Pistol primer in 308 problem

[Ike Clanton]

After loading 45 acp I switched over to 308. I always count my primers to
Make sure I have the exact amount of primers to cases. I ended up with an extra primer after a hundred rounds of 308. Didn’t think much of it until today I noticed the last primer failed to load. Now I’m worried one of my 308 rounds has a WLP instead of a WLR. These are stored loose in a can of approximately 400 so finding that round is probably futile. Is it the end of the world or what?

 

[totaldla]

The wlp is shorter than the wlr - might not fire if your rifle is long on headspace.

 

[jetinteriorguy]

If the WLP’s are the ones suitable for both regular and magnum loads you might be ok as far as pressure goes, but the shorter length may give a misfire. If you get a misfire I’d definitely wait a few minutes before ejecting the round to avoid a possible hangfire.

 

[FrankenMauser]

Gonna pop that primer and give the bolt a little tickle of gas cutting.

You should be able to find it by looking at primer seating depth.
LP primers have shorter cups and (should) seat deeper in rifle primer pockets, unless you're using some kind of stop when seating.

 

[mehavey]

FrankenMauser is correct

If the WLP’s are the ones suitable for both regular and magnum loads....

A 308 Win at 55-60,000 psi will (most very likely) punch through a pistol primer, magnum or not.

The wlp is shorter than the wlr

is also correct. Run a straightedge across cartridge bases. The pistol primer will likely show up w/ the greatest light gap.

 

[Ike Clanton]

Well I visually inspected each primer with no luck. Other than a straight edge can you think of a tool to measure depth of the primer? Like the ones used for tire treads but more precise

 

[FrankenMauser]

Your fingertip.
Feel them.
If you can feel 0.008"-0.010", you can find it by touch.

Most people can feel the difference. But not everyone. And damaged or rough skin might make it more difficult.

 

[44 AMP]

A depth micrometer is the proper tool to measure the depth. The "tail" of a regular caliper might be good enough. Feel or by eye might work, but all of those are dependent on having your primers seated to the bottom of the pocket so that the difference in primer cup height shows.

I'd recommend re-evaluating your loading process, particularly making sure your primer feel system is clear and empty before changing to a different primer. Take it down and look, don't just rely on no primer being put on the seater stem. sometimes the very last primer "sticks" and doesn't get fed.
Since you came up with an extra primer, you goofed, somewhere.

You might consider measuring the height of both the rifle and pistol primers you have / use and seeing which one that "extra" is. Odds are its a rifle primer, since it was the last one in the tube. but knowing for sure can't hurt.

You might also consider putting the rifle rounds in a block or shell box, so you can see the bases lined up in rows to compare them by eye. Try looking at an angle or with the light at an angle, a deeper seated primer might show up that way as well.

Good Luck!

 

[Unclenick]

You may need to take a hand priming tool and see if the primers all "feel" bottomed out. If one moves when the others do not, you got your culprit.

 

[Ike Clanton]

Good news! Turns out I was using Remington pistol primers thus the color was slightly off from the Winchester primers. I also verified it was a pistol primer by measuring it with a digital tire depth gauge. It came in .009 shorter than the others. To be safe I measured each round anyway. It was a lot of work but it was keeping me up at night.

 

[44 AMP]

Congratulations!

Now the trick is to make sure you never make the same mistake again!

 

[FrankenMauser]

Lucky.

 

[Ike Clanton]

Yeah I’m half tempted to use CCI primers that are silver for all handgun loads and only Winchester for rifles so it’s easily avoided as well. Assuming they stay the same color. I know Winchester has gone back and forth before.

 

[gwpercle]

I'm so glad you inspected and found the pistol primed case ...
It was keeping me up too ...
Load Safe ,
Gary

 

[Don P]

The "tail" of a regular caliper might be good enough.

This will work just fine and is readily available on the bench and a whole lot cheaper, providing he's using a digital caliper.

 

[Ike Clanton]

I started using the tail of the digital calipers but it wasn’t ideal when checking a large quantity and had to be held perfectly straight to get consistent readings. The tire tread depth gauge had a nice flat surface for the case head to square up to and could be reset quicker.