USFA Issue

by Hoot , Diversityville, Liberal-sota, Friday, July 22, 2016, 14:09 (2984 days ago)
edited by Hoot, Friday, July 22, 2016, 15:22

We had my USFA Rodeo out this week. It's a .38 Special with the 4-3/4" barrel. On the third or fourth shot (of 5 loaded, of course), the hammer would be difficult to cock. After a bit of head-scratching, I saw that the primers were cratered and the difficulty was due to shearing off the raised bit. The load was 158gr generic cast SWC's over 5gr. Unique with Federal 100 primers. This load is either standard pressure or +P depending on which manual is consulted. That was the last of my Federal primers so, if it is a 'soft' primer issue, I'll be changing brands anyway.

I would hope that being relatively new, the USFA would not be needing any sort of remedial work such as bushing the firing pin but I suppose that is a possibility.

Any thought or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Edited to add: I have shot this several times before with probably whatever .38's were on hand. This is the first time any trouble has appeared.