Blown Primer

Ask questions and share information about reloading.
Post Reply
K22
Junior Member
Posts: 89
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2019 3:54 am
.204 Ruger Guns: Kimber

Blown Primer

Post by K22 »

Thought I should do an update on the blown primer issue I had. It really had me puzzled. I'm a very meticulous reloader and don't take chances, heck I even weight each and every load on a RCBS 10-10 scale and use a trickler ..............on every round I load. Time consuming I know and not always necessary, but that's how I started reloading and I have not changed since I started around 1977. So this blown primer, a first for me, really was getting to me.............and then it dawned on me. I was shooting a Kimber Montana in 223 of which I have 2 of them and a Kimber Longmaster in 223, all three gave me light strikes at times so changed the firing pin springs to a 40% heavier spring that Wolf Springs offers. Though's of you who have Kimbers probably no where I'm going with this. :oops: Firing pins in Kimber 84M rifles are adjustable and when you change firing pin springs you have to adjust the firing pin so that the pin has about a .055" protrusion outside the bolt face. This I did on all three of the rifles using a Mitutoyo Digital caliper. I decided I had better recheck those firing pins and sure enough, the rifle that had the blown primer had a protrusion of .060". :wall: Not sure how that got by me but there it was. :chin: The other 2 were right on the money.
Needless to say, I now feel better since it was not a reload error.
User avatar
Rick in Oregon
Moderator
Posts: 5187
Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2005 4:20 pm
.204 Ruger Guns: Sako 75V, Cooper MTV, Kimber 84M, Cust M700 11 Twist
Location: High Desert of Central Oregon
Contact:

Re: Blown Primer

Post by Rick in Oregon »

K22, thanks for posting this.

Good to know the cause, the fix, and what to watch out for in the future. You may want to post this over on the Kimber Talk Forum, as there's lots of Kimber discussion of all things Kimber there.
Semper Fortis
Rick in Oregon
NRA Life/OHA/VHA/VVA

Oregon, East of the Cascades - Where Common Sense Still Prevails

Image
K22
Junior Member
Posts: 89
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2019 3:54 am
.204 Ruger Guns: Kimber

Re: Blown Primer

Post by K22 »

I would Rick, but since they changed the format I have a hard time posting anything on that forum.
User avatar
Tom Kat
Senior Member
Posts: 630
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2020 8:04 pm
.204 Ruger Guns: CZ 527, Ruger American Predator in Magpul Hunter stock

Re: Blown Primer

Post by Tom Kat »

K22 wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 4:26 am Thought I should do an update on the blown primer issue I had. It really had me puzzled. I'm a very meticulous reloader and don't take chances, heck I even weight each and every load on a RCBS 10-10 scale and use a trickler ..............on every round I load. Time consuming I know and not always necessary, but that's how I started reloading and I have not changed since I started around 1977. So this blown primer, a first for me, really was getting to me.............and then it dawned on me. I was shooting a Kimber Montana in 223 of which I have 2 of them and a Kimber Longmaster in 223, all three gave me light strikes at times so changed the firing pin springs to a 40% heavier spring that Wolf Springs offers. Though's of you who have Kimbers probably no where I'm going with this. :oops: Firing pins in Kimber 84M rifles are adjustable and when you change firing pin springs you have to adjust the firing pin so that the pin has about a .055" protrusion outside the bolt face. This I did on all three of the rifles using a Mitutoyo Digital caliper. I decided I had better recheck those firing pins and sure enough, the rifle that had the blown primer had a protrusion of .060". :wall: Not sure how that got by me but there it was. :chin: The other 2 were right on the money.
Needless to say, I now feel better since it was not a reload error.
See? you are not going crazy!
"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones."

John Maynard Keynes
K22
Junior Member
Posts: 89
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2019 3:54 am
.204 Ruger Guns: Kimber

Re: Blown Primer

Post by K22 »

There are those that would contest that. LOL
Post Reply