Anyone have problems with Remington Large rifle primers?

[Luke E.]

 I loaded up 100 rounds of .308 to zero and start learning a new rifle I picked up. 12 out of the first 30 rounds were complete failures,,, nothing but the firing pin smacking the primer. It's definitely not a light strike issue so??? I wrote an email to Remington so we'll see what they have to say if I even get a response.

[Clod Stomper]

Wow.  Never had that happen.  But I rarely use Rem primers.  Could be a bad batch.

 

Are you absolutely sure it isn't a light strike?  I've set the shoulder back too far on brass before and the firing pin wouldn't even touch the primer.  Waaay too much headspace.

 

How about the brass?  I've seen Wolf cases with no flash hole.

 

If none of the above, it's probably a bad batch of primers.  Hopefully they'll replace them for you.

[Luke E.]

 Its actually the hardest striking gun (firing pin) that I own. In my experience, these primers should detonate with even half of the strike they're getting. I'll try to remember to post a pick of the struck primers tomorrow. 

 I went through the brass one at the time and ran a small nail through the flash holes to ensure there was no media stuck in them so the missing flash hole isn't the case either. I know Wolf has the rep of putting out some sub par ammo but I can't believe you've run across them without flash holes!!

[Clod Stomper]

I should have said I've seen ONE Wolf steel case without a flash hole. At an Appleseed in N GA a few years ago I went through 100 rounds of Wolf .308 and had two rounds not fire. One was a missing flash hole and I can't remember the reason for the other.

Never had to deal with Remington customer service, but hopefully they'll make it right.

[Tncobra]

We used Remington green/white box .45 FMJ at the range last month. Had several misfires and shot groups were horrible.

 

Heres what I found.

 

We collected the misfires and shot them through a chronograph. 

 

Of about a dozen misfires 8 went off after snapping them again. All rounds had primer strikes previous.

 

The 8 rounds measured between 625 fps to 750 fps.

 

The remaining rounds did not fire at all. Upon disassembly of the rounds the primers were really bad. The anvils appeared to be in backwards.

 

That out of about 500 rds fired. 

 

Remington Rimfire is not the only Remington ammo I will not trust anymore.

[Luke E.]

We used Remington green/white box .45 FMJ at the range last month. Had several misfires and shot groups were horrible.

Heres what I found.

We collected the misfires and shot them through a chronograph.

Of about a dozen misfires 8 went off after snapping them again. All rounds had primer strikes previous.

The 8 rounds measured between 625 fps to 750 fps.

The remaining rounds did not fire at all. Upon disassembly of the rounds the primers were really bad. The anvils appeared to be in backwards.

That out of about 500 rds fired.

Remington Rimfire is not the only Remington ammo I will not trust anymore.

Sounds bad enough for me to avoid them. I've not purchased a center fire cartridge in 3 years that I can remember so I won't be worried about their loaded ammo but primers are another thing. I've had a few dud rem small rifle primers over time which was already more than all other brands I've used combined but I never dreamed of having 11-12 out of 30 being bad.

UPDATE: well, there is no update as I've not heard anything back yet!

[173rdABN]

Yes, I stopped using Remington primers years and years ago because I had the same issue. And it wasn't just a single lot issue. Happened with quite a few so I just gave up on them.

[Trekbike]

I experienced similar results with their small pistol primers so I no longer use them.

Winchester for SPP,  and CCI #41 for 5.56 are my preferred choices.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Trekbike

[Luke E.]

Yes, I stopped using Remington primers years and years ago because I had the same issue. And it wasn't just a single lot issue. Happened with quite a few so I just gave up on them.

Well since it doesn't seem to be just me I think I'll swear off of them myself.

[Luke E.]

I experienced similar results with their small pistol primers so I no longer use them.

Winchester for SPP, and CCI #41 for 5.56 are my preferred choices.

I've used Win primers and still have several thousand of them but some may not believe me but hands down the best primers I've used have been Wolf/Tula. I think I might have had 1 dud out of thousands upon thousands that I've used to date.

[173rdABN]

Tula had a bad rep with their 556 primers at first using ball powder. It had a delayed reaction. I made about 3,000-5,000 of them and noticed that. Sucked shooting them up, but they are finally all gone now. Their new stuff is hands down great. I have all these KV556M primers here that no one wants for $25 a box… well, fine with me, I'll just keep using them because they go bang every time and are super consistent. Heck, with Tac powder and a super heavy crimp I even got the SD down to 19.3 and ES at 30 I think. I'll take that any day for bulk 55gr 223. 

[Grunt67]

Never had an issue with a reload primer. Have had on priner that did not fire, even after repeated tries. It was a Winchester 30-06 factory round.

I've always stuck with CCI, or if not available, Federal.

12 out of 30 rds. is pretty bad. Hope Remington will help you out. The few times I've dealt with them on a quality issue, they were great.

[Luke E.]

I didn't include this info before but after reading Grunt's post I remembered, I tried ejecting, rechambering and firing the duds a second time and none detonated even after the 2nd opportunity.

[Luke E.]

Tula had a bad rep with their 556 primers at first using ball powder. It had a delayed reaction. I made about 3,000-5,000 of them and noticed that. Sucked shooting them up, but they are finally all gone now. Their new stuff is hands down great. I have all these KV556M primers here that no one wants for $25 a box… well, fine with me, I'll just keep using them because they go bang every time and are super consistent. Heck, with Tac powder and a super heavy crimp I even got the SD down to 19.3 and ES at 30 I think. I'll take that any day for bulk 55gr 223.

How far back are you talking about the Tula primers having a delay? I've never had any trouble with them that I can think of but I never used Tula until 2 years ago, before that I'd used a ton of Wolf though. I've been told that the Tula and Wolf primers are the same and come from the same plant, just different packaging. I have no solid evidence that this is true but I didn't argue since the boxes (case boxes) are the same other than the name.

[173rdABN]

They had a 12-13 lot that was bad. and it was a very big lot (actually might have been a couple). couple of my friends also had the same issue with them as well. its all been figured out, so really no biggy. you might have just been one of the lucky ones that never got a box from the lot.

[Dolomite_supafly]

I have seen Lake City brass without flash holes so it isn't just Wolf. And cost doesn't even guarantee quality ammunition. I have some Hornady cases with the flash holes touching the side of the primer pocket because they are so far off center.

 

I have used thousands of Tula primers and never had an issue with hang or delayed fires. I use them in EVERYTHING, not just rifle calibers. I use them in 9mm, 45 ACP, 300 Blackout and I have even used them in 38 Special. And they are the best primer I can buy. No other primer gives me the consistency that the Tula primers do. I get single digit SD numbers consistently regardless of powder used when I am using Tula. CCI, specifically #41, are probably some of the worst out there.

 

I will say that Remington consistently produces crap. Their 22 ammunition has been crap for DECADES as has most of their other ammunition.

[79troublehead]

I have seen Lake City brass without flash holes so it isn't just Wolf. And cost doesn't even guarantee quality ammunition. I have some Hornady cases with the flash holes touching the side of the primer pocket because they are so far off center.

 

I have used thousands of Tula primers and never had an issue with hang or delayed fires. I use them in EVERYTHING, not just rifle calibers. I use them in 9mm, 45 ACP, 300 Blackout and I have even used them in 38 Special. And they are the best primer I can buy. No other primer gives me the consistency that the Tula primers do. I get single digit SD numbers consistently regardless of powder used when I am using Tula. CCI, specifically #41, are probably some of the worst out there.

 

I will say that Remington consistently produces crap. Their 22 ammunition has been crap for DECADES as has most of their other ammunition.

Even their #11 percussion caps suck.  Fire a RWS and a Remington cap side by side, and it is like a cap pistol and a .45.

[Luke E.]

Well I got an email from Remington. I didn't have time to read through the whole thing when it came in but they asked for a bunch of info and also want to send me a postage paid envelope to send product back for them to examine. I'm thinking that I'll knock some of the dud primers from the cases and send them along as well. This may turn into more trouble than it's worth but I guess we'll see. Either way I'm glad that I have got many Rem primers left.

[Luke E.]

I have seen Lake City brass without flash holes so it isn't just Wolf. And cost doesn't even guarantee quality ammunition. I have some Hornady cases with the flash holes touching the side of the primer pocket because they are so far off center.

I have used thousands of Tula primers and never had an issue with hang or delayed fires. I use them in EVERYTHING, not just rifle calibers. I use them in 9mm, 45 ACP, 300 Blackout and I have even used them in 38 Special. And they are the best primer I can buy. No other primer gives me the consistency that the Tula primers do. I get single digit SD numbers consistently regardless of powder used when I am using Tula. CCI, specifically #41, are probably some of the worst out there.

I will say that Remington consistently produces crap. Their 22 ammunition has been crap for DECADES as has most of their other ammunition.

Seems like most people I talk to that have used Tula/wolf primers love them while the ones that have never tried them tend to stick their nose up at them.

[173rdABN]

Seems like most people I talk to that have used Tula/wolf primers love them while the ones that have never tried them tend to stick their nose up at them.

 

YUP. this, exactly. 

 

Haven't sold a single box of tulas on here. and I'm even $5 below Midsouth. People read the name Tula and run.

[Luke E.]

Yep, they see steel cased ammo when they hear Tula. $25 is a MUCH better price than most shops I've seen. I bought several more cases of them back during the summer that came out to $20 per thousand but that few and far in between anymore.