One bad round out of 100

[AL45]

My son was shooting .45 acp reloads when he encountered a malfunction. He squeezed the trigger and there was a "Millisecond" delay before it fired and the bullet hit extremely low. I have loaded several thousand rounds of various calibers using Lee dippers. and have never had this happen. I was using Red Dot with Oregon Trail 200 grain bullets and CCI large pistol primers. Any ideas?

 

[kilimanjaro]

Can't say why the delay, but any delay will throw your aim off.

I suspect a light load.

 

[1stmar]

Are you sure the primer was seated deep enough?

 

[AL45]

I hand prime each case with a Lee primer, and then I quickly rub my finger across it to make sure it is seated properly. But, it is certainly possible that I didn't seat it properly.

 

[1stmar]

Sounds like a detonation issue (hang fire ) my first thought would be primer related. Primers should not be flush, they should be .002 deeper then the bottom of the rim.

 

[tahunua001]

it was probably just a bad primer that made it past QC, nothing I'd get too bent out of shape about unless it happens again.

 

[totaldla]

Funky primer

I had some Wolf Large Pistol Magnum that were all over the place in hotness. And I did get a hang-fire. Kindof unnerving nowadays because I'm so accustomed to near-perfect primer quality.

 

[Nick_C_S]

Few things are more reliable than a CCI primer, hand primed, and "finger swept" to verify seating depth uniformity.

But hang-fires are possible.

I had one once with a CCI primer. Of course, it was 27 years old, and the other 1399 in the same group performed flawlessly.

 

[Longshot4]

I would look at the flash hole. The hole could of been blocked by tumbling material or flash holes may have a large burr. Just a guess.

 

[caz223]

^^^This.^^^

 

[LE-28]

I agree with Longshot and Nick, it can happen but not very often. Usually a hang fire is the primer not being deep enough or was to deep and broke the primer pellet but they usually don't go off at all.

 

[g.willikers]

Damp powder can do it, too.
Maybe there was some moisture in the case, or in the powder.
Reloading in a humid place can do it.
If you happen to live where the air is drinkable, and you don't like reloading in the air conditioned house, don't leave very much of the powder exposed to the air very long.

 

[mnoirot64]

Damp powder can do it, too.

Maybe there was some moisture in the case, or in the powder.

Reloading in a humid place can do it.

If you happen to live where the air is drinkable, and you don't like reloading in the air conditioned house, don't leave very much of the powder exposed to the air very long.

It gets pretty humid here in central TN. I do not reload inside as my loading area is in my workshop, which is in my garage. I've never had an issue with any of my hand loads and have always heard that smokeless powder is not overly susceptible to humidity.