I need some wisdom fron our veteran reloaders.So i had the chance today to try out my test reloads. So i have .223  with hornady fmj-bt w/c 55 gr, 20.5 gr powder load(lowest charge on my book) and i noticed 10 rounds with bulging primers. The rest looks normal. My brass are lc stamped and i reamed the crimp on them. What could cause this? I read somewhere that this is an overpressure sign.

Please post some pictures of the cases and the primers.
 Also 20.5 gr. of which powder? What is the length your finished round?
Are you checking each case for charge weight?
Are you using a crimp?
Are you shooting bolt action or semi auto?

Overpressure or loose primer pocket

Yes picture would help a ton. Everything that K3014 posted.

We demand primer porn.

20.5 gn is pretty low no matter what powder. How are you loading the powder... scoop, scale, hand measurer, auto measurer?

Please post some pictures of the cases and the primers.
 Also 20.5 gr. of which powder? What is the length your finished round?
Are you checking each case for charge weight?
Are you using a crimp?
Are you shooting bolt action or semi auto?

20.5 gr IMR 3031. Finished round is 2.25. Not using crimp and also didn't check  the weight. I am shooting semi.

We demand primer porn.

20.5 gn is pretty low no matter what powder. How are you loading the powder... scoop, scale, hand measurer, auto measurer?

I was just following my book to start low and the lowest in hornandy book for my bullet weight and powder combo is 20.5 gr. I'm measuring using a scale.

20.5 gr IMR 3031. Finished round is 2.25. Not using crimp and also didn't check  the weight. I am shooting semi.

A little blurry but looks like the primer is popping out a bit. I don't see any cratering. My guess is that the load is too light or perhaps the bullet is not seated far enough in.

Being that you are using LC brass, just wondering how you swaging the primer pockets. Like ren said, could be loose primer pockets. Or if the pockets are not swaged, the is a reason for a number of other problems. The picture is blurry.

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Personally, I use the crimp remover in my electric drill. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0063IDE6A/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The Hornady manual says 20.5 but there's little tolerance with the 223. With my rifle, 18 gn won't cycle the bolt with some powders.

Personally, I use the crimp remover in my electric drill. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0063IDE6A/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The Hornady manual says 20.5 but there's little tolerance with the 223. With my rifle, 18 gn won't cycle the bolt with some powders.

Yeah i think 20.5 is too light because after my last round, the bolt carrier doesn't even lock. So far that the only problem i had with my first batch of reload.

Yep, time to OCW. http://optimalchargeweight.embarqspace.com/

Here are the things that I think can contribute to the condition you are experiencing. Go through each one and eliminate them:

1. Improper/incomplete primer seating. The Primer wasn't seated properly to begin with.  Common causes:  incomplete/insufficient seating pressure, deformed primer pocket or military crimp not removed or inadequately removed. Bolt will refuse to close on some firearms due to protruding primer.

2. Primer pocket deformed or military crimp was not removed or inadequately removed.  Primers will often flatten or get crushed if forced into an improperly sized primer pocket and will not have adequate fitted friction to remain seated when the round is fired. As a result, the primer backs out of the case from the pressure when the round is fired;

3.  Loose or stretched primer pocket. Common causes: case defect, repeated use of the case resulting in excessive expansion (i.e. stretching) of the pocket or improper de-crimping technique. Stretched or loose primer pockets will sometimes offer very little resistance when a primer is inserted or even fall out after the primer is seated; and

4.  Overpresure. Case pressure exceeds the holding force of the primer pocket a) due to one of the conditions noted above; or b)  powder charge exceeds the manufacturer's maximum recommended charge for the round being loaded.  The case need not be overcharged for the former condition to occur. In other words the powder charge falls within the powder manufacturer's min/max specification for the round loaded but the case is unable to sufficiently hold the primer due to one of the reasons stated above.



If i can think of more, I'll add them

~F

Enough has been said regarding loose primer pockets, improperly swaged primer pockets and over pressure situations. I have nothing to add about this.

With that said there is a condition no one has addressed and I will address it here as I reload using low pressure loads and I see this quite often. It has been written that when shooting low power loads the pressure is not quite enough. In this particular situation it is said that under a normal pressure situation when lit off the case expands and is pushed back against the bolt face. Primer will show normal. But under a proper low pressure load the case expands but there is not enough pressure to push it back against the bolt face. And the primer will pop out slightly. I have shot tens of thousands of rounds with primers popping out slightly. So the question remains will raising the pressure relieve this condition? I can say with my testing it is quite true. But I should say that this only applies to a firearm that is properly headspaced.

I believe that the fact that only some of your reloads show this condition proves this as this is exactly what I see when my low pressure loads are on the border between low and normal pressures. A lot of this will also depend on barrel, chamber, barrel condition, case thickness, bullet diameter, charge weight, etc. All of these things are different between each and every cartridge. Also, the fact that your bolt didn't hold open on a load or two makes me think you are just at that point between low pressure and normal pressure. My suggestion is to try more loads with the same cases, primers and bullets and raise the charge weight 0.50 grains and maybe 1.0 grains. I think you'll not see this not occur any more. Again, assuming your rifle is headspaced properly.

One more thing. I believe that 3031 is the right burn speed for 55 grain bullets in that cartridge. I have found through my testing that 3031 was not the best powder for the bullet, powder, primer, case, rifle combination I am using. It may work really well for you. If you want to try another powder I recommend H335 for that weight bullet as it is just a tad bit slower. And I found better consistency and higher velocities with H335 over IMR 3031.

Low pressure....
My book shows min of 21.6 3031/ max 24.6
55 gr. Bullets

Low pressure....
My book shows min of 21.6 3031/ max 24.6
55 gr. Bullets

I guess different books have different specs.

Enough has been said regarding loose primer pockets, improperly swaged primer pockets and over pressure situations. I have nothing to add about this.

With that said there is a condition no one has addressed and I will address it here as I reload using low pressure loads and I see this quite often. It has been written that when shooting low power loads the pressure is not quite enough. In this particular situation it is said that under a normal pressure situation when lit off the case expands and is pushed back against the bolt face. Primer will show normal. But under a proper low pressure load the case expands but there is not enough pressure to push it back against the bolt face. And the primer will pop out slightly. I have shot tens of thousands of rounds with primers popping out slightly. So the question remains will raising the pressure relieve this condition? I can say with my testing it is quite true. But I should say that this only applies to a firearm that is properly headspaced.

I believe that the fact that only some of your reloads show this condition proves this as this is exactly what I see when my low pressure loads are on the border between low and normal pressures. A lot of this will also depend on barrel, chamber, barrel condition, case thickness, bullet diameter, charge weight, etc. All of these things are different between each and every cartridge. Also, the fact that your bolt didn't hold open on a load or two makes me think you are just at that point between low pressure and normal pressure. My suggestion is to try more loads with the same cases, primers and bullets and raise the charge weight 0.50 grains and maybe 1.0 grains. I think you'll not see this not occur any more. Again, assuming your rifle is headspaced properly.

One more thing. I believe that 3031 is the right burn speed for 55 grain bullets in that cartridge. I have found through my testing that 3031 was not the best powder for the bullet, powder, primer, case, rifle combination I am using. It may work really well for you. If you want to try another powder I recommend H335 for that weight bullet as it is just a tad bit slower. And I found better consistency and higher velocities with H335 over IMR 3031.

I remember one of the range master mentioned about too low of a pressure or charge when i showed my case to him. I will try and experiment some more. Thanks everyone for the input.

With that said there is a condition no one has addressed and I will address it here

What am I, chop liver?

What am I, chop liver?

Yes. 

I remember one of the range master mentioned about too low of a pressure or charge when i showed my case to him. I will try and experiment some more. Thanks everyone for the input.

Don't worry. In no time, you'll be so addicted to reloading that you'll start adding gun powder to your coffee instead of sugar.