SmallCaliberCentral

Just joined this informative site after I bought a Savage 12 Low Profile Varminter just last week. To break in the barrel, I loaded up a number of 39gr. Sierra BKs, Win. brass, CCI 400 primers and 25.6 gr. of Hodgdon Varget. All the info I see states min. of 25.1 to a max. of 28.0. My COL is 2.300, factory ammo is 2.250. Since I'm loading on the conservative side, I can't figure out why I'd be cratering my primers (they don't appear to be flattened.) I was wondering if any one else has experienced this and maybe it's just the nature of the Model 12s, maybe excessively large firing pin bolt hole? Any advice would be appreciated.

On a positive note, after breaking in the barrel, getting my scope sighted in, my first 3 shot group was one large ragged hole. Fun rifle, fun caliber!

Need to see pictures of fired cases - primer end, sides, and shoulder/neck area.

Was this new, fired brass, or fired brass from your rifle?

Welcome aboard!!!!

There was a lot of discussion of this subject last year. One of the members shared info on adjusting firing pin protrusion on the Savage bolt. One of my Savages had significant cratering others did not. I've seen other savage rifles crater the primers, and by the many responses on this forum the problem is not uncommon. Most of us solved the problem by using primers with thicker cups. One of the recent threads from last week showed the thickness by brand and type. Rem 7 1/2, CCI 450, and BR-4 are the thickest and therefore least likely to crater. Read our old loading stuff and/or wait for some more info to jump in. We'll help you solve this.

Acloco, thank you, good to be here. Sorry, I forgot to mention it was new Win. unfired brass. I just neck sized and that was it. Now that it's fire-formed, it will be interesting to see it that affects it at all.

I've seen other savage rifles crater the primers, and by the many responses on this forum the problem is not uncommon.

Hotshot, thank you, I was hoping that was the case. I did a search here yesterday and found a couple posts regarding cratering and like you say the poster went with the thicker primers. Mine's not severe, but it was enough to get my attention.

JD11 wrote:Sorry, I forgot to mention it was new Win. unfired brass. I just neck sized and that was it.

it is always best to full length size new brass. and after i fl size, i check the length of the cases, and trim to 1.840, or trim to the shortest case length. in other words, if all but 1 case measures longer than 1.840, and the 1 case measures 1.835, trim all the cases to 1.835. this may, or may not, contribute to your problem, but is something to remember when starting with new brass.

The CCI400 are a fairly thick cup - call it middle of the road.

Neck size your once fired cases and report back on the primers.

Of note, I do NOT buy 204 cases made by Winchester any more. Split way too many necks on the first or second firing. Remington brass has worked the best for me.

Neck size your once fired cases and report back on the primers.

I will. We've suddenly got a rainy weatherfront that's supposed to be here for the next 3+ days, so it won't be until that passes. I've had the same experience with Win. brass when loading fairly mild loads for my 22-250. Unfortunately it seems like everyone here in town only carries Win., but I guess I can order some Rem. in the future.

Plus, half the Win. case mouths were so out of round I couldn't even chamfer them until I fixed that lack of quality control problem. Even though they come in those crappy plastic bags, I can't see them getting dented during shipping or when stocked on the shelves at the store.

Yep, your experience is the same as mine. Unless somebody walked on EACH bag of 204 brass, there is NO WAY the case mouths could be that bad.

My 223 Win brass is excellent quality though. But, I do neck size every piece of new brass, no matter how it looks.

First thing I did when I bought my .204 LRPV was to send the bolt assembly to Gre-Tan rifles and get the firing pin bushed.

Tom

I did get some Remington primers like suggested, but it's been raining daily so I haven't had a chance to go fire a round or two and see if they make a difference compared to my CCI 400s.

First thing I did when I bought my .204 LRPV was to send the bolt assembly to Gre-Tan rifles and get the firing pin bushed.

That brings a question to mind I've been wondering about. If the firing pin hole is a hair on the big side and it's the cause of the problem and the slight cratering is NOT due to excessive pressure, why not just live with it?

JD,

I decided to just live with it. I do use the thicker primers though, so I'm not as likely to pierce or blow one. One of our past threads gave a detailed description on how to measure then adjust the firing pin protrusion to minimize the cratering on Savage bolts. I don't have the foggiest idea how to find that info. I haven't pierced a primer with max loads since I went to BR-4's so I don't worry about it.

Thanks for the advice. The weather finally cleared up so in about an hour or two I'm going to jump on my 4 wheeler and go over to the BLM land and see if the Remington 7 1/2 primers make a difference. If you haven't already seen it, there's some really great information on primers, (thickness of different brands, etc) over on another section here. If you go to "Reloading for the 204", then scroll down to the "CCI 400 Primers" post, then scroll down and click on the posted link, it takes you to the article.

One of our past threads gave a detailed description on how to measure then adjust the firing pin protrusion to minimize the cratering on Savage bolts.

I'll have to take the time to try to hunt that one down later tonight.

On Edit:
Same result with the Remington primers and a COL of 2.355 using once fired brass. Looking with bright light through a magnifying glass it's obvious that the primers are not flattening in the least, so like said, must be the nature of the model 12s.