Can a weakly struck primer cause a blooper where all powder does not ignite? I assume there is no difference in flame propagation into the powder once the primer composition detonates. My bloopers seem to caused by powder leakage or perhaps compaction or moisture.

halk,
Can we have more info? Rifle? Shotgun? Caliber, bullet diameter, powder type?, etc, etc.
Mike

Striking a primer harder does not make it burn hotter or not striking it hard will not make it burn less hot depending on how you want to look at it. Failure to burn well could be a many caused problem. First thing is your powder dry, fresh and the correct charge? Have either your primers, powder or shells gotten wet? Rule out one thing at a time. Did you weigh your powder drops? Are your wads getting cocked when loaded? Go back and look at the basics. It’s not your primers unless you’ve got a dampness issue, assuming you have the right primers in the first place.

Bloopers can be caused by many things
defective primer, bunched powder, torn wad skirt, powder
leaking past wad skirt, too little powder, wrong burn rate
powder for the application, blocked flame hole in hull, etc.

I have even seen bloopers caused by colder weather.

Hope this helps
Mike

I just started using a powder baffle on my mec grabber and cut my blooper rate by 95%.

My powder baffles on my 9000g stop powder leakage but have not improved powder accuracy per drop. I do tend to use fine granulated powder (HS6& A410) that tend to drop the most consistant charges. I find big flakes do not meter near as well as fine grains.

bill

That is what I thought also Jon, as primer and blasting cap comp detonates and does not merely burn rapidly like high explosives.
I guess very old or improperly stored primers could indeed become 'weak', and cause bloopers, but this must be very uncommon compared to all the other causative factors.

For the record Der Ami all my loads were 2 3/4" 16ga with an ounce of 8's in Federal paper and plastic cases. Used a variety of primers and mostly Rem. and Ballistic Products shotcups. I looked in my old notebook:

1986-1995: 2 1/2 dr DuPont Bulk Smokeless (hated to lose my old yellow friend that my dad and I also used for years in muzzleloading shotguns and rifles as well).

1995-2004: 22.2 grains 4756

2004-present: 20 grains 7625

As I look back, my bloopers seemed to be caused by pellet loss from loose or damaged crimps (I used to drop candle wax into the centers if I could see pellets), moisture, and powder loss from loose primers. Dishing of the base sometimes occurred and I had to reform the bases and primer pockets on a few hundred cases.

Bill, I load 700x. The baffle has done wonders to clean up my blooper rate.