August 7, 2021
This is a safety reminder for those who use hand priming tools that have multiple primer trays. This happened when a primer was being placed in a pistol cartridge box. This caused a flash-over, which ignited multiple primers in the tray. This caused a small explosion that broke the tray and Hornady Handheld Prime Tool. This report was posted by a Forum member this morning in our Shooters Forum.
Report by Forum Member on Primer Flash-Over IncidentI had an incident the other day while reloading. My experience may serve as a reminder to others to be safe, to follow the correct procedures and not to be negligent.
When seated, a primer popped (went away) and flashed (while hot), into the tray, causing other primers to explode. This caused me to lose my Hornady Handheld Priming Tools and also injured my hand.
Here is my loading area following the incident. The damage to the priming tool is obvious. I don’t know where the rest of them are.
Multiple cuts on the hand and forearm can cause injuries to the user
This is a photo of the cuts that resulted. They are superficial, however. Note: I was wearing latex gloves to protect my hand.
My glasses also fell off my face, and they landed six feet away. Wear your eye protection, people! EDITOR: Guys – This is yet another compelling reason why handloaders should always use eye protection.
More Details — Primers Were Federal Primer Pockets, Case Primer Pockets Had been Checked
One forum member commented: “Just in case people were interested, I didn’t notice anything different than usual. On their fourth firing, the cases were Privi Partizan factory brass (PPU). Federal Large Pistol primers were used. The primers were Federal Large Pistol. Before the accident, I had primed approximately 50 cases.
Here’s a close-up view of “flashed” primers. Note the empty, but dented cups as well as triangular “anvils”.
This was done with a Hornady Handheld Primer Tool, as shown below.
Two Forum members reported feeding problems with this handheld priming tool, and one member, Kiwi Greg, suffered an injury from a multi-primer explosion. “I had the exact same thing happen a few decades ago now with the Hornady hand primer with 50–75 [Federal 215,M primers] in it. I made a mess with my hands and blew primers all over my large workshop. My employee who was nearby at the time was scared to death. It was all okay, with some bandages and stitches. But it left me with some terrible scars. Bertram.408 CT brass had tight pockets and required more force, so I believe a primer had turned upside-down. I now use RCBS [priming instruments] with a flat bar that slides over to prevent sympathetic detonations. It was something I had never heard of, but it was not uncommon after it happened.
Boyd Allen thanks for finding this post.
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Tags: Hornady Priming Tool, Kaboom, Primer detonation, Primer Flash Accident, Priming, Priming Safety
