Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Nosler brass primer pockets...loose after first firing

So i just finished some load development and shooting groups for a new .264 WM with a fresh batch of 100 nosler cases... got em all prepped and resized and whatnot for round 2 and went to put the primers in, and on about half of them the primer went in so easy i had to check and see if one actually went in. I tapped them on the table a few times to see if they would fall out and they didnt. So whats the deal here? Ive been reloading a few years for .270 and .30-06 using hornady, federal, and rem brass and never started experiencing this until after maybe 4-5 firings.

Some, if not all Nosler brass is ridiculously soft. I wish someone with stroke would rattle their cage. That said, only one firing is not typical.

Try CCI primers. In my experience they run a bit larger in diameter, at least the 200's I have are.

I have not had that problem with Nosler brass in several chamberings.

Thanks for the replies, i will prolly just shoot em and toss the loose ones..i know it was partly my fault bc my loads were a little on the hot side but then again so were the ones for my other rifles..might just try to pick up some brass that is harder.

Twocup, CCI is what i tried in my other m70 but i was getting duds from light primer strikes so i switched to federal..i think due to a weaker than normal firing pin spring? I heard the federals were a little softer and havent had any problems since..but i still use cci in my rem 700s

Johnny,
2 things in your posts cause me some concern. First, having loose primers after even 4-5 firings is still an indication that your loads are too hot. Over pressure can be cumulative so because your rifle didn't come apart with a particular load you could still be doing damage that will cause it to come apart in the future. Second, the problem with light primer strikes could be due to bumping the shoulder back too far causing a headspace issue.
Not flaming you or anything, just want to make sure you are being safe.

Thanks Blacktailer, that is definitely some food for thought.. i am probably going to throttle those loads back as well

My load is (was lol) with imr7828ssc pushing a 140 grain ballistic tip @ 3150 fps out of a 26” tube

That doesnt seem hot to me.
The 28 and 30 Nosler brass sucks too.

CCI 200's are hard. I can't use them in my XP-100, M94 30-30 etc. or I get misfires from light primer strikes. Only way to know is to try them. I keep CCI's, W-W and Federal Match on hand. W-W are my favorite for most applications.

Yeah i had read that somewhere about the CCIs after i ran into the issue.. i dont think it would be a headspace problem as i had only neck sized those rounds when it happened

Some of the Nosler Brass is heavier than others and this can mean a lower case capacity. Just got some 257 Weatherby Nosler brass and I can't tell if it was made by Norma or not, it is heavier than the Norma made Weatherby head stamped brass I have.

Loose primers on the first firing would scare me. Either too hot or an over sized chamber or really soft brass. Also even with over sized cases usually the belt will hold it in place well enough to fire even though the belts vary quite a bit. This is why I like Lapua and RWS brass when I feel like splurging as both are really tough cases and are good for 1.5 to 2 x's the number of reloads of some other brass. For cheap brass PPU has been good if you don't mind doing all the prep work. Grafs had .264 WM on sale recently and I resized some to 257 Weatherby but the toughness gave me funny looking necks with a fold at the base. I needed to outside champfer more than I did. I may have to fire form these as re-sizing them again didn't eliminate the crease.

A couple years ago Norma did a run of 6 Dasher cases for a bunch of BR guys.

Longer neck, different reamer etc...

It turns out it was too soft along with a few other issues they eventually worked out.

Guys were fire forming it with a softer load and then leaning on it as hard as they do Lapua and claiming it was just as good.

Maybe worth a try if you have a bunch?