Reloaded ammo wouldn’t fire

[Johnwell]

Other than agreeing that pierced primers are definitely time to stop, have you ever measured the firing pin protrusion? Or maybe checked the diameter of your firing pin compared to the hole in the bolt for the firing pin? Something seems amiss.

 

[Chris in TN]

I've done exactly what OP describes before. It only takes one pierced or blown primer to gum up an AR and once it happens you might as well yank the bolt group out and disassemble it and clean it. Maybe you'll notice the scrap of brass jammed in there, maybe it'll fall out unnoticed, but the rifle won't be reliable again, if it even fires at all, until you remove it.

 

[mt terry d]

556 in a 223 or actually 223? But yeah, AAC isn't exactly high grade reliable.

Tikka T3x 223 I expect
Even modest handloads with CCI400's an occasional pierced, always flatten.
CCI 450's not a problem

 

[Steve300xcw]

Tikka T3x 223 I expect
Even modest handloads with CCI400's an occasional pierced, always flatten.
CCI 450's not a problem

Had a m77 223 that would pop primers well before I was in the primer popping range. Remington 7-1/2's fixed that.

 

[mt terry d]

Like I said, it was factory AAC loads. I wasn't reloading at the time.
A friend had same issue and both of us split cases

 

[Robobiss]

If you had box A that pierced primers and box B that was listed as an even higher powder charge with all else being the same, would you shoot that factory box B in that gun?

I wouldn't.

Nope. I called it a day and sold the upper

 

[Robobiss]

I had a batch of Ammo Inc 223 that was all sorts of screwy, with the powder and primers so messed up that it had 2 of my ARs slam-firing. That's the only factory ammo I've ever had with pierced primers, but it gave a couple of 2 and 3-round full-auto bursts. Best I could tell, the powder was peaking the pressure way too high, way too close to the gas port - that flung the BCG back way too fast, and on the forward stroke the floating firing pin punched right through the primer. In 2 cases, the anvil of the primer flowed right into the bolt's firing-pin hole, keeping the casing from ejecting. At least part of the problem, I suspect, came from not using the thicker cups of magnum or AR-rated primers.

Now that I read this, what I experienced that I commented above was almost to a T.

I had just put an aftermarket trigger in this AR and I blamed me not being used to the take-up and reset, but it was 100% shooting 2 round bursts every few shots.

Perhaps that is the cause for my pierced primers.

 

[RockAndSage]

Now that I read this, what I experienced that I commented above was almost to a T.

I had just put an aftermarket trigger in this AR and I blamed me not being used to the take-up and reset, but it was 100% shooting 2 round bursts every few shots.

Perhaps that is the cause for my pierced primers.

Interesting. My first thought was that I had screwed up the gun somehow, that it was severely overgassed or something, combined with a lightweight BCG, in a somewhat new build. The second AR is boring reliable, with a full-mass BCG and a heavy buffer/recoil spring setup. If I hadn't had the second, proven AR to check against, I could have found myself chasing my tail on the lightweight build.

 

[Robobiss]

Interesting. My first thought was that I had screwed up the gun somehow, that it was severely overgassed or something, combined with a lightweight BCG, in a somewhat new build. The second AR is boring reliable, with a full-mass BCG and a heavy buffer/recoil spring setup. If I hadn't had the second, proven AR to check against, I could have found myself chasing my tail on the lightweight build.

I was shooting suppressed with a can that typically is flow-through enough to not have crazy gas issues (with a 223). It was pre adjustable gas block when I first started messing with the upper.

I decided after the weirdness that took place that I didn’t want to mess with a suppressed gas 6arc and opted for a bolt action upper with no gas instead.

I bet the bolt moving at Mach Jesus was 99% of my problem. I wasn’t married to it enough to figure it out.

 

[Darkphage]

Piercing primers is not normal. I would dare say it’s almost never due to a “weak” primer & almost always due to some error made by the reloader. You didn’t share much data other than the powder weight, so it’s hard to see if your assumptions are correct or not about being under max load. I’d go back the the beginning and look at all the data again and see if you maybe missed something that ms contributed to the pierced primer issue.

 

[Castle Rock]

Piercing primers is not normal. I would dare say it’s almost never due to a “weak” primer & almost always due to some error made by the reloader.

You are wrong

 

[Darkphage]

So you were saying that pierced primers are because the primers are bad?

 

[Steve300xcw]

So you were saying that pierced primers are because the primers are bad?

Primers arent all made the same. Some are thicker/stouter than others. This is common knowledge.

Bolt with a sloppy firing pin hole can/will cause issues as well.

 

[Darkphage]

Pierced primers can occur for a variety of reasons. I agree some are thicker, I also agree that firing pin issues can be a cause as well. Hot loads contribute to the problem as well. I’ve rarely heard of factory ammo having primer issues. Pierced primers occur much more frequently in hand loaded ammo.

If it was simply a function of the primers themselves, you would see it more in factory ammo.

 

[RockAndSage]

Pierced primers can occur for a variety of reasons. I agree some are thicker, I also agree that firing pin issues can be a cause as well. Hot loads contribute to the problem as well. I’ve rarely heard of factory ammo having primer issues. Pierced primers occur much more frequently in hand loaded ammo.

If it was simply a function of the primers themselves, you would see it more in factory ammo.

As I mentioned above, it can happen with factory ammo, and how it can happen with factory ammo. Improper primer selection for a given cartridge, gun, powder, etc.

 

[Castle Rock]

Pierced primers can occur for a variety of reasons. I agree some are thicker, I also agree that firing pin issues can be a cause as well. Hot loads contribute to the problem as well. I’ve rarely heard of factory ammo having primer issues. Pierced primers occur much more frequently in hand loaded ammo.

If it was simply a function of the primers themselves, you would see it more in factory ammo.

You should really leave the conversation at this point.