I'd very much value any insight as to what might have happened today, and also my handling of the situation......
Background: I'm new to reloading. I've fired approx 200 reloaded rnds through my AR. (Colt M&P 15 Sport. The rifle itself has probably 1,200 rounds through it. I've literally not had one round that did not perform perfectly.......until today.)
I was testing a variety of loads today when I had a mis-fire. The mis-fire that occurred was the 4th shot of a 5-shot series I was shooting. (Meaning I'd had successful firings of that load prior to the misfire happening.) I just heard a simple "click" when I pulled the trigger. I waited (in case it was a hang-fire) and when all seemed fine I ejected the round. I might have had to pull the charging handle slightly harder than normal to open the action - but I wasn't paying too much attention to that per se. The primer had a VERY slight dimple in the middle of the primer face. Everything else about the round looked completely normal. I specifically looked to see if the primer was seated extra deep but it didn't appear to be. (I have had some cases that seem to have what I think are pretty loose primer pockets. I use a hand primer and some seem to go in really easily.)
Since everything appeared fine with the round I put it back in the gun and it fired fine. I proceeded to shoot other reloads and they all worked fine.
My questions:
* With a mis-fire like that - would it have been wiser to not attempt to shoot it? Maybe bring it home, pull the bullet, check the case more closely, etc.?
* Having it not fire once and then fire would lead me to believe there is something going on with the gun. But I'm struggling to believe that's the case. I know I'm not an experienced reloader, and although I've been very cautious in what I do I would tend to figure I'm more likely to have done something wrong to have this happen than there being something wrong with the gun.
I'd appreciate any input people have.
Thanks.
OR
P.S.: Of course - typing the situation and asking the question made me think of something: If the primer pocket was particularly loose, and the recoil from the previous rounds in the series caused the primer to move in the primer pocket while the round was in the mag, maybe the misfire happened because the firing pin pushed the primer deeper into the pocket - and the second attempt then enabled a firm firing pin strike?
Background: I'm new to reloading. I've fired approx 200 reloaded rnds through my AR. (Colt M&P 15 Sport. The rifle itself has probably 1,200 rounds through it. I've literally not had one round that did not perform perfectly.......until today.)
I was testing a variety of loads today when I had a mis-fire. The mis-fire that occurred was the 4th shot of a 5-shot series I was shooting. (Meaning I'd had successful firings of that load prior to the misfire happening.) I just heard a simple "click" when I pulled the trigger. I waited (in case it was a hang-fire) and when all seemed fine I ejected the round. I might have had to pull the charging handle slightly harder than normal to open the action - but I wasn't paying too much attention to that per se. The primer had a VERY slight dimple in the middle of the primer face. Everything else about the round looked completely normal. I specifically looked to see if the primer was seated extra deep but it didn't appear to be. (I have had some cases that seem to have what I think are pretty loose primer pockets. I use a hand primer and some seem to go in really easily.)
Since everything appeared fine with the round I put it back in the gun and it fired fine. I proceeded to shoot other reloads and they all worked fine.
My questions:
* With a mis-fire like that - would it have been wiser to not attempt to shoot it? Maybe bring it home, pull the bullet, check the case more closely, etc.?
* Having it not fire once and then fire would lead me to believe there is something going on with the gun. But I'm struggling to believe that's the case. I know I'm not an experienced reloader, and although I've been very cautious in what I do I would tend to figure I'm more likely to have done something wrong to have this happen than there being something wrong with the gun.
I'd appreciate any input people have.
Thanks.
OR
P.S.: Of course - typing the situation and asking the question made me think of something: If the primer pocket was particularly loose, and the recoil from the previous rounds in the series caused the primer to move in the primer pocket while the round was in the mag, maybe the misfire happened because the firing pin pushed the primer deeper into the pocket - and the second attempt then enabled a firm firing pin strike?