Primers for .270

SC243

Well-Known Member
This may be a silly question...

Has anyone ever had issues with certain primers in 270 cases? I've been having the odd misfire and hang-fire on my 270 home loads. I've used different powders (H414/H4350/H4895), the 4895 was the worst. Checked the rifle and bolt, all ok. Looked at everything under the sun, now left with the conclusion that it's down to the primers. I'm using CCI large rifle primers, anyone else had this?


Just to make sure it wasn't a rifle issue, I put through 40 rounds of factory and it never missed a beat.


Any advice gratefully received.


Thanks!
 
Scott
Are your reloads correctly resized? I've certainly found it quite easy to resize some of my cases too much.
Regards
​JCS
 
I have used cci for both my 270 and use the same powders i have not had a single one yet so i cannot help really just to tell you i have not had that issue,atb wayne

ps you dont say if the primers are all the same batch have you tried different boxes?
 
This may be a silly question...

Has anyone ever had issues with certain primers in 270 cases? I've been having the odd misfire and hang-fire on my 270 home loads. I've used different powders (H414/H4350/H4895), the 4895 was the worst. Checked the rifle and bolt, all ok. Looked at everything under the sun, now left with the conclusion that it's down to the primers. I'm using CCI large rifle primers, anyone else had this?


Just to make sure it wasn't a rifle issue, I put through 40 rounds of factory and it never missed a beat.


Any advice gratefully received.


Thanks!


I would still strip the bolt & check for any dirt ! Also check the depth of the primer pockets ? Any pics of misfire cases?
 
If I have my choice I ALWAYS use CCI LR primers specifically CCI200's !

Also have a supply of CCI LR BR as well as some Federal LR .

Never had any problems with them in my own rifles .

However when loading for a friends sons rifle I did have ignition problems with the CCI200 . However the gun had just been reblued and I suspect thee was still some crap inside the bolt husing most likely causing the spring to not strike as hard . I switched over to the Federal LR and had no more problems with that rifle . A year or so later loaded more with the CCI200 and have since had no more problems hence my reasoning that perhaps some trash hendered the primer strike . The rifle in question was a 1980's Winchester Model 70 XTR Featherweight in 257 Roberts .
 
Some folks have stated the CCI primers are harder then the Federal and Winchester primers . I personally cannot say nay or yeah on this . But based on what I assume was light hammer strikes with the afore mentioned Winchester 70 in 257 Bob the hardness of the metal in the CCI primers versus the others may have merit . And that is as I assume the rifle had a weak strike until the crap got out of it and the Federal primer was easier to set off .

I would suggest taking your bolt apart cleaning it and taking an air hose and blowing the ever loving heck out of the inside of the bolt body .
 
I use CCI200's in 270 and 243
must be over 2000 or so now since starting reloading, never had a misfire.

I would eliminate mechanical issues before looking at primer variance

do you have any of the struck primers in a case to show us?
I think what JCS is referring to is not whether the cases are FL sized but how much you are bumping the shoulder datum point

oversize them and you instantly have a headspace issue that can/will result in primer issues
 
Assuming you are getting good strikes on the primers, then the primers themselves may be the problem.

Is it possible you contaminated the primers with a little oil or solvent? Primers are pretty vulnerable to oil.
 
How old are the primers?

I had an issue with some WLR primers some years back. I had bought a couple of thousand of them and when I got to the last few trays of 100 primers got some miss-fires in several different rifles and cartridges. Bought some fresh ones and no more problems. Of course we don't know how long those had been in stock before I bought them.
 
Thank you for the info so far.

The bolt has been stripped and cleaned already, the odd misfire/hang fire is still occurring. The primers are used to load for the 243 as well, and I have had no problems there. So I assume the primers are fine.

I'll try to sort some pics, but I've dismantled most of the rounds (I might have one intact).

in all cases the primer has been struck, and has gone off, just not ignited the powder.

At most, the cases used have been resized once.

​Apologies if this is a bit of an odd one, it's had me baffled!!
 
How old are the primers?

I had an issue with some WLR primers some years back. I had bought a couple of thousand of them and when I got to the last few trays of 100 primers got some miss-fires in several different rifles and cartridges. Bought some fresh ones and no more problems. Of course we don't know how long those had been in stock before I bought them.

You make a valid point .

But I've purchased many older primers from "trusted" customers for a pittance and used them later with no problems .
 
Silly question here, should you not be using magnum primers? i don't reload but i am sure i have heard people saying that some .270 powders are better with a magnum primer? I am unsure, quite possible i am talking out my ass.


Andy7mm
 
You make a valid point .

But I've purchased many older primers from "trusted" customers for a pittance and used them later with no problems .

I also wondered about this as I used to shoot ammunition through the 303, 7x57 and 7.62x54R that was made durign and before WW2 with no problems unless it had been stored poorly. have some 1960's South African 303 that is dreadful for hangfires for instance.

I had a strange problem with the 25-06 about primer use. In the 25-06 was getting hangfires yet using the same tub of powder in the 270 with the same primers it worked fine. once switched to magnum primers in the 25-06 it also worked fine................................. very strange. Will have to look up what powder it was as I don't recall now.

The magnum primers are old as I bought them when I had the 300 Win Mag and that was over two decades ago now it went in trade.

​Storage is the key to long life from powders and primers.
 
If you use fine ball powders like Accurate 2520 in large capacity cases that are not full then you might get ignition problems. I had this occur with 6,5 x 55 loads. Changing over to stick powders (Viht 140 and 160) cured the problem and I have read that magnum primers also help.
 
I had a strange problem with the 25-06 about primer use. In the 25-06 was getting hangfires yet using the same tub of powder in the 270 with the same primers it worked fine. once switched to magnum primers in the 25-06 it also worked fine................................. very strange. Will have to look up what powder it was as I don't recall now.

more importantly look up the charge weight
was it a low case fill?
that is the only explaination I can think of that would produce a hangfire using same powder/primers

I have never used Magnum primers in my 270
​no need with a decent case fill ratio
 
Back
Top