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Dans Club
December 4, 2011
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I was loading some 445 supermag today on my Dillon XL 650 and I had a primer chain fire detonation. About 70 Federal Match large magnum pistol primers went up at once. This is only the second time in 15 years this has happened. Really gets your attention. Its like shooting a 357 on the basement with no hearing protection.
The first time this happend it was my fault, this time I'm not sure why it happened. I'd been loading for several hours and everything was fine. There was no sticking, no excessive force, they just went BANG!
I'm going to be calling Dillon tomorrow for a new large primer system. The only damage i can find is the inner aluminum primer tube is ruptured, but Dillon replaces the entire assembly.
The only commonality between these incidents is they both happened using Federal large primers.
I prefer Winchester or CCI but in today's market, you don't always get a choice.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
My father
If a man designed it, and a man built it, then a man can fix it.
My grandfather
Dans Club
February 24, 2013
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Wow!! So all of the primers that detonated were in the press’ primer feed tube? I have a Dillon RL550B press. I’m planning to use Federal Large Rifle Magnum 215 primers to load 300 PRC rounds in near future. Keep us posted on what you find out please!
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February 22, 2009
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Primer dust and static electricity could be a possibility if you didn't feel any resistance. Patch the tube occasionally and keep an eye on the feeder area as well.
Technically, the glass is always full; half liquid, half air....
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December 4, 2011
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rwsem said
Primer dust and static electricity could be a possibility if you didn't feel any resistance. Patch the tube occasionally and keep an eye on the feeder area as well.
That's a good idea Ron.
I'm still unsure why they went up this time.
I'm going to tear the press down and replace the entire priming system with new, also going to realign the platform and verify timing.
At least the ballistic steel tube contains and directs the blast up and away from the operator. Other than ringing ears, nothing happened to me.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
My father
If a man designed it, and a man built it, then a man can fix it.
My grandfather
February 16, 2016
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June 11, 2016
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Wow, glad nothing really bad happened to you.
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July 12, 2020
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February 16, 2013
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Glad you weren't hurt!
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March 5, 2024
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rwsem said
Primer dust and static electricity could be a possibility if you didn't feel any resistance. Patch the tube occasionally and keep an eye on the feeder area as well.
Sounds like the usual suspects.... I make sure the press is well electrically grounded (manually operated or motor driven) and use a static ground strap on myself (like when working on electronics). The grounding strap can be a bit of a pain but is long enough that I can reach most things I may need during the actual loading process.
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December 4, 2011
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To what do you attach the ground strap from the press?
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
My father
If a man designed it, and a man built it, then a man can fix it.
My grandfather
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