.223 reloads gone bad Help

[gauchoand]

Out shooting the AR today. Using my reloads. Recipe was 24.5 grns Win 748 Wolf small magnum primers, Sierra 55grn bullets in LC brass. Ultrasonically cleaning baked in oven at 180 for a hour after to dry.

Here's what happened, shooting fine time 40-45 rounds in. Pull trigger nothing. Pull back charging handle out pops a shell with no bullet in it. I think it was a failure to eject as case had apparently normal dimple in primer. And let the charging handle load another round without much thought. Pull trigger nothing happens. (luckily) So I pull my mag and pull out an unfired shell with the slightest dimpling of primer. But notice chamber is full of this black and yellow powder. Never seen that before. Pull the gun apart and look down barrel and see a bullet stuck in the throat.

Never seen this before so I clear it and go back to shooting. A few rounds later and the exact scenario happens again. At this point I've never seem this before. Suggestions on cause. Firing pin? Bad loads? Thoughts? What's with the yellow powder? contamination? Help me cause this can't be safe. I've shot roughly 2-300 of these exact loads up to this point without any of these issues.

[firstcoueswas80]

Powder Is Breaking Down. If That Color Is In The Bottle Of Powder, Trash It.

 

As To The Stuck Bullet, You Need To Uniform Neck Tension, Or Crimp.

[Big or Bust]

Stuck bullet is likely an uncharged case. Yellow stuff? I would ditch all reload and and start over.

 

Ps - get a tumbler.

[Couzer]

Yellow stuff? I would definitely check inside your cases after cleaning them to make sure there is no residue left over from cleaning them. (I have noticed media stuck in mine) . I would change primers to another name brand other than Wolf. Get a puller an pull your loads to investigate what's in the others, and start over like the others said. Let me know what you find in the others if you pull them apart.

[gauchoand]

Found a other thread with this exact scenario on the web. Here's what was figured out as an FYI. Issues is with the wolf primers apparently. They believe that they are having difficulty igniting the powder. The yellow is what happens when the graphite is lost off the powder. Reason bullet was in the throat is that the primer had enough umph to dislodge it while not igniting the powder. The firing of the primer without lighting the powder is why the graphite is gone and the powder is yellow.

Interesting here's a link with a pic even which shows exactly what I was talking about:

 

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-498700.html

[gauchoand]

Here's the pic you'll have to copy paste:

 

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/farmerbuck/badpowder.jpg

[Couzer]

Good to know, and truly believe to stay away from wolf primers, or wolf products period!!! I have a friend that shoots wolf factory ammo and loves it but I don't trust it and will not use it unless crap hits the fan and forced to. Ha ha. Luckily you didn't discharge another round with the stuck bullet

[mp_moody]

Interesting. Can you give us a lot code for those primers? I use Wolf small rifle primers exclusively with my 5.56 loads and have never had any issues with them. Currently have ~2000 rounds loaded up and am sitting on another ~3000 primers.

[MULEPACKHUNTER]

I learned something on .223 I didnt have any issue with before, dont crush the primers!!!! I hand loaded my bolt action I just built in .223 and this is the first time I have hand loaded small primers in my RCBS hand primer and I pushed them too hard, I had 8 dead primers out of 10 and I quit and tore them apart. All I changed was pushing the primers less and got the feel for it then they were 100 percent good. Just a thought. I usually run them through the dillon so didnt have issues there.

[gauchoand]

Sorry on the lot code I don't have the box anymore. I also have another thousand I'm now afraid to use. But these were purchased about 6 months later than the ones that gave me the problem. What powder are you using extruded or ball. They suggest in that thread it's more probable in ball powders like Win 748 or H335.

 

Mulepackhunter interesting suggestion I should check the seating depth on the remaing ones and see what I find. I wonder if these were sat further and I'm getting a poor strike on the primer.

[MULEPACKHUNTER]

Its actually not a poor strike but it damages the primers integrity, if you squeeze them too far they wont go off at all, my AR struck a normal and large dent in the primer and nothing happened. I took them apart and replaced the primer while not squeezing as much and they were all fine. All of these were CCI primers and from the same sleeve of 100.

[PRDATR]

Sorry on the lot code I don't have the box anymore. I also have another thousand I'm now afraid to use. But these were purchased about 6 months later than the ones that gave me the problem. What powder are you using extruded or ball. They suggest in that thread it's more probable in ball powders like Win 748 or H335. Mulepackhunter interesting suggestion I should check the seating depth on the remaing ones and see what I find. I wonder if these were sat further and I'm getting a poor strike on the primer.

 

All of the reloading I did for a 14" barreled Thompson Contender I had was done with 748, Mil Surplus H322 and H335 and CCI Benchrest Primers. The H322 was what I finally settled on and would give me clover leaf sized groups. It also was the cleanest burning powder with complete ignition. The H335 would leave a few unburnt grains of powder in the barrel. I think most of the H322 powder I bought was about $6 a pound at the time.

Just curious? Why are you using magnum primers?

[Couzer]

How much are wolf primers going for the small rifle?

[gauchoand]

Wolf primers were all I could find during january. After researching it online a lot of people Suggested that for ARs the best wolf primer was the magnum primers. Last I checked where I got them from they were only a few dollars less than the CCIs.

[PRDATR]

OK, I just never heard of anyone using a magnum primer in 223.