Federal Ammo & Primers questions

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Yesterday I finally got out to test my new Zastava. The only failures I experienced were several (6 IIRC) FTF's with clean clear dents on the primers. Everyone of them fired with a second try. After ejected and reloading the first two, I simply thumbed back the hammer again. All fired the second time.

Is this the primers or is this something with my pistol? I had no failures in the non-Federal ammo I had with me, but the vast majority that I shot was Federal.
Live like you will never die, love like you've never been hurt, dance
like no-one is watching.
Alex White

Re: Federal Ammo & Primers questions

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wlewisiii wrote:Yesterday I finally got out to test my new Zastava. The only failures I experienced were several (6 IIRC) FTF's with clean clear dents on the primers. Everyone of them fired with a second try. After ejected and reloading the first two, I simply thumbed back the hammer again. All fired the second time.

Is this the primers or is this something with my pistol? I had no failures in the non-Federal ammo I had with me, but the vast majority that I shot was Federal.

Was the chamber sparkly clean? In some cases a slightly dirty/greasy chamber will not allow cartridges to completely chamber until the firing pin drives them forward. Federal cases could be a tiny bit larger than other brands, thus not fully seating as easily. :beer2:
Merle from PA


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Re: Federal Ammo & Primers questions

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Fukshot wrote:In a tapered chamber like 9, it doesn't have to be dirty. Could just be a chamber on the tight end of spec and ammo just slightly oversize at the case mouth.
So it could be enlightening to get out the micrometer and check my Federal ammo against specs? Interesting... I have some snap caps that I got when I had my Glock and they work just fine. Pity I don't have go/no go gauges.
Live like you will never die, love like you've never been hurt, dance
like no-one is watching.
Alex White

Re: Federal Ammo & Primers questions

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Fukshot wrote:
Merle wrote:Another possibility is cases that are slightly long. I haven't had that problem recently; much more often they are on the minimum (or even below minimum length) but....

:beer2:
I'd think slightly short would be more likely to cause this sort of problem.

It would, but I was thinking PERHAPS there was a slight bulge/bell left at the case mouth that needed to be ironed out. I have seen this in reloads, but rarely in factory loads.

Grasping a straws, probably, but thought I'd throw it out there as a long shot. :beer2:
Merle from PA


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Re: Federal Ammo & Primers questions

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wlewisiii wrote:Yesterday I finally got out to test my new Zastava. The only failures I experienced were several (6 IIRC) FTF's with clean clear dents on the primers. Everyone of them fired with a second try. After ejected and reloading the first two, I simply thumbed back the hammer again. All fired the second time.

Is this the primers or is this something with my pistol? I had no failures in the non-Federal ammo I had with me, but the vast majority that I shot was Federal.
What did you shoot first, the federal or the other?
"Hillary Clinton is the finest, bravest, kindest, the most wonderful person I've ever known in my whole life" Raymond Shaw

Re: Federal Ammo & Primers questions

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Several possibilities:
a) Bad batch of ammo. Unlikely but possible.
b) Try a different brand of ammo. Different guns 'like' different ammo. Often problems like failure to feed is solved by just picking a different bullet tip. I was looking at some range pickup brass a couple of days ago while I was re-priming them, and was surprised to see the large variations in case design.
c) If you are reloading, over crimping the case, deforming the shoulder of the case so that the bullet slips too deep into the chamber.
d) Light primer strike caused by something getting in the way of the hammer, keeping it from dropping consistently. Is the 'safety' getting out of the way all the way? Might just be that the gun needs wearing in for the hammer to strike consistently. The Zastava definitely needs a a lot of 'wearing-in' since it comes pretty rough from the factory. One way to 'wear-in' your gun is to smear old-fashioned toothpaste in the mechanism, and cycle it over and over a couple hundred times, then cleaning the mess up. In your case this includes the firing mechanism. The light grittiness of the toothpaste helps smooth out surfaces.

Re: Federal Ammo & Primers questions

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eelj wrote:
wlewisiii wrote:Yesterday I finally got out to test my new Zastava. The only failures I experienced were several (6 IIRC) FTF's with clean clear dents on the primers. Everyone of them fired with a second try. After ejected and reloading the first two, I simply thumbed back the hammer again. All fired the second time.

Is this the primers or is this something with my pistol? I had no failures in the non-Federal ammo I had with me, but the vast majority that I shot was Federal.
What did you shoot first, the federal or the other?
Federal FMJ. Then the non-Federal LRN. Then, last, my Federal JHP. All fed and extracted, only the handful of light strikes on the Federal.
Live like you will never die, love like you've never been hurt, dance
like no-one is watching.
Alex White

Re: Federal Ammo & Primers questions

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Awake wrote: d) Light primer strike caused by something getting in the way of the hammer, keeping it from dropping consistently. Is the 'safety' getting out of the way all the way? Might just be that the gun needs wearing in for the hammer to strike consistently. The Zastava definitely needs a a lot of 'wearing-in' since it comes pretty rough from the factory. One way to 'wear-in' your gun is to smear old-fashioned toothpaste in the mechanism, and cycle it over and over a couple hundred times, then cleaning the mess up. In your case this includes the firing mechanism. The light grittiness of the toothpaste helps smooth out surfaces.
Hmm. Good thoughts. I'm going to email Zastava for directions on firing pin removal to make sure there's no crud in the channel. I think I can see how it's done (it looks like a Mauser design) but I'm going to ask them first. In the meantime I'll dig out the snap caps and do some more dry fire for wearing in purposes.
Live like you will never die, love like you've never been hurt, dance
like no-one is watching.
Alex White

Re: Federal Ammo & Primers questions

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wlewisiii wrote: The only failures I experienced were several (6 IIRC) FTF's with clean clear dents on the primers... I had no failures in the non-Federal ammo I had with me, but the vast majority that I shot was Federal.
I had a similar problem with Federal primers loaded for a 9 mm LR9C, turned out my 40% FTF was due to small rifle primers being loaded.
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