Trapper
I am not an 'expert', but I'm intrigued by the problem with misfires so wanted to comment nonetheless.
First off, I can't see how misfires can be down to 'crap shooting' - it's either a problem with the reloads or a problem with the rifle. I've done a fair bit of crap shooting in my time (some would say it's the norm rather than the exception
) but the rifle is a mechanical device, and once you've pulled the trigger everything that happens subsequently in getting the bullet out of the barrel is outside of your control!
I also use CCI primers in my .308 with the Lee Hand Primer and I've never had a misfire in over 5 years of reloading. My mentor also uses the Lee Hand Primer on all his reloads (over a looooong time), and he's not had this issue either. The tool is designed to seat the primers at the correct depth. The only variables are the shellholder, the large/small primer tray and the person using it. If the shellholder or the primer tray were wrong, I'd have expected more than 3 misfires. Your mentor sounds like an experienced reloader, so his technique is likely to be consistent, which is crucial....or does he get misfires as well?
Therefore I'd think of the following possible faults:
1. the primer pockets are dirty
2. the primers are seated too deep
3. the primers are faulty
4. the bolt/spring/firing pin is faulty
You say the cases are once-fired, so we should be able to discount Option 1. I also presume your mentor cleans the primer pocket each time like all good reloaders were taught to!
From your comment "the pin barely dented it [the primer]", Option 2 sounds like a possibility, but the photos of the fired rounds don't appear to bear this out. Do you have any photos of the failed rounds? Logically, excessive pressure might be the cause of the primers in the fired rounds sitting proud, but not the unfired ones. If the primers were originally seated proud of the case I would have expected the firing pin to have made a bigger dent (unless they were that far out to be touching the bolt face
). Did you try to fire the 'failed' rounds a second time, or did you remove them and use fresh rounds? If you tried them a second time, did they fire?
Option 3 might be a candidate. Again, would be interested to know if you tried to use the 'failed' rounds a second time and, if so, if they went off or not. Do you know where the primers were stored? Could they have got damp, for example? As the majority of the rounds were okay, I'm tempted to discount this option as well.
Which leaves Option 4. Whey you say "I had my .308 stripped right down this week", how much of a strip down did it have? I'd want the bolt/firing pin checked - disassembled, spring checked, re-assembled.
As I say, I'm no expert, but it would be fascinating to find the root cause of this mystery. If any of the real experts out there want to pick apart my comments above I certainly won't be offended - as Nix Niveus said, every reloader should be open to constructive criticism as our safety is at stake.
willie_gunn