Hang Fires with S&B Large Rifle Primers??
Posted: 29 Jan 2018 20:29
Hello everyone. I have a very consistent issue of having hang fires in my 303 British rifle cartridges that I have been hand loading. I am not certain it is the Sellier and Bellot large rifle primers, but that is my first instinct.
The other issue that MAY be contributing to the issue is low capacity/density of the CFE 223 powder in the case. This was the only powder that was available at the store,that was listed in the Hodgdon manual for my particular loads, when I bought the powder. I have made several different hand loads, all with starting loads of 37.5 grains of CFE 223, following Hodgdon load manual. The first time out it was very cold 18 -20 degrees F and it was my first time shooting my new handloads. I had several hang fires in each group of hand loads. I thought cold temperatures may be a contributing factor. The factory ammunition, 2 kinds several boxes of each, performed perfectly with no hang fires. The bolt and firing pin are clean and appear to be getting nice strikes on all the primers.
This time out, trying new loads, same S&B primers, different bullets, warmer temperatures, probably 40's Fahrenheit, consistently had hang fires -even more consistently this time, at least half the hand loads were hang fires. Again, factory ammunition was perfect. I never had a failure to ignite, every hand loaded cartridge did work. But the hang fires were obvious "Click...BANG" pulling the trigger wait for half a second then BOOM. Maybe a little longer wait on some.
The case is relatively full of powder to my eye (70% maybe?). This is the first rifle cartridge I have reloaded, so I have no experience to go off, just reading I have done. I stood the cases up made sure they were not tipped downward just to try and alleviate powder volume issues. All flash holes were clean and unobstructed prior to priming. Two different types of Brass were used. Hornady (match brass cleaned and reloaded) and Herter's (cleaned and reloaded). I have used three bullets, 185 grain pulled Russian FMJ, 180 grain Speer hot core, and Missouri bullets 167 gr coated lead (these were not large enough diameter so I stopped using them). In each case, I had hangfires with my hand loads and both the Hornady factory ammo and the Herter's factory ammo, multiple boxes, had no hang fires.
I have used several hundred S&B Large and small PISTOL primers and not one has failed to fire or ever given me an issue of any kind. I think these Large RIFLE primers from Sellier and Bellot are not good. Please chime in with your opinions and advice. I found a video on youtube today where "Johnny's reloading bench" had problems with S&B small rifle primers in 6.5 Creedmor and he thinks they gave him hang fires and failures to fire. Maybe it is common. Please give me your ideas and advice. Thank you.
The other issue that MAY be contributing to the issue is low capacity/density of the CFE 223 powder in the case. This was the only powder that was available at the store,that was listed in the Hodgdon manual for my particular loads, when I bought the powder. I have made several different hand loads, all with starting loads of 37.5 grains of CFE 223, following Hodgdon load manual. The first time out it was very cold 18 -20 degrees F and it was my first time shooting my new handloads. I had several hang fires in each group of hand loads. I thought cold temperatures may be a contributing factor. The factory ammunition, 2 kinds several boxes of each, performed perfectly with no hang fires. The bolt and firing pin are clean and appear to be getting nice strikes on all the primers.
This time out, trying new loads, same S&B primers, different bullets, warmer temperatures, probably 40's Fahrenheit, consistently had hang fires -even more consistently this time, at least half the hand loads were hang fires. Again, factory ammunition was perfect. I never had a failure to ignite, every hand loaded cartridge did work. But the hang fires were obvious "Click...BANG" pulling the trigger wait for half a second then BOOM. Maybe a little longer wait on some.
The case is relatively full of powder to my eye (70% maybe?). This is the first rifle cartridge I have reloaded, so I have no experience to go off, just reading I have done. I stood the cases up made sure they were not tipped downward just to try and alleviate powder volume issues. All flash holes were clean and unobstructed prior to priming. Two different types of Brass were used. Hornady (match brass cleaned and reloaded) and Herter's (cleaned and reloaded). I have used three bullets, 185 grain pulled Russian FMJ, 180 grain Speer hot core, and Missouri bullets 167 gr coated lead (these were not large enough diameter so I stopped using them). In each case, I had hangfires with my hand loads and both the Hornady factory ammo and the Herter's factory ammo, multiple boxes, had no hang fires.
I have used several hundred S&B Large and small PISTOL primers and not one has failed to fire or ever given me an issue of any kind. I think these Large RIFLE primers from Sellier and Bellot are not good. Please chime in with your opinions and advice. I found a video on youtube today where "Johnny's reloading bench" had problems with S&B small rifle primers in 6.5 Creedmor and he thinks they gave him hang fires and failures to fire. Maybe it is common. Please give me your ideas and advice. Thank you.