cratered primers

[bobbyd835]

i have a 6.5 creedmoor. remington action with a brux barrel. 1 in 8.5" twist. barrel finished @ 28" my question is why am i getting cratered primers. no other signs of pressure. no extractor marks, bases of casings have no expansion. whether its my handloads or factory ammo. all primers are cratered. bullets on handloads are .015 off lands. casings with primers only dont crater. my current pet load is 45.8 grns of Hodgdon superformance, 130 grn. norma golden target bullets. federal 210M primers. primer pockets are tight, as all brass is new or once fired. anyone have any clues to this? and is this a major problem?

[steve4102]

Where did you get your data from? I can't find any for the Creedmoor with Superformance so I will have to take your word for it that your load is not over pressure.

Cratered primers are very common in the Rem action. They have a slightly oversized firing pin hole that will cause a false impression of over pressure.

I doubt you will get the "cratered" look with just firing the primer. It takes enough chamber pressure to push the case head hard up against the bolt face.

If you are getting Craters with all loads from weak to heavy, don'y worry about it, it's the Rem Bolt and Firing pin hole.

[JLA]

Ill betcha money the firing pin hole is a bit large. all 3 of my custom rifles crater a little with normal loads. Only way to get around it is to have the firing pin hole bushed and the firing pin ground to match it perfectly so the primer has 100% support at firing.

Im shooting a .308 savage action w/ 26" criterion, a .243 fast twist on a remington action with a 26" criterion, and a 6.5-284 on a savage action with a 28" Shilen. and all 3 crater a bit because I didnt bother to bush the firing pin hole. IMO, it isnt necessary unless you plan to load hot.

[bobbyd835]

steve4102. all my data comes from the hornady manual. i take hornadys load data from there 129 grn bullets and use that for the 130 grn norma bullets starting low and working up. never gave it a thot about oversized firing pin hole. so its nothing to be to concerned about?

[JLA]

Is the rifle accurate and the ammo relaible?

[Hammerslagger]

I am thinking like JLA post #3.

[bobbyd835]

JLA. the last group i shot was .070 at 100 yds. a 3 shot group on a ladder test. hornady casings using fed 210M primers with 45.8 grns of hornady superformance. with 130 grn norma golden target bellets seated .015 off lands.

[JLA]

sounds like a good load to me then. No reason to let a spent primer stop you. Now if your craterde primers came along with gas in the face and a bolt you had to beat open with a mallet youd have a problem.

Happy shootn brother.

[243winxb]

What Steve4102 said. Reply from Remington said the bevel around the firing pin hole does not hurt a thing. Makes it hard for the reloaded to read the primers for pressure signs. They will replace the bolt if (factory) rifle is returned to them. You would need a gunsmith to fix it. http://www.photobucket.com/joe1944usa

[JLA]

Its not a difficult fix. Takes less than 2 hours to complete if you have the proper tooling. Btu it isnt a necessary fix IMO. The cratering doesnt effect the accuracy of the round. As said above it does make 'reading the primer' difficult, but If youre testing for pressure you really should be measuring with a caliper and watching for extractor marks anyway, instead of reading a soft metal primer cup.

And if you hit a load that sticks the bolt YOU KNOW youre in dangerous waters.

[bobbyd835]

TO JLA. how do you like your savage actions? and do they make a right bolt, right ejection, left loading port? havent looked yet.

[JLA]

Love em. best of the best IMO. And yes they do make that set-up You need to give Jim Briggs a call at (763)682-4296. I just spoke with him yesterday and he has them in stock. They are Savage 12 target actions, $505 + shipping, and they come with the Savage TARGET accu-trigger, the red one that will go off if you close the bolt too hard.