Primer problem yesterday?

[catman]

Yesterday went out to shoot, out of the blue, never had this happen, all of the primers I tried out of a full tin would not go off the first time. It was late in the afternoon. I did leave the primer tin open on my shooting bench, could the humidity in the air have made them do this, it was chilly and a dew was trying to fall. On some it took 3 or 4 tries and some wouldn't do anything. I do keep my primers in my garage in the tin in a cotton canvis Bank bag.
?????

 

[Lonegun1894]

only 2 times i have had anything similar happen was one time when the nipple was too dirty to allow a cap to seat properly, so the first hammerfall would seat it, and the second would set it off. The other was when i replaced my nipple and the new nipple was too large to allow a cap to seat. Nothing my diamond stone, or a small file, or dremel couldnt fix in a few minutes. Think the nipple might be too big or maybe the caps just a bit smaller than normal? Then again, i've made mistakes in the past, and lots of em so i may not even be close to the cause of the problem.

 

[BrownBear]

I've always been surprised how resistant caps are to moisture, and I live in a wet climate and frequently hunt in the rain. Sure they'll fail if you get them wet, but humidity and even a little mist doesn't seem to bother them unless you close the can with a little moisture in it, then let it set a few days. Even with all that, an open can is going to include some with the opening down so no moisture is going to get on them.

I'm more willing to bet on a nipple problem, too.

 

[AeroncaTAL]

When I was firing my Great Plains for the first time on Saturday, I had the same problem. First pull, nothing. Second pull, boom. When I put a cap on the nipple, I would push on it with my thumb. More often than not, I would feel the cap seat down on the nipple. I was thinking that the problem was the nipple being too large...
Scott

 

[CrackStock]

I assume that you had good results with this nipple and similar caps in the past.

It may be that you wound up with different caps. Some are made to fit tapered nipples and smoe straight walled. Compare the two.

Try letting the hammer onto a seated cap and see if pressing the hammer down fits the cap more perfectly.

If the cap and nipple are of the same design, look for a flaring of the end of the nipple which prevents the cap from completely seating. This can be caused by the hammer striking the end of the nipple -- especially from dry firing without protecting the nipple.

Also check to see if the hammer is striking squarely onto the top of the nipple.

Caps are also relatively cheap and can be swapped out to see if the problem goes away, but I doubt that is the case. My bet is the flared nipple. Caps are seated on the first strike and fire on the second.

CS

 

[catman]

Caps were CCI mag #11, I did look everything over tonight,did some file work on the nipple to make sure it was square.

 

[Lonegun1894]

have you tried firing a couple caps with the gun otherwise unloaded to see if it fixed the problem? Sorry, getting curious, and keeping my fingers crossed fer ya.

 

[renovato]

Had you used caps out of that tin previously? If not, you might have gotten a bad batch, or perhaps they packed #10's in a #11 can by accident?

 

[shortstring]

I've seen a previously fired cap get stuck in the hammer & create this problem. Also the tight fittin nipple problem can have an effect on accuracy.

 

[lockjaw]

When I was firing my Great Plains for the first time on Saturday, I had the same problem. First pull, nothing. Second pull, boom. When I put a cap on the nipple, I would push on it with my thumb. More often than not, I would feel the cap seat down on the nipple. I was thinking that the problem was the nipple being too large...
Scott

...be careful using your bare thumb :thumbsup: for seating caps, could go bang!...buy a capper...

 

[catman]

Had you used caps out of that tin previously? If not, you might have gotten a bad batch, or perhaps they packed #10's in a #11 can by accident?

Yes, tin was marked CCI #11's, the only ones I've ever used. One thing I did notice when using these caps there was actually some (it looked like orange to red cap) fragments at the end of the barrel on the inside of the barrel when they did finally go off. Some of the caps that didn't go after 4 or 5 times as I removed them they were of course some crushed primmer cap imbeded in the nipple and I used a nipple pic to remove and clear the hole down thru to the flash channel. I'm going to get some new caps, maybe this was just a bad batch of caps, never had this happen before..another note I did get very good 1 " groups @ 25yards, but with a 3 shot group it took actully 9 shots with the cap problem, it was weard not knowing when the gun was going to go off, at least I stayed focused I guess :shocked2:

 

[wszumera]

Usually when I get a misfire, I find a used cap stuffed up in the hammer recess. It takes the impact out of whacking the primer so to say.

As far as moisture, I've never dunked any primer in water to check it but I've used caps that are 20+ years old and they still go bang.

Clutch

 

[SAJones]

I buy my caps in cartons (10 tins). Recently, I used up all my #11 CCI caps & bought another carton. All the caps in the first tin were undersized. One of my round tuits is to contact CCI to ask if they changed the forming dies or something. Anyway, I have to press the cap down on the nipple w/ a flat stick much harder than I'm comfortable with, & even then they don't seat all the way. They're not as small as #10s, but not as open as the old #11s. Is everyone else having problems with new #11 CCI caps?

 

[Smokey in Oz]

Interesting..... :hmm:
I'm a big fan of everything CCI and naturally used their #11 caps as did the bloke who owned the rifle before me. I noticed about 1 in 20 wouldn't fire on the first hammer fall. No real problem, I just assumed this was normal.
While browsing a little used gunshop I noticed there were 2 tins of Remington #11 caps "left over from the days when people shot blackpowder" according to the owner. I bought them and have nearly finished the second tin with not one misfire. Go figure.
I'll be actively seeking more Remington caps soon.
Smokey.

 

[CrackStock]

...be careful using your bare thumb for seating caps, could go bang!...buy a capper...

Try letting the hammer onto a seated cap and see if pressing the hammer down fits the cap more perfectly.

I figure that if I have a hammer right there, why not just press down with that?

CS