.380 Auto misfires

[montanabc]

Due to the fact that .380 ammo and new brass have been impossible to find locally, I recently purchased 1000 rounds of used brass at a local gun show to reload for my Ruger LCP .380.  The first 40 or so rounds fired without a misfire or jam.  I then re-sized, de-capped and re-capped about 50 shells, but did not finish loading them for 3-4 weeks, keeping them stored in an MTM CASE-GARD P50 box.  I finished loading them & a few days later went to shoot them and had 1 misfire out of every 6 (shot 18 rounds, total of 3 misfires).  2 of the misfires did actually fire on the 2nd or 3rd attempt, and I kept one live round to show the local gunsmith.  The primers on the spent cartridges (both ones that fired 1st time and the 2 that fired on 2nd or 3rd attempt look different than anything I have ever seen-I’m not very experienced with reloading, but a friend who has been reloading for several years said the same thing).  Instead of a definite “punch” where the firing pin hit the primer, it looks like someone dropped a miniscule drop of molten brass onto the primer, and some have a tiny “punch mark”, others show nothing but the little bit of molten brass—sorry for this description, but it’s the best way I know to describe it.  I tried to take pictures, but my camera isn’t good enough to get close-up detail.  I got the load off the load tables that were included with the Lee Carbide 3-Die set.  The starting charge was 3.2 and max was 3.7.

Powder:                       AA #2
Charge:                        3.4G, each charge weighed on RCBS 10-10 scale
Bullet:                         Sierra 8100 JHP, 90G
Primer:                         Rem SP
OAL:                           .901 to .917”, measured with a Franklin Arms caliper
Case Length:               .676 to .679”

The brass I got is a BIG mixture brands.  Most of it is GFL, PMC, WIN, R-P.  Any suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated.    Some of the brass I didn't recognize.  Thanks for any help you can offer.

Here are the brands of brass I got in my 1000 round bag of used brass:  GFL, PMC, R-P, CBC, BLAZER, WIN, CCI, W-W, * - * (two 5-pointed star symbols separated by a hyphen), FIOCCHIUSA, COR-BON, ACP, S & W, A-MERC, FC, MRP, FEDERAL, *I* (two 5-pointed star symbols separated by a capitol I), nny, AGUILA, SPEER, FRONTIER, AP 02

Thanks again for any help you can give me.

[Green Mountain Gringo]

I don't know anything about reloading but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. 

seriously though, surely somebody on this site will have some good info for you.  Welcome to the fold.

[long762range]

" I then re-sized, de-capped and re-capped about 50 shells, but did not finish loading them for 3-4 weeks, keeping them stored in an MTM CASE-GARD P50 box.  I finished loading them & a few days later went to shoot them and had 1 misfire out of every 6 (shot 18 rounds, total of 3 misfires). "

Off had I would say that the primers had either been damaged by moisture because of the time between the capping and the complete loading or had been contaminated by some other chemical.  Do you have some other chemical stored where these imcomplete bullets were kept?

" Instead of a definite “punch” where the firing pin hit the primer, it looks like someone dropped a miniscule drop of molten brass onto the primer, and some have a tiny “punch mark”, others show nothing but the little bit of molten brass—sorry for this description, but it’s the best way I know to describe it."

The charge itself is well within safe range according to the Accurate Arms powder reloading book.  So there should not be any over pressure issues. 


I would shoot the weapon with factory ammo to see if the issue is the pistol itself.  If no problems are evident discard the primers and try a differaent brand.

[MikeBjerum]

I would shoot the weapon with factory ammo to see if the issue is the pistol itself.  If no problems are evident discard the primers and try a differaent brand.

Like longrange said, except I would say try and find some Remington ammo.  That would match up best with the primers you reloaded with.

[TAB]

.901 to .917”, measured with a Franklin Arms caliper



thats a huge OAL  change.  32 head spaces on the mouth, might be part of your prob right there.
any pics of the primmer strikes?
grab about 25 piece of brass at random and measure them.

what do you get?

[Sponsor]

[MikeBjerum]

.901 to .917”, measured with a Franklin Arms caliper



thats a huge OAL  change.  32 head spaces on the mouth, might be part of your prob right there.
any pics of the primmer strikes?
grab about 25 piece of brass at random and measure them.

what do you get?

OAL isn't going to be the issue in misfires.  I could be an accuracy issue, but it is case length that determines where that primer is in relation to the firing pin.

If you lay a straight edge across the base, how far is the primer recessed?  Compare this to factory unfired.

[m25operator]

It does sound like a primer depth issue, and maybe some bad primers, only happened once to me, but I sold a good pistol because of it. Bad batch of primers, only once in 30 years, but it happens. Do shoot some factory, and if it is 100%, revisit your cases, .380 does not normally have crimped primer pockets, ( which need to be removed ) but in some countries is a military round and may have the crimp, which will not allow normal primer seating techniques.

[dj454]

My first ever reloads had the same issue on inspection I had'nt seated the primers deeply enough. I use a Lee auto prime. After having to pull 150 rounds back apart to reseat the primers I check them as I go and again before I start dropping the powder. The high primers will seat themselves after one or two strikes. Be sure your primers are flush with the case. Good luck.

[wisconsin]

This same problem happened to me and I posted that question here some time ago. He is what I did to solve the problem. If you are using mixed brass the primer pockets are not all uniform in depth and depending on the primers you use it does become an issue. Mine was mixed 45 acp brass. Call Sinclair International at 800-717-8211 or www.sinclairintl.com and ask for the 8000 series uniformer stock # UN-8001 Small Rifle/Small Pistol uniformer ( primer pocket)for $23.50. Also I highly advise you get the power adapter #UN 8005 for $11.50. It will save your hands from going numb. Now I will warn you it will get to be a real pain in the ass to uniform all that mixed brass. But I did it and I've never had another light strike/FF. CCI/A-merc was the worst. Starline, Federal and Winchester was the best. S&B will more often lock up the uniformer and you have to pull it off with a vise grips. Any other question you can PM me. It work for me and it should work for you. But you will hate yourself in the morning. Just like trimming brass. I hate doing both.

[Sgt Z Squad]

Two thoughts:
1.) The primers were not completely seated.
2.) Case length not allowing slide to go into battery.