Primers

[ski2me]

How much difference do primers of different manufacture really make? I've just used CCI and Federal blue box small pistol. Was wondering which primers are hotter and what difference they have on the cartridge.

[geezer56]

Short answer is it really depends. I've had some rifles and loads that primer made not a whit of difference. Others had a decrease or increase of up to 50% in group size just by changing primer manufacturer. Some times its CCI as the best, sometimes one of the others. You just have to try different combos and see what works best for you and your rifle.

[lwknight]

There is a thread on this forum that has some extensive brissiance tests on primers.
If I find it I will link it or maybe someone else could get there first.

Some primers are a lot different in both burn time and total energy

[GRUMPA]

Short answer is it really depends. I've had some rifles and loads that primer made not a whit of difference. Others had a decrease or increase of up to 50% in group size just by changing primer manufacturer. Some times its CCI as the best, sometimes one of the others. You just have to try different combos and see what works best for you and your rifle.

+1 and just as was described, I have found that to be so true when rolling your own.

[captaint]

The only thing I can say for sure it that Federal Reg small pistol primers do have softer cups. I have one revolver that NEEDS that primer to be 1000% reliable. And it works !! enjoy Mike

[shotman]

will second the feds are soft. I loaded some light 308 and thought I would use some large pistol primers. I am glad I only put 3 in the mag on my M14 . Good way to make a full auto

[Ironnewt]

That can be B A D in so many ways

[crabo]

BassAckwards told me he would test primers by shooting primers only in a case. He would set a dime on the barrel and watch how high it would jump. (holding the rifle vertically)

That gave him a good indication of the power of the primer in relation to other primers.

[mdi]

Well, I may be a little slow, but I have only used Winchester, CCI, and Wolf primers, and I honestly can't tell the difference, in shooting. I only use magnum primers with WC820 and H110/W296 and 80% of all my reloads is .44 Magnum. Mebbe in a large caliber handgun primers don't make a lot of difference.

[Chicken Thief]

http://www.castingstuff.com/primer_testing_reference.htm

[bobthenailer]

Every senairo is different and has to be retested whenever any thing is change IE different lot of powder, brass, or bullets it also depends what type of accuracy you are expecting from a given load I did some testing years ago wher i had a accurate pistol load i was useing Fed spm and switched to Fed sr primers accuracy was the same at 100 yards! i also tried Rem 71/2 br and groups opend up alot with the same powder charge.
Another time i had a load worked up in the 45 acp also using Fed lp primers i came into a large quanity of a Fed lpm primers at a really good price , i used them in place of the lp with 25 shot groups at 25 yards with a red dot sight from the bench, both loads you woud have to shoot from a rest to see any difference in accuracy as they were almost identical with the lp being the tightest , but i did not try to work up a load using the lpm primer i just used the same powder charge .
Another time i switched the bullet lube in midstream i was using RR Zambine red hard lube and switched to LBT comercial hard lube when loading a batch of ammo for 100 yard pistol shooting my normal accuracy was 2 1/4 in 25 shot group @ 100 yards , accuracy was the same at 100 yards with the new lube but my groups were lower by a few inches ,at the time i just clicked in some elevation and all was well . later on i chrongraphed those loads with everything else being the same but bullet lube, same lot# of cases, powder & primers loaded at the same time on my press and the new lube was a avg of 67 FPS lower velocity than the old lube.

[44man]

Primers are funny things. I don't think measuring primer pressure is the answer. Heat, instant fire with a low pressure seems better. I have no idea how that could be measured.
High pressure can blow through the powder and move a boolit and I have seen too many times the powder will not even light.
I went to the site and seen only pressure measured but there were a few things that I have preached forever. One was firing pin pressure that showed primers need a certain impact.
The other was the consistency of Fed LP primers. CCI next.
I also use a newsprint wad over the flash hole for BPCR shooting to keep powder out of the flash hole.
I have never done it for the revolver but it will be tested soon.

[pistolshooter]

here is an interesting article I found on primers.

http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=b2aaee04178a5cab89d98145737a8e e7&action=printpage;topic=56422.0

[nicholst55]

Sort of related, about 1990 or so, the American Rifleman ran an article on selecting the primer for top accuracy in the AR-15, when used for service rifle competition. As I recall, the author cut down several pieces of brass so that all he had was the case head. He would prime the 'case' and attach a steel BB to the front of the flash hole, fire it, and chronograph the BB. He had postulated that the primer that developed the lowest velocity with the BB would give the best accuracy, and that proved to be the case in his rifle(s), anyway. They showed a series of pix taken in a darkened room showing the primer's flash; the primers with the smallest flash developed the lowest velocity with the BB, and were the most accurate.

Once again, relying on my increasingly unreliable memory, Federal scored first, and Winchester scored second. I can't remember what brand scored last.

[John Boy]

Ski, the powder used, ball, stick or flake with the burn rate is a determining factor for how hot a primer should be used
As how hot a specific primer flash is or not, read these 3 articles by German Salazar:
http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2010/08/primers-wolf-223-primer.html

For hardness of primer cups, may want to look over my "DMS' Don't Mean Squat chart that I prepared ...

22 Oct 2010
Test Procedure: Using a Lee Hardness Tester that measures Brinell hardness, placed a new primer on a piece of steel. Held the indent ball on the primer for 30 seconds. Measurement is the diameter of the indent, smaller numbers indication harder brass cups

Pistol Primers
0.32 – CCI 300 LP
0.38 – Federal GM150 Match LP
0.40 – Federal 155 LP Magnum
0.40 – Winchester WLP
0.42 – Federal 150 LP
0.42 - Federal 100 SP
0.44 – CCI 400 SP
0.48 – Remington 2 ½ LP

Rifle Primers
0.26 – CCI BR-2 LR
0.28 – CCI 200 LR
0.32 – Federal 215 LR Magnum
0.34 – Remington 9 ½ LR

Note: Rifle primers are harder than handgun primers!
Lot Numbers were not recorded