Federal 209A

[bob64]

I have always used Win 209 primers since I had my MLII and never had a primer fail to go off. Today I decided to try some Federal 209A primers. The first one fired but the second primer did not. I looked at the primer and it had hardly been dented. I put a Win 209 in and fired the load. I then tried to get this primer only to fire. It would not. I tried at least a dozen times. The primer only showed a very small dent.
I set this primer aside and loaded up and tried a fresh Federal 209 and it fired. I then loaded and fired 6 more primers and they all fired. The fired primers told me nothing as they flowed around the firing pin.
Looking at the two makes of primers, it looks like the Win 209's are closer to the firing pin. The Fed 209a are lower and more rounded.
Question: Am I marginally hitting the Win 209 primer and when I went to the Fed 209A this problem showed up? How far should the firing pin extend past the bolt face?

[Dave W]

You will find the dimension you need in this link.
dougva.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Savage&action=display&thread=10522

[tar12]

The Fed 209a is actually the longest of the primers I measured. Could be your firing needs a little tuning.Or a good cleaning.I have shot several thousand of the Fed 209a in several different Savages with nary a hitch...

[Chris Champion]

Make sure you have the bolt completely closed before you pull the trigger. I had a couple Fed209A not go off a few months ago in testing and I think it was due to not having the bolt completely closed.