I would submit that anyone who uses primers with which he so lacks in confidence that he has to examine them to ensure that the anvils are present for all of them beforehand is trying to reload on the cheap.
I don't have anywhere near the reloading experience that many of the folks on INGO have, especially that of 17 squirrel, but I've personally loaded well north of 3K rounds with CCI primers, and I have had exactly zero failures.
I've loaded close to 1K with Federal primers, and lo, not a single failure.
It's easy enough to see the anvil side of the primers in the loading tray that flips them right-side-up, but the only thing I ever examine with my primers is ensuring that the seating depth is uniformly between 0.003" and 0.004", and even a secondary examination to verify that is unnecessary. since my RCBS APS benchtop primer tool has an adjustable seating depth with a positive stop.
You mentioned crimp, and lots of folks say that a tighter crimp will help get more uniform powder combustion, but the folks who really know these things say that excessive crimp, or improperly executed crimp, can actually hinder bullet tension and make combustion less uniform.
The best, most reliable way to uniformity of powder burn is with good neck tension, with the expander ball doing just enough expansion to allow the bullet to seat without stripping off the jacket, or in your case shaving the lead.
I don't have anywhere near the reloading experience that many of the folks on INGO have, especially that of 17 squirrel, but I've personally loaded well north of 3K rounds with CCI primers, and I have had exactly zero failures.
I've loaded close to 1K with Federal primers, and lo, not a single failure.
It's easy enough to see the anvil side of the primers in the loading tray that flips them right-side-up, but the only thing I ever examine with my primers is ensuring that the seating depth is uniformly between 0.003" and 0.004", and even a secondary examination to verify that is unnecessary. since my RCBS APS benchtop primer tool has an adjustable seating depth with a positive stop.
You mentioned crimp, and lots of folks say that a tighter crimp will help get more uniform powder combustion, but the folks who really know these things say that excessive crimp, or improperly executed crimp, can actually hinder bullet tension and make combustion less uniform.
The best, most reliable way to uniformity of powder burn is with good neck tension, with the expander ball doing just enough expansion to allow the bullet to seat without stripping off the jacket, or in your case shaving the lead.