Primer piercing?

[TD-Max]

Looking through my used brass I found one primer that had a pin sticking out of it. Looks almost like a firing pin. Is this what would be a pierced primer? I've shot hundreds of these loads w/o issue, just came across this one. Primer is CCI Magnum

[scootertrash]

Remember this thread?
http://www.rugerhunting.com/forum/viewt ... f=4&t=4694

If it is not the tip of your firing pin stuck in the primer, then it is more likely to be, the primer flowed back into the firing pin hole. I still think you are running these loads to warm, but that's just my opinion, and I'm not trying to criticize you. I can tell you, when the hot months get here, I'd really reconsider pulling the trigger with those loads.

I can't remember, if it was also you, that wanted to see if you could push a 39 or 40 grain pill at 4000 fps from a .204. My advice would be build a 20BR. Maybe you're rifle can handle it, maybe not, but as Waldo said, we like having you around.

Mike

[jo191145]

What that little pin is telling you is just a few more pounds of pressure and it will blank. You've gone well beyond primer flow and are very close to popping. Been there,done that, not a good thing.
I have a roughly developed super fast very accurate load. Its a shame I can't tweak it and use it but its just way to hot. Its not worth losing my eyesight or more over. If I ever get a 20BR tube I'd start working with that load. I bet it would be great in it. Trying to make the 204 perform like a BR is not wise tho. Thats the lesson I've learned.

Skipper and Scooter wrote that they thought your load was a little too warm. I'd respect their opinion. Personally I do not use 10X so I know little about it. I do know Skippers used a lot. With good results I might add.

In the past 10X has been known for large variations in burn rate from lot to lot. Use accordingly.

One of the dangers of using a load thats right on the edge is your scale can occasionally throw a hotter charge. I had a Redding scale that was super accurate in my opinion. Every once in a while the knives would hang up on sides of the scale body. Couldn't tell it was happening until the chrono told me. When you find one round going 200+fps faster than the rest you know theres a problem

And as Scooter has said "Summers Coming"
Be safe.

[TD-Max]

Thanks guys, I understand what you are saying. I shot several hundred of these rounds including the one in question last spring/summer. This load was developed in my Sako. My guess is that it was a fluke. Just like I had a ramndom load that needed to be touched off twice and a couple of total dud primers. I'm going to look through and check the rest of my spent brass.

I'll also confirm what I loaded them to as it is written on the tag inside the box. I know we are beyond published max, but I worked these up in what I thought was a safe manner. I get no hard to lift bolt, and nothing erratic. I believe another Sako ownerwith the same gun also charges his to the same area. I also see Red using even more RL10x behind H40's. I'm not saying I did this because they did it of course.

Now come to think of it, I may have run these last few rounds in summer heat last year. I believe that this was one of the last ones spent in my last used ammo box. I'll have to verify.

[TD-Max]

Did a quick sampling of my spent brass. This includes my hand loads and factory ammo. All had similar primer rings/cratering except for the American Ammunition which was the biggest POS I have ever seen.

I also consulted with another, more seasoned reloader who has the exact same gun and worked to the exact same load with one bullet, and a hotter one in another. This is more than coincidence. At this point, I feel that it's simply a matter of a couple of rounds that got hot in the sun or in the chamber. I'm looking at developing some loads with Hodgdon Extremes like Benchmark and H322 as well as N133 and will see how they handle temp swings. I'm also going to a std or bench primer rather than the CCI Magnums (only one with good availability when I bought them) and see what happens.