P226 light primer strikes with CCI primers

[howiepa]

I'm having some issues with my trusty (well, up until now) Sig P226/MK25 and CCI primers. I can see where the P226 hits the primer, but the strike is not enough to get things moving. A second strike will always cause a bang. This doesn't happen on every round but occurs enough to make range visits annoying, not to mention make me question my investment in CCI primers. This does not happen with Federal Match grade primers, which are slightly more expensive and not in plentiful supply in my reloading room.

I've read that the hammer spring could be off and that others have bought Wolff springs and was thinking of getting their P226 Performance Pak consisting of an 11lb reduced power variable recoil spring, an 18lb extra power recoil spring, an extra power firing pin spring, and a 17lb reduced power hammer spring.

Does anyone know if this setup would make a harder primer hit? Can this part swap-out be accomplished by mere mortals or would I be better off taking it to a Sig Armorer?

[emckee57]

Are you sure your primers are seating deep enough? I was having an issue with my P250 not igniting my reloads on the first strike, but would do it fine on the second strike. Just needed to tweak my press a little to seat the primers deeper and it solved the issue.

[knight0334]

I doubt it is a problem with your gun..

CCI primers are harder than most others. I think Federal's tend to be some of the softest primers.

[Brick]

At first look I go with emckee57's assessment. Make sure your primers are seated to full depth. It is fairly common that a primer not seated deep enough will be "seated" with the first firing pin strike and fired with the second.

Just running your fingertip over the seated primer will tell you if it is seated correctly.

[duqjeep2010]

Are you sure your primers are seating deep enough? I was having an issue with my P250 not igniting my reloads on the first strike, but would do it fine on the second strike. Just needed to tweak my press a little to seat the primers deeper and it solved the issue.

I have been noticing this with some of the ammo I have purchased recently. Some of the WWB and Blazer I have been shooting have been giving both my P226 and P229 fits and the primers were pretty high. I have a feeling that in order to meet demand quality control has suffered ever so slightly. However I check my Duty loads for primer depth, OAL, the works and have never encountered this issue with them.

Edit: Just noticed your reloading so I 2nd emckee57's recommendation just double check your primers.

[howiepa]

Are you sure your primers are seating deep enough? I was having an issue with my P250 not igniting my reloads on the first strike, but would do it fine on the second strike. Just needed to tweak my press a little to seat the primers deeper and it solved the issue.

I'd say maybe 10ish out of 100 fail to fire the first time around, and I've reloaded maybe 500 rounds that mostly went through the P226 -- I also have a P229 but haven't had any issues with light strikes with it.

I haven't touched the primer seating plug apart from the initial setup; the press came with the large primer config. I guess it could be primer seating, but how would I verify to be certain? If it was primer seating, wouldn't that affect the Federals as well -- wouldn't they be off by the same fraction of an inch, causing them not to fire?

[Bang]

Mike both brands of primers. Federals may be a touch longer than the CCIs.

[dkf]

Federals are known to be quite a bit easier to ignite than CCI and some others. All I use is CCI but they get used most in Glocks.

[87hurricane]

I'd guess primers that aren't seated fully as well, and either the Federals are a little longer, or simply softer and not as picky. I've never had a CCI primer that didn't go bang, and they're all I use if available. This is part of the reason I use a hand primer, you can feel the primer seat properly, vs just hoping it did on a press.

[mrnyman]

I'm having some issues with my trusty (well, up until now) Sig P226/MK25 and CCI primers. I can see where the P226 hits the primer, but the strike is not enough to get things moving. A second strike will always cause a bang. This doesn't happen on every round but occurs enough to make range visits annoying, not to mention make me question my investment in CCI primers. This does not happen with Federal Match grade primers, which are slightly more expensive and not in plentiful supply in my reloading room.

I've read that the hammer spring could be off and that others have bought Wolff springs and was thinking of getting their P226 Performance Pak consisting of an 11lb reduced power variable recoil spring, an 18lb extra power recoil spring, an extra power firing pin spring, and a 17lb reduced power hammer spring.

Does anyone know if this setup would make a harder primer hit? Can this part swap-out be accomplished by mere mortals or would I be better off taking it to a Sig Armorer?

Do not tamper with your gun by tailoring equipment to it , never halter your gun to fit a part , halter the part to fit the gun, get rid of the faulty cheap primers and get the primers that work with the gun, do not halter your $800 gun to save a few pennies. Get rid of them or use it for something else and definitely dont mix up those rounds with your carry SD ammo.