool and landed in the box of primed cases. I really didn't want to learn what would happen if a case had a primer floating in the powder when fired. I couldn't find it with a quick look and had to quit, so I wrote a note to myself to check each one as I took those cases out to load.

As it turned out, I was able to load them today. I was taking cases out and putting them in the loading trays and found a primer lying in among them. Cool, I found it.

Something told me to keep turning each one upside down anyway. Within ten cases, a case rattled and a new primer fell out.

I didn't drop another that I know of, so I have no idea how it got in there.

I look inside cases before loading, just to make sure nothing got in there which would reduce the capacity (like a cocoon or dead bug), but these had been checked right before priming. I don't think I would have looked again if I had not dropped that primer. Primer #2 therefore might not have been found (although the rattle would be hard to miss).

I also shine a light into each case mouth after charging with powder to ensure the powder level is at least close in all of them. A primer wouldn't change this much, and might be missed if it was in a case that was a little roomier than others.

I have no idea what harm a primer would do if left in there. Maybe nothing. Maybe in a smaller case it would be a serious problem. Don't know. Don't care. Don't want to find out.

So I'll be checking this now. Every case will at least get turned upside down before going in the loading tray.

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If the extraneous primer in the case went off with the powder charge, I can almost guarantee you'd have an over pressure event. How much over pressure? Who's to say what the pressure would be, but I'm in the group of idiots who have intentionally set a primer off. Primers are MUCH more powerful than most, including me, realize.

Wayne

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I have no idea either, but I figured it would, being more an explosive than a propellant. Now it's got me curious. Surely someone somewhere has tested this in the last 100+ years.

After some thought, I was lucky it was .30 caliber I was loading. It could have been harder to catch with others since large rifle and pistol primers are .210", which could get into a .22 centerfire case mouth and not fall out if even slightly out of round or a speck of sticky lube was left behind in there or something.

I know, it's harder to get in the smaller neck, but since I still can't figure out how an extra primer showed up and made it in there, I guess I can't rule out that from being possible.

I have an led headlamp I use to peek in each case mouth after charging with powder. I'll use it before now too.

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If the extraneous primer in the case went off with the powder charge, I can almost guarantee you'd have an over pressure event. How much over pressure? Who's to say what the pressure would be, but I'm in the group of idiots who have intentionally set a primer off. Primers are MUCH more powerful than most, including me, realize.

Wayne

This has to have happened before........probably some story on THR. I wonder how you actually would know what happened?

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