Reloading Safety reminder - Primers

[Oryx]

Wouldn't typically cross post to another forum but no doubt this will end up here at some point (haven't seen it yet). Sheds some light on the serious damage a primer can do if you're not careful or equipment isn't in top shape.

Reloading safety reminder

This just happened recently to a shooter near me....Pure speculation on what set the first one off, the rest went like popcorn. Be safe out there. @orkan

www.longrangehunting.com

 

[Ravenworks]

Read the manual and it explains to you the importance of cleaning that tube and keeping it clean.

 

[pmclaine]

When the stack in my Dillon went off they all exploded at once. There was no ability to hear an individual primer it was like det cord.

The magazine contained the explosion but sent the backer rod up into the ceiling.

Loud as fuck.

Unlike powder (propellant) primer compound is an explosive.

Its serious shit.....look up how the manufatcurers treat the making of the priming compound. They take it seriously.

Was vacuuming the bench area last weekend caught a primer in the impeller and it went off scared the shit out of me but first thought was "Damn there is another unicorn lost"

 

[spife7980]

 

[KZP]

Back when primers were abundant like desert sand, I needed to dispose of some for a gun I didn't reload anymore. Bundled about 20 together in a paper towel and threw them into a burning small metal trash can. Trash can launched itself about a foot off the ground. Gave off quite the report too.

 

[zeroz]

When the stack in my Dillon went off they all exploded at once. There was no ability to hear an individual primer it was like det cord.

The magazine contained the explosion but sent the backer rod up into the ceiling.

Loud as fuck.

Unlike powder (propellant) primer compound is an explosive.

Its serious shit.....look up how the manufatcurers treat the making of the priming compound. They take it seriously.

Was vacuuming the bench area last weekend caught a primer in the impeller and it went off scared the shit out of me but first thought was "Damn there is another unicorn lost"

Any idea how that happened on the dillon? I'd like to avoid that.

 

[pmclaine]

Any idea how that happened on the dillon? I'd like to avoid that.

Loading 5.56 crimped on S1050....swage Rod must have not fully swaged one.

 

[zeroz]

Shitballs. I know Ive pushed a little hard on a few over the years. Ive never had one, much less a stack go off. Looks like I need to back my comfort level down a bit.

 

[Oryx]

Loading 5.56 crimped on S1050....swage Rod must have not fully swaged one.

At that point on a Dillon they shouldn’t be in line with the pick up tube when seating, no? Don’t the primers get shuttled to the seating position?
Any idea how the one that was getting seated set off the others in the tube? I’m definitely interested in the how as I’m not interested in having that happen. I’ve reloaded well over 100K rounds and have yet to set off a primer accidentally (knock on wood)

 

[pmclaine]

At that point on a Dillon they shouldn’t be in line with the pick up tube when seating, no? Don’t the primers get shuttled to the seating position?
Any idea how the one that was getting seated set off the others in the tube? I’m definitely interested in the how as I’m not interested in having that happen. I’ve reloaded well over 100K rounds and have yet to set off a primer accidentally (knock on wood)

You sir are correct but it happened.

Dillon was good. Though the S1050 is not fully warranted they sent me all the parts gratis to get running again.

That steel primer magazine contained the explosion, it was probably 10-20 primers but blew the aluminum inner to shit.

 

[pmclaine]

Shitballs. I know Ive pushed a little hard on a few over the years. Ive never had one, much less a stack go off. Looks like I need to back my comfort level down a bit.

During the culling operation when I check primers Ive seen shit pushed in sideways and not a peep.

but that one..........is all it takes.

 

[Huskydriver]

I have had @Mr. F launch my primer alarm rod into my reloading tile ceiling on a Dillon 650. Magazine safety tube did it's job and directed all of the blast up and away..... Shame to lose 70 primers or so lol....Dillon replaced everything. Shit happens but yea if I feel weird resistance I stop and check the primer pocket

 

[KYAggie]

Wow, not showing my wife those pictures. I have new found respect for the steel safety tube on my Redding T7.

 

[acudaowner]

 

[zeroz]

Good to know the dillon tube doesn't turn into shrapnel.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

There have been a whole ton of posts in the past few months about folks mixing powders, having nasty overpressure issues, blowed up guns... etc.

Not sure if this is chalked up to new folks in the learning curve, complacency amongst us old guys or just some odd synchronicity.

But it's no-bueno.

Reloading is an OCD hobby. You have to be neat, tidy, keep good records, research your loads... It's not a place to simply 'Go grab something off the Interwebs' Starting low and working high is a mantra. So is utter attention to detail. And record keeping.

If you can't do the above... it's safer to stick to factory ammo. Really. You are doing yourself more harm than good.

If you DO reload it is fulfilling, fun, gratifying and lets you tailor perfect rounds for your rifle. And takes another variable out of the 'How did I miss?' equation. It is one of the most satisfying elements of the precision game.

But if you can't follow some very, very proven rules about caution and attention to detail, it's not for you!

By all means reload. But don't think common sense is enough. You are creating tiny little pipe bombs you are putting next to your face every time you pull the reloading press handle. Let that sink in. Things like Blowed up Serbu's and other YouTube retardness are not cool or funny or amusing or click bait. They should NEVER happen... to folks who use tier-one equipment and following utterly rigid reloading process.

Don't be 'that guy.' Learn and grow and remember that there are old reloaders. And bold reloaders. But no old bold reloaders... to steal a term from flying. And every retard that blows their shit up... is a blight on the shooting sports. Did I mention... don't be that guy?

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[alamo5000]

I will add to be careful when annealing also. I had a primed case get mixed in with my fired brass and while nothing was hurt it did scare everyone.

 

[Baron23]

Haha…bet he wouldn’t do that at today’s primer prices. Lol.

I reload shot shell for clay target shooting also. I use a Spolar which has a slide that picks up the primer from the feed rail and moves laterally to the seating station ensuring that if the primer being seated goes off (eh, unnoticed that primer is tipped in the seating cup) there is no impact to the rest of them.

I believe the CPS has a similar feed function, no?

 

[Mr. F]

I have had @Mr. F launch my primer alarm rod into my reloading tile ceiling on a Dillon 650. Magazine safety tube did it's job and directed all of the blast up and away..... Shame to lose 70 primers or so lol....Dillon replaced everything. Shit happens but yea if I feel weird resistance I stop and check the primer pocket

Woke me the F up haha

 

[Huskydriver]

Woke me the F up haha

You and me both lol

 

[Haney]

View attachment 7841906

Ignorant . You are quite the asshole . You fill this reloading sub-forum with bullshit and misinformation . I guess this post stays along the lines of your worth .

 

[spife7980]

Ignorant . You are quite the asshole . You fill this reloading sub-forum with bullshit and misinformation . I guess this post stays along the lines of your worth .

Oh… ok.



Not only are you retarded, you aren’t even any fun.

 

[Huskydriver]

Ignorant . You are quite the asshole . You fill this reloading sub-forum with bullshit and misinformation . I guess this post stays along the lines of your worth .

 

[Rocketmandb]

Not only are you retarded, you aren’t even any fun.

This head movie makes my eyes rain

 

[MarinePMI]

Ignorant . You are quite the asshole . You fill this reloading sub-forum with bullshit and misinformation . I guess this post stays along the lines of your worth .

You've been warned twice now about your behavior here. Take a month off....

 

[Threadcutter308]

Not only are you retarded, you aren’t even any fun.

Not anymore, he's not.......

 

[Bender]

You've been warned twice now about your behavior here. Take a month off....

 

[Threadcutter308]

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Sirhr

 

[Fig]

 

[Baron23]

You've been warned twice now about your behavior here. Take a month off....

View attachment 7842947

Praise the lord and pass the butter beans.

 

[Krob95]

You've been warned twice now about your behavior here. Take a month off....

View attachment 7842947

Why stop at a month, why not 3 months? Go for broke and go 5 years? Would be doing a great service

 

[Im2bent]

I banned him a while ago with the ignore button.

 

[Average guy]

Haney’s portrait

 

[wyliecoyote]

Anyone have any thoughts on the risk of this sort of mishap occurring on a Primal Rights CPS? In the CPS manual, it states "do not load more than 10 primers into the feed tube at a time, for your safety". Not sure if this is just a CYA precaution, but it does defeat part of the purpose of having a CPS, that being the speed of priming cases. The first half of the manual is entirely safety but that 10 primer recommendation has had me wondering ever since I started using it six months ago. Admittedly, I ignore that limit at my own risk and load up 100 at a time wearing eye protection and being very meticulous about brass prep, especially the primer pockets.

The CPS design does seem to allow a greater margin of safety if the primer being seated were to go off, but doesn't the Dillon do the same and still there have been incidents where the primers in the tube detonated? Also, unlike the Dillon, the CPS doesn't have a steel safety shroud around the aluminum primer tube. I'm not familiar with the RCBS device at issue here, but it seems somewhat similar to a CPS in having an exposed aluminum primer tube. Perhaps @orkan can enlighten us.

 

[Fig]

I've had one go off in the press, but the only tube I use is on the Dillon, and I just don't see how it could ignite the tube. That RCBS looks like a bad design to me. The one being seated should be nowhere near the magazine IMO.

 

[akmike47]

View attachment 7842601

You done fucked up A-aron!

 

[Im2bent]

i am more concerned about the one post showing a brick of primers that went off on their own in the cabinet. What the hell was that about cause I have a shit ton of powder sitting on a shit ton of primers. Mayhaps I need to reevaluate my storage practices.

 

[GreenGO Juan]

i am more concerned about the one post showing a brick of primers that went off on their own in the cabinet. What the hell was that about cause I have a shit ton of powder sitting on a shit ton of primers. Mayhaps I need to reevaluate my storage practices.

I keep primers in a cooler and keep them in a separate room from my powder for that very reason. That way the stay temperature, moisture stable and are protected from being inadvertently set off.

 

[patriotnation]

Anyone have any thoughts on the risk of this sort of mishap occurring on a Primal Rights CPS? In the CPS manual, it states "do not load more than 10 primers into the feed tube at a time, for your safety". Not sure if this is just a CYA precaution, but it does defeat part of the purpose of having a CPS, that being the speed of priming cases. The first half of the manual is entirely safety but that 10 primer recommendation has had me wondering ever since I started using it six months ago. Admittedly, I ignore that limit at my own risk and load up 100 at a time wearing eye protection and being very meticulous about brass prep, especially the primer pockets.

The CPS design does seem to allow a greater margin of safety if the primer being seated were to go off, but doesn't the Dillon do the same and still there have been incidents where the primers in the tube detonated? Also, unlike the Dillon, the CPS doesn't have a steel safety shroud around the aluminum primer tube. I'm not familiar with the RCBS device at issue here, but it seems somewhat similar to a CPS in having an exposed aluminum primer tube. Perhaps @orkan can enlighten us.

Yes , my first thought when I saw that picture. I don’t know how that type of thing could occur unless static electricity can cause it but I can envision fabricating a piece of 3/4” pipe from a pipe clamp to sit over the tube maybe??

I have not found the CPS faster yet
In fact slow or slower than my Sinclair one primer at a time primer tool. I have followed directions but the shell holder loosens up defeating the purpose of the whole primer seating depth consistency. So I had to use an Allen wrench to tighten the 2 screws down slightly more than finger tight and still it loosened still. Frustrating when you don’t catch it and now cases are mixed in seated at different depth.
It takes a lot of time to fill the tube.

 

[KZP]

i am more concerned about the one post showing a brick of primers that went off on their own in the cabinet. What the hell was that about cause I have a shit ton of powder sitting on a shit ton of primers. Mayhaps I need to reevaluate my storage practices.

Definitely separate powder from primers. I'm not comfortable storing too much powder in one area either. I keep what I use near my bench with reserves elsewhere.

 

[Im2bent]

Yes , my first thought when I saw that picture. I don’t know how that type of thing could occur unless static electricity can cause it but I can envision fabricating a piece of 3/4” pipe from a pipe clamp to sit over the tube maybe??

I have not found the CPS faster yet
In fact slow or slower than my Sinclair one primer at a time primer tool. I have followed directions but the shell holder loosens up defeating the purpose of the whole primer seating depth consistency. So I had to use an Allen wrench to tighten the 2 screws down slightly more than finger tight and still it loosened still. Frustrating when you don’t catch it and now cases are mixed in seated at different depth.
It takes a lot of time to fill the tube.

Vibra Prime | Auto Primer Tube Filler | Frankford Arsenal

Save time loading primer tubes with your progessive press by using the Frankford Arsenal Vibra-Prime automatic primer tube filler.

www.frankfordarsenal.com

 

[Oryx]

My initial thoughts on a system that shuttles primers to a separate area than the primer tube for seating would be safe. However 2-3" away wouldn't be enough if a primer got inadvertently ignited while seating. This can throw the flame much further than the shuttled distance and potentially set off the primers in a tube. Easy to also see the need to keep the tube clean over time from any build up from thousands of primers going through it.

There's a number of videos on YT of the same experience. Great reminders to keep things in good order, clean and go slow and listen to that voice in your head that tells you something just isn't right.

 

[patriotnation]

Vibra Prime | Auto Primer Tube Filler | Frankford Arsenal

Save time loading primer tubes with your progessive press by using the Frankford Arsenal Vibra-Prime automatic primer tube filler.

www.frankfordarsenal.com

Thanks but no thanks, spent enough already. Before I go that route, I’ll just go back to the Sinclair and risk my arthritis. I’m not worried about the time savings all that much. Powder measure and brass prep are the places to cut time.

I’ll keep the tube clean and be careful of static

 

[308pirate]

There have been a whole ton of posts in the past few months about folks mixing powders, having nasty overpressure issues, blowed up guns... etc.

Not sure if this is chalked up to new folks in the learning curve, complacency amongst us old guys or just some odd synchronicity.

My money is on that.

Over the last two years there has been an upsurge in posts by people asking really stupid questions like: "tell me what I need to reload" or "is my load safe" (WTactualF), or similar.

IMO that is typical of a new generation of high information/low knowledge shooters who can't be bothered to learn how to do things the right way and want it all now.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

My money is on that.

Over the last two years there has been an upsurge in posts by people asking really stupid questions like: "tell me what I need to reload" or "is my load safe" (WTactualF), or similar.

IMO that is typical of a new generation of high information/low knowledge shooters who can't be bothered to learn how to do things the right way and want it all now.

On the bright side they are here and they were asking questions. And they’re asking the right people. So as long as they take lessons to heart we will help create a whole new generation of tier 1 reloaders.

So I don’t begrudge stupid questions. I certainly love to see the influx of new reloaders. And I’m glad to know that folks here are mostly willing to give them a break and some good lessons as long as they are smart enough to follow them.

And if they are not they will weed them selves out soon enough potentially in spectacular fashion. TV worth watching and all that.

Cheers, Sirhr

 

[MrSmith]

Somewhat germane to the discussion;

I used commercial explosives for many years in construction and excavating. I've trained many people in how to do it safety and productively. I always relay one specific story. It was told to me as truth by an old powder monkey when I was the stupid green on the shot so during my career I retold it as truth.

" In the 50's DuPont did a sensitivity test of their NG based powders. They dropped 40 cases from 40 feet high onto a steel plate. 39 didn't go off. "

Thank you,
MrSmith

 

[rottenruger]

Wouldn't typically cross post to another forum but no doubt this will end up here at some point (haven't seen it yet). Sheds some light on the serious damage a primer can do if you're not careful or equipment isn't in top shape.

Reloading safety reminder

This just happened recently to a shooter near me....Pure speculation on what set the first one off, the rest went like popcorn. Be safe out there. @orkan

www.longrangehunting.com

What a mess, sure hope he heals up good. All my primers are handled individualy, slow loading PRS loads, so rarely a problem. Used to put primers in my clingshot and shoot them at concrete, NEVER could get them to go off. But once had one go off while seating primers, was real glad i faced it away from me and wore glasses!

 

[USMC-FURY]

More info.....was it Federal primers? Dillon says NOT to use Federal primers in some of its presses. They're like butter! Softest primers out there! Ever notice how small,other primer bricks are? And how BIG Federals are....

 

[Wodan]

Haha…bet he wouldn’t do that at today’s primer prices. Lol.

I reload shot shell for clay target shooting also. I use a Spolar which has a slide that picks up the primer from the feed rail and moves laterally to the seating station ensuring that if the primer being seated goes off (eh, unnoticed that primer is tipped in the seating cup) there is no impact to the rest of them.

I believe the CPS has a similar feed function, no?

It be a great way to get rid of magpies. Place a bottle of primers like that on a gut pile or a carcass of a dead animal. Then wait for the magpies…………..