Hoping someone here can identify and educate me on a recent issue I've had with my handloading and, in doing so, prove to myself and my range buddies that I'm not crazy.
What's happened?
I load a cartridge into the chamber, bolt locks closed, everything feeds as normal.
Then...
Press the trigger, hammer strikes primer, I hear the click, but round does not fire.
So...I eject the round
Possible explanation the first time?
The first time this happened one of my more-experienced buddies thought it could be a bad primer. But these were "newish CCI 200" from last year and stored adequately
Another buddy thought maybe that the hammer didn't strike the primer hard enough or was seated improperly in the pocket
The last guy thought I just forgot to load powder in the brass because he looked at my primers and all seemed good. I didnt want to believe that I would forget powder. Im positive I reloaded each round correctly.
The second time...
Fast forward to this afternoon and this happens again. Press the trigger I hear a click but bullet doesn't fire. This time I was smart enough to take the cartridges home with me and try to pull the bullet with the bullet-puller hammer.
**Pictures of bullets and primers below**
I was very nervous that maybe my friend was right and I did forget to put powder in it. And, by the coloring of the bullets I pulled it looks like there was "something" in the cartridge to discolor the bullets as they were seated. Is that primer dust or powder dust...
My questions
1) Any guesses why this could be happening? either the explanations above or others? How you I go about troubleshooting?
2) Can the primer ignite the powder but the bullet fails to fire? If in some crazy world that is possible what happens to the powder it as it is burned off....and....how is that at all possible?
I've done as much internet searching as I can but I don't know what this type of malfunction would be called. I've seen some mention of a "squib", but my bullets fail to even eject.
Maybe I just have improper reloading management and I am forgetting to put powder in my brass...but I just struggle to believe I could be so careless. If you knew me...and my OCD...you'd understand why.
Thanks in advance for any education you can lay on me!
What's happened?
I load a cartridge into the chamber, bolt locks closed, everything feeds as normal.
Then...
Press the trigger, hammer strikes primer, I hear the click, but round does not fire.
So...I eject the round
Possible explanation the first time?
The first time this happened one of my more-experienced buddies thought it could be a bad primer. But these were "newish CCI 200" from last year and stored adequately
Another buddy thought maybe that the hammer didn't strike the primer hard enough or was seated improperly in the pocket
The last guy thought I just forgot to load powder in the brass because he looked at my primers and all seemed good. I didnt want to believe that I would forget powder. Im positive I reloaded each round correctly.
The second time...
Fast forward to this afternoon and this happens again. Press the trigger I hear a click but bullet doesn't fire. This time I was smart enough to take the cartridges home with me and try to pull the bullet with the bullet-puller hammer.
**Pictures of bullets and primers below**
I was very nervous that maybe my friend was right and I did forget to put powder in it. And, by the coloring of the bullets I pulled it looks like there was "something" in the cartridge to discolor the bullets as they were seated. Is that primer dust or powder dust...
My questions
1) Any guesses why this could be happening? either the explanations above or others? How you I go about troubleshooting?
2) Can the primer ignite the powder but the bullet fails to fire? If in some crazy world that is possible what happens to the powder it as it is burned off....and....how is that at all possible?
I've done as much internet searching as I can but I don't know what this type of malfunction would be called. I've seen some mention of a "squib", but my bullets fail to even eject.
Maybe I just have improper reloading management and I am forgetting to put powder in my brass...but I just struggle to believe I could be so careless. If you knew me...and my OCD...you'd understand why.
Thanks in advance for any education you can lay on me!